We welcomed our final guests of 2023 to celebrate Christmas with us in our new home in Kelsall. Yes, we recently moved (more on this in our next post).

My parents and youngest sister, Molly arrived a few days before Christmas after a long journey from Wisconsin with some tight flight connections. They thankfully made all of their flights and only had one piece of baggage lost on the way that we were able to get delivered on Christmas Eve – just in time for Molly to get to wear her festive Christmas jammies!

Brindle was very excited to greet her guests once we arrived home from the airport. We spent the first couple of days getting my family adjusted to the time zone, relaxing, catching up together, and exploring walks in our new town. It was lovely to just be together.

We treated the Piepenburgs to their first English tea and got into the Christmas spirit as we happened upon Christmas carols in the center of town during one of our walks. We even joined in for a few songs!

We celebrated Christmas together with a few gifts, a wonderful home cooked meal, and a walk at Delamere Forest before ending the evening with drinks and games. It was a night filled with lots of laughs and smiles.

The next day we explored Beetson Castle and experienced a cute coffee shop and proper English pub before we sent my parents off to celebrate their 30th anniversary at a local hotel and spa. Jacob and I got to spend some one on one time with Molly – we enjoyed walking with Brindle and making homemade Christmas cookies with icing. We didn’t have any food coloring to make different icing colors, so got creative with “natural” coloring. We used strawberries for a red/pinky color, blueberries for purple/blue, orange juice/carrot juice for a yellowy orange, and spinach, matcha, and avocado for a green. They were actually quite delicious and Molly and I definitely ate too much dough and sampled too many cookies while frosting. We ended the evening with some yummy burrito bowls to get some protein and a movie cuddled on the couch with Molly’s best friend, Brindle. It was great to spend time together and see how much Molly has grown up even just since our move to the UK.

After those few relaxing days, we packed up and drove to York – a cathedral city in North Yorkshire England with Roman origins to explore this new city together. We all squeezed in one car with Brindle cozied up in the trunk and made the ~2.5hr drive. We stayed at a nice Airbnb outside of the city center and spent our first evening with dinner, drinks, and games and plenty of laughter together.

After a good night’s rest we took Brindle to a dog park to burn off some energy before we headed into the city center to explore. Brindle had a great time on the obstacles!

It was a rainy cold day, but that didn’t stop us from walking the old Roman walls, eating street food, and meandering down the Shambles – a historic street featuring preserved medieval buildings. It has cobbled streets and overhanding buildings and is said to have inspired some of the streets in the Harry Potter movies. The buildings and architecture were fascinating to see – especially York Minster, the massive cathedral, that Jacob and my family toured the next day while Brindle and I walked the Museum Gardens. We also climbed Clifford’s Tower – the largest remaining part of York Castle.

To warm up, we purchased hot drinks from a coffee cart and wandered through the York Castle Museum. This museum shared hundreds of years of York’s history in once place as it is structured with lifelike walkthrough displays. It was quite cool to see. We had a great time exploring and managed to get a lot of steps in before heading back to relax for the evening.

We spent a bit more time in York the next morning after a yummy breakfast at a local coffee shop before making the drive home. It was my family’s last day with us – so we made the most of it, ending with a dinner at our local pub.

Time flew by and before we knew it we were giving our hugs and goodbyes at the airport. It is always hard when trips come to an end, but we had the best time with our Christmas visitors – so many laughs and memories made. We are so happy they made the trip to come and see us! Until next time!

Thanks for reading,

-Amber