Christmas Abroad

Ryan and I are in our last days of travelling before heading home. We are now in the Netherlands visiting my family in Friesland. As always, we feel right at home with family here, which is especially nice after being on the road for a few weeks. Since we missed Christmas with our families in Canada, I thought I would post a few pictures of how we spent the holiday abroad. Although we will not make it a habit to be away for Christmas, we were lucky enough to be in the company of friends and family over the last week. On the 23rd, we joined a very welcoming South African family for a braai (BBQ), before spending Christmas eve with a Canadian friend (Erica) who lives in Cape Town; to get into the spirit of the season, we cooked a nice meal, baked cookies and exchanged gifts with each other. Since we all have Dutch roots, we also ate some dropjes just to make the day official.

Erica and Ryan celebrating Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning, we ate a big breakfast and parted ways with Erica. Ryan and I made sure we were all set to depart later in the evening, before heading to Camp's Bay to share in another braai with more Canadians living abroad. Ryan and I walked in the ocean water along the beach for our last taste of warm weather and beautiful coastline before eating Christmas Day dinner around a table in our friends'backyard.

Christmas Day with the Turner's in Camp's Bay

Late that night we caught our 12-hour flight to Amsterdam where we were met by Afke and Luuk and whisked away to Friesland to spend the day at my Tante Baukje and Omke Theun's home in Hardegaryp. We met my new second cousin for the first time and were treated to a very lekker and gezellig family dinner. Yesterday Ryan and I biked to Garyp to visit my Pake and Beppe and other Haanstra familie. As we rode along the bike path, we commented on how lucky we are to be able to make a stop over here on our way home. We are making sure to soak up these few great days with family before heading home on the 31st. For those of you reading this in Canada (okay, Ontario), we look forward to seeing you soon.

Dinner with family on Boxing Day

Sarah and Ninke

Pake and Beppe's new home