It has become our British custom to have fun Advent Calendars every year. This was my third year getting one from my book club (which came with 3 books this year!) and for Joel’s, we decided to try a Taskmaster-themed one. We had high hopes for it, but we ended up a little disappointed. Compared to the Exit Calendars we’ve had the last couple of years, the challenges/puzzles in this one were too easy and it didn’t have an overarching narrative other than “find little Alex Horne.” It was fun enough, but we’ll definitely be switching back to Exit next year.
On the 3rd, I went into Trellech Primary for the last time this year to share the Nativity story with our Open the Book group. I enjoy doing these so much!
On the drive home that day, the scenery was so gorgeous I just had to pull over and take a photo. I love the Welsh countryside!
A couple of times a month, we’ve started playing Magic with some gamer friends in Newport. Harrison is a great host and even has three cats I occasionally get to cuddle with! I couldn’t resist snapping this photo of his orange cat resting on his head.
On Sunday the 7th it was time for cafe church again, this time with a Christingle theme! Last year was my first year doing this service, but it’s definitely one I am coming to enjoy.
I always try to plan ahead so that the holidays don’t overwhelm me, but at this time of the month I still had quite a lot of worship planning to do! I was also working on visiting all of my homebound folks and offering communion before Christmas. It was a lot of work to fit it all in, so I don’t have a lot of photos of fun things, but I did snap this one of the knitted nativity one of the Caldicot church members made.
On Wednesday, the 17th, I attended my last ever YCWI Board meeting! Sometimes it feels like I just started, but I did serve 2 full years on the board. I was meant to continue through next September (when I age out) but my work responsibilities as superintendent were overwhelming me a bit and our application for citizenship for next year was going to make attending the conference next summer impossible, so I decided to end this year so they could replace me. I loved working with this fabulous group of women, and I can’t wait to see where they continue to lead the organisation!
On Saturday I had a graveside service for a recent funeral, and then went to Earlswood Hall for a carol concert fundraiser. It was fun to gather with folks and just spend a couple of hours singing Christmas carols! One of my church members talked me into singing a couple of solos, and that was fun, too. And there were some younger folks who played piano and flute!
On Monday the 22nd, in preparation for Joel’s birthday, I couldn’t resist getting some big 5-0 balloons! Joel didn’t want them until I assured them we would pass them along for our friend Ben’s 50th next week. Until then, I loved having them around as it made his birthday feel more special (which is hard to do so close to Christmas!)
On Joel’s actual birthday, the 23rd, we spent the day with Steve in Cardiff! Amy and Ben gave us the Mystery Guide for Cardiff two years ago on Joel’s birthday, so we braved the cold and finally completed it. Even despite the weather it was a ton of fun!
The coolest part of the whole thing was learning about these posts in the middle of the city that have art inside them. We have passed them many times before and never would have noticed they were anything other than normal posts until they contained a clue we had to search for! You have to kneel down on the ground and close one eye to peer in, like looking through a microscope. This is why I love the Mystery Guides, you learn and notice things you never would otherwise.
Here is the scene we had to find to complete our clue… (it was incredibly hard to photograph!)
We also splurged on eating out for Joel's birthday with breakfast at Tim Horton’s, lunch at the New York Deli, and then dinner at an American BBQ place called Hickory’s Smokehouse. (I just now realized it was all North American food, lol.) The BBQ was delicious (if a bit pricey) and they brought out a special sign for the table and a free dessert when I told them it was Joel’s birthday!
On Christmas Eve, I had two services, the fully candlelit service at Penycaemawr at 4:00, and then the 11:15 service at Caldicot. Peny had a full turnout again, and lots of kids this year. I love this shot I got of a little one entranced by the candles. The midnight service was small this year, and as much as I love it, I think I might let that tradition go next year. It’s hard to do a midnight service and then a 10:00am one the next day, and I think the church members who come to both just to do it to indulge me, as this wasn’t something they did before I arrived.
On Christmas Day I led the 10:00 service at Caldicot, complete with my special homemade Christmas stole and an ornament headband.
While I was doing that, Joel was going to the airport to pick up Jacob! The flights were cheapest on Christmas Eve so they sent him over early, and it was so fun to have him for our traditional day of cheese and movies.
After Jacob’s arrival it was just a blur of playing magic (and a Sunday of work) and then on the 29th we went up to Amy and Ben’s for the day to celebrate with a combined birthday party for Joel (birthday on the 23rd) and Ben (birthday on the 31st) who both turned 50 this year! I brought the balloons and Amy made this epic dice shaped cake (that was also super delicious with homemade buttercream and homemade blackcurrant jam!)
The guys weren’t really into posing for photos so this is the best we got between both Amy and myself taking pictures.
I did get a selfie of the whole crew when we settled in to play the Worst Game Ever! Then we had pizza for dinner before playing Magic and a few other games for the rest of the evening.
Ben and Amy gave Joel a very cool dice set for his birthday. Joel was so touched he was almost tearing up! We didn’t have a gift for Ben on the day, but Joel did make two custom Magic decks for him this year that we said were for Birthday and Christmas even though we delivered them in May!
We were meant to go back to Amy & Ben’s for New Year’s Eve, but one of the kids got sick and no one wanted to pass that around, so we stayed home just the three of us and played games (Magic, duh) and watched movies (two favourites Game Night and Yesterday) and then watched the London fireworks at midnight!
All in all, we had a lovely 2025, and we are looking forward to what 2026 will bring. I have a feeling the start of the year is going to go very quickly!
XOXO, Bethany