Bellhaven Farm: A Very Creative Holiday

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season! We have been reminded that we haven’t put up a blog post for a while, and people have been commenting that they miss our exciting news and esoteric wit. And so, here we are!

The last week has been creative, to say the least. We headed down on the 21^st to Richmond, IN for Nate’s work Christmas party. We went down early on Saturday morning to have lunch with some friends, and then went to check on the house. We brought our sleeping bags and camped out in our own house! It was actually pretty fun, except that we had forgotten all of the noises that the house makes in the night, and how drunk people tend to wander past in the middle of the night talking and yelling. We’re putting those on the list of things we do not miss. The party was a lot of fun, and we got to catch up with all of Nate’s co-workers as well as meet some new ones! It was also incredible how much the kids have grown, some of them we didn’t even recognize.

That day in Richmond, and all through night, it poured and poured. We rose early and left, avoiding certain roads that were flooded and headed back north. As we neared Michigan, it was clear that the night that we missed had not been peaceful. Anna, who was watching our house, called to say that the power was out. About 30 minutes past the Michigan border, we started seeing the ice, which had blanketed everything! We met family for lunch (after changing venues several times due to lack of power) and then headed back to the house. The road to the next town to the north was completely blocked due to a fallen tree; our neighbors had to drive down their hill and through our field to get out, because they had a fallen power line in their driveway. We bundled up, grabbed our gloves and tree loppers, and headed out to help clear the roads. After a frigid hour, we decided to call Mom and Dad (who had power) and asked if we could come stay. In the most ironic of turns, Dad and Kate were supposed to spend the evening with us, one of our first guests to stay in our new guest room, but it was not to be. So we all headed to the Kahlers for an evening of hot soup, wine, and games! Despite the close quarters, fun was had by all.

Christmas was filled with family and love. We were especially excited about a quilt top that Justine put together for Grandma and Grandpa Noel’s cabin, and an out-loud game called Password that we gifted to play with Grandma Giddings, who is having more and more trouble with her vision. We also held the Newtons and Bells close to our hearts, missing their warmth.