Happy New Year!
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| After their Christmas recital |
The lead up to Christmas here was different. After 30+ years of a routine at Christmas time it was very strange being here for the season. In Australia we have Christmas, but also the "end of year" celebrations like school graduations, end of year parties for extra curricular activities etc. Here, we broke up from school only 4 days before Christmas with wishes for a blessed Christmas and then we are back to school this coming Monday. It really changes the 'feel' of the season, not to mention it is about 30 deg cooler here than in Aus at Christmas!
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| Our fresh Christmas tree - cut down and gifted to us by our friends! |
We had a lovely (quiet) Christmas day with a yummy stollen for breakfast ( I managed to find all the ingredients to make this - it is a tradition in our house!) and then the kids played with the toys they received for Christmas. We then hosted our South African neighbors and a couple of students for an early Christmas dinner. We had roast Lamb (an absolute treat here because it is not a meat they sell here - at all! Americans don't like it they say its too rich - hmmmm!!!) Roast Chicken, Vegetables, gravy, Yourkshire pudding and Trifle for dessert. Definitely more of an English Christmas but finally a roast on Christmas day made sense! We made a new discovery of mulled wine and Hot Cocoa over the Christmas season. Mulled wine is an English warm wine drink, simmered with citrus, spices and orange juice, YUM! Then we played Spicy Uno (so fun!) and hung out for a while, it was so nice but I think Christmas really isn't the same without your family around! The kids really struggled with it not 'feeling' like Christmas (maybe it was the lack of presents - ha ha) but also they commented it wasn't as much fun without people you know really well - Family!  |
| Christmas morning! |
We really wanted to take the kids to see snow (and lets be honest we really wanted to go too!). So we went this week with our neighbors and some Aussie friends. It was pretty exciting driving towards the national park and all of a sudden seeing big patches of snow all over the ground, the kids seeing it for the first time! We borrowed snow gloves, some boots, waterproof pants and layered up with clothing and headed out! At Lassen National Park (about 45 mins away from Redding) there is a tobogganing (Americans call it sledding) spot called Eskimo Hill so we headed straight there with Toboggans in toe and then picking up an extra one from the trash pile on the way in! It was so fun but also quite dangerous with people coming flying down the hill everywhere and kids all over the place. The kids had a great time, slowly working their way further and further up the hill till they ended up right at the top! 
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| Charlee's snow dog! |
The snow was so compacted in that area I just really wanted to go find some fluffy snow to play in., so after lunch we walked about 5 mins into the Forrest and found a clearing with just that, lots of fluffy snow! So much snow that you didn't quite know how far your feet would sink when you took a step! We played for ages, till feet were too cold to feel and we started to feel the wet inside our layers from all the snowball throwing! It was such an amazing day - needless to say the kids slept really well that night!
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| Where we played in the snow! |
Now we are preparing to return to school - we all go back on Monday morning! We have enjoyed the break but we are really keen to get back into the routine of school and make the most of the 2nd half of school!
School promises to be a whirlwind between now and the end! With Missions trips coming and lots of work to do it seems like it will fly by! Chris and I finished Last year on a huge high with the end of our favorite AMT class and then a visit to school from Heidi Baker we both really felt the presence of God in that last week and saw it leaking into our home as well with people even commenting 'oh I can feel the presence of God here!' It was such an amazing time for us and after 4 months of (if I can be honest) open heart surgery it was a blessing to see God really touch us and our family in a tangible way! We are super excited to see what this 4 months will hold for us.
We just want to thank those who have supported our Missions trips we are so super excited about these trips and the amazing things we will get to experience and be a part of! You will all get to partake too through the blog and if your on Instagram make sure you follow us (Elle @dehaas27 and Chris @dehaas05) for updates!
As we head into 2019 we appreciate your prayers, here's some things to specifically focus on :
You guessed it - Finances! We are believing for a breakthrough in this area it has been a hard journey for us but God has been amazingly faithful - we have learned some amazing things about Gods goodness but also how to make groceries and resources stretch further than we thought!
Charlee and Declan: Although they have settled into life here there is certainly some struggles and especially as we begin discussing a possible 2nd year here in America their hearts are being pulled in all sorts of ways. It will also be hard for them with an 8-10 week stint back in Australia between the two years
Pray for Chris and myself as we head back into school, there are some really powerful sessions and speakers coming up so pray we will get everything God has for us in this time.
Our Missions trips in late March: Elle: Tijuana - Mexico. Chris: Santiago - Chile
Plans for 2nd year: BSSM in its entirety is a 3 year course, we came here saying we'll take it a year at a time but we would love to complete 2 years. Pray for us as we consider, discuss and apply for 2nd year at the school. We would also look for alternate housing if we stay, pray that we will find something suitable and affordable for us.
We love you guys, all of you! We love Australia and the amazing things God is doing there (especially after Awaking Australia! We heard some incredible stories about our country from other students and leaders - it makes us excited for the future!). We look forward to being back in early June and catching up with as many of you as possible.
Be blessed!
Much love Eloise, Chris, Charlee and Declan xx
