Christmas in Canada

(Luke)

And we're back! 7 days sure went by quickly. By the time we got used to the time change we were leaving but it was wonderful to see as many people as we could. The love, the family, the friends, the food, the vodka, the food, more love, more vodka, and more food. I am still full.

We left Dublin at 9:10am on the 24th and had a 2hr stop over in Heathrow. Thank God you can smoke and have a pint there. Then it was a 7 1/2hr flight to Montreal. The first couple of hours were pretty bumpy over the Irish Sea. Man it freaks me out!

Air Canada was pretty sweet. We got fed well. Chicken Curry with rice and salad, Pizza, cookies and ice cream. Not bad for a plane ride.

We touched down in Montreal at about 5:30pm and were greeted by Mom and Dad Faulkner. From there we drove to Ottawa.

We went to Aunt Joanne and Uncle Rons for a quick Christmas Eve get together. The Paluch family was there waiting along with Gillian, Laura, Seamus, Adam and Kelly. Aunt Jo did her homework. She got some nice and NOT common Polish vodka just to make us feel at home. My Dad had to work later that night, so Seamus and I took advantage and enjoyed a couple of shots. We were pretty tired, but excited, and since it was Christmas Eve, we let Gillian open one gift (Irish hoodie). She really liked it and kept it on for the rest of the night, even when she went home.

We left there around 11:00pm and drove with Laura and Seamus back to Jess parents. (Laura, your driving scares me!) Upon arrival at Jess parents we were greeted by Brutus, who was kind enough to shed some fur all over my stuff.

As promised we brought back some Guinness and Tyrconnell from Dublin for Mike (and Bulmers cider for my Mom) and managed to buy chocolate mint Baileys at Heathrow (Havent seen it in Ireland yet. I guess the Irish have to make alcohol easier to drink for the Brits?)Anyway.. We sat around, chatted, had a drink and we slowly filtered off to our beds. Jess and I got the guest bedroom, Laura and Seamus slept on the blow up mattresses, but Seamus mattress didnt stay blown up for too long so he pretty much slept on the wood bed frame.

Next morning we got up to the Faulkner Christmas breakfast. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

(Jess)

We all woke up pretty early. Ok, I woke up pretty early, woke Laura up (as I always do - she humours me) and Dad woke up shortly after us, made coffee and kept it coming. Eventually we woke up Mom, Seamus and Luke (the lazy buggers). Once everyone was up and at 'em we opened presents. We were all pleased with our gifts. Luke was especially pleased by the frother my Mom & Dad got him. (We can now make our own cappuccino's!) While we were doing my Mom's delicious eggs in potatoes were cooking in the oven. M & D served up a fabulous Christmas Day brekkie of eggs in potatoes, streaky bacon, sausages and peameal bacon. YUM!

The rest of the week went well.... it pretty much flew by so I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see which was disappointing. Luke and I went to Luke's friend Nick's house for Boxing Day dinner, which was fabulous, we managed to get together with a few of my girlfriends for a couple of hours and then with his gang for a few hours (both on the same day) during the week but other than that it was mainly famiy, which was ok with us. Luke was invited to play with Stone Melodies for a few songs, which was great fun for him to do and for me to watch... it's been a long while. Oh, and we did some shopping as well. (Pat and Laura slagged us for shopping in Canada when we have all of the European clothes and styles here but with clothes, etc in Euros it is much cheaper to splurge at home than it is here. Also, the fashion here is mad..... pointy, pointy, pointy shoes (NOT my taste), short, short, short skirts, tapered/bleached out/ripped/frayed jeans, etc. Not always what I'm looking for). My Mom spoke to the Brian and Carmel and organized a Faulkner Family get-together which was great. That way Luke and I didn't have to hike all over the city to see everyone. Instead my Mom brought food and B & C supplied some drink and we had a grand time.
(Photo of Uncle Brian standing with his collection of videos was specially taken for all the Iish...let the slagging begin!)

(Luke)

Ty, thanks for the game and see you soon!
Nik & Ali thank you for Boxing Day dinner.
Sandmouth reunion...what?!

(Jess)
We were pleased to see that everyone was/is doing so well. (A congrats goes out to our good friend Alex/Sasha for completing his PhD. YAY SASHA! We're proud of you!). Everyone was healthy and happy. Gillian was hilarious and lovely - as usual. (Those of you that were lucky enough to get a special sing-song phone message from her know what I'm talking about - 'I have a gift to bring, it's up in my bum. I have mechanical legs, they're up in my bum). She's grown alot since we last saw her - she even has some adult teeth! Unbelievable! Our parents were excited to see us and gave us lots of great big hugs and kisses. Laura and I got to spend some good quality (shopping) time together and had some sleepovers at her house and my parents place. I managed to see Seamus a few times during the week. We saw lots of Luke's sister Anna and her new (boy)friend (Have a look at the photo of the handsome couple). Brutus is still adorable and full of beans. All in all it was good to be home but we will definitely come for two weeks the next time. There definitely wasn't enough time.