Some of my highlights at the school for this month:

• I assisted in filming and editing the head of school Christmas comedy skit that played at our school wide Christmas assembly! This year was based on Wizard of Oz , I chose the title for the film to be "There's No Place Like St. Swithuns" and it was a hit! My favorite part of editing was making the bloopers bit.

• We held the Prep school Christmas Carol Service at St Cross Church! Rev. Wallington gave a wonderful sermon to the younger girls about the gift of a name when we are born. I also had my first minced pie after the service and I loved it!

• One of the Chaplain's roles is to help with Charity fundraising throughout the year, I enjoyed being part of running a hot chocolate and bake sale to contribute to the Brain tumor charity!

• We had a boarding house secret santa party.. this brought SO much energy to the house! Many girls were trying to figure out who I had prior to the day.. I am usually really bad at waiting to give a gift or keep the secret but I enjoyed egging the mystery of it on when girls asked, and it was quite fun to keep them guessing. 

• After our Christmas Carol service in Winchester Cathedral, on the last day of term, I returned back to my room to find gifts from some of the students and their families at my door! They had left them there when I went to do service prep, knowing that everyone would be gone for the holidays except me. It was really thoughtful and unexpected, it was a blessing to head into break with a few Christmas gifts to open!

Christmas with Hazel's Family!

I traveled to Rochester- Kent (South East England) to visit Hazel again. Her family welcomed me in like one of their own to experience their Christmas traditions! I truly felt unplugged and living in the moment during those 4 days, enjoy company and the feeling of family while here. I was not fixated on capturing all the moments for this post, and I think that's what made it the most special for me. Hazel and her husband Luke are like older siblings to me; they are great mentors who I feel really comfortable talking to and I have been so inspired by the ways they live to serve their community and how strong their faith is.

• We visited Hazel's side of the family at her parents on Christmas Eve (I loved the energy of boy cousins all under 5, enjoyed her moms curry sausage rolls and hot chocolate, chatted with her sister in law who has had teaching abroad experiences, and even got to witness a gender reveal!)

• Christmas morning was so wonderful! By this point, Hazel's three year old son had already become quite attached to me and I really enjoyed seeing his excitement for gifts. He was ready to play with me after opening each one, and I think I read about 20 different books with him over the next 48 hours! Hazel also has a teenage daughter that LOVES gift giving, we connected so much as everyone opened gifts from her because she couldn't wait to share with me why she got it for them/ where it's from etc. 

• The rest of Christmas day included going to church, having a wonderful Christmas meal, and Luke's family coming over for game night and pudding. It was so fun to stay up and have so much laughter while learning new card games from them! Even though I was welcomed in as a guest this year, they all really made me feel at home and as if I was always part of their traditions. 

• Boxing day was my final day with Hazel's family. It was a relaxing day where we just snacked on appetizers, had hot chocolate, played with new toys the kids got, and Hazel had me watch Love Actually for the first time... it's her favorite Christmas movie and now it is also one of mine!

*Highlight of the trip: Our hike to see the Highland Coos was a success!