No Santa today, as he apparently hits Belgium earlier in the month — turns out his schedule isn’t quite as demanding as Amanda was led to believe. But it’s been a lovely Christmas nonetheless. For the first time in 17 years, Joris got to spend Christmas with his family, and it’s easy to see why he’s missed it.  Days of food shopping and cooking with Johan, Fiona, and Evelien all led up to a five-hour, six-course meal on Christmas Eve, with an attempted robbery next door to spice things up (burglers abound in Belgium). So we continue to pack on the lbs in preparation for the lean food that awaits us in … Scotland. Hmm.

Merry Christmas everyone. We miss you.