Better than Sweet Thunder

Some Christmases seem to fade in the background while others shine brightly in our memories for years.  I remember my eighth Christmas well.   My sister and I shared a Strawberry Shortcake room at the time and I can still see us on that Christmas morning, clad in our orange and yellow flowered one piece jammies, bolting out of our room, down the hall, and into the living room to find the most amazing pink Huffy Sweet Thunder bikes.   

Yes, this is me in my amazing Strawberry Shortcake room wearing my fabulous
velour dress and posing with my stuffed monkey who is holding my (real) 3 legged
turtle... one of many turtles I would own throughout my childhood.  

It was a dream come true.  We would be the coolest girls in town... no more banana seats.  I can still feel the handle bar grip as I rode down the country road in Greenfield, Indiana, on my way to freedom.  I can't remember now if that bike was something I had been dreaming of and begging for, or if my parents bought it because they just knew I would love it.

Jeff had a very similar experience (minus the orange and yellow jammies).  He was also at the great age of eight when he got his Huffy Thunder bike with the number 54 proudly displayed.  It was a bike that surpassed all others...  the perfect dirt bike and skidding machine.

This Christmas, I would have to say, was even better than the year of Sweet Thunder. My parents flew from Indiana to visit with us.  We picked them up at the airport 26 hours before Christmas, but not before visiting London for a few hours, spending most of our time in the famed Harrods.

We took the underground from there to the airport.  The boys had the time of their lives doing what they do best.... wrestling.

Max making the plan

Luke is thinking about it.....

He's in!

Anticipation grew as we waited for flight 90 to arrive.  We were all smiles and tears as we saw Mom and Dad (Mema and Papa) walk through the gate.

After a long night of sleep, we took the bus to Starbucks and had so much fun catching up. That night, we crammed all 7 of us into a 5 seater car (which is highly illegal, but the buses weren't running and we really wanted to go to church!) and drove downtown to an 11 pm Christmas Eve Service.   Max was underneath 4 peoples' feet in the back and was petrified that we were going to get pulled over by a bobby and he'd be spending Christmas in jail.

Christmas day was spent enjoying each other, playing games and mom and I making dinner together.  We bought into a very English tradition of opening 'Christmas crackers' before the meal.  They are a cardboard tubes wrapped in shiny paper filled with a toy or trinket of sorts, a joke or riddle and a paper hat.  The idea is that everyone crosses their arms, pulling on the ends of their (and their neighbor's) cracker until it pops open, dispensing the contents.  It smells faintly of fireworks and sounds like a cap gun and creates a fun mess.

After laying low for a few days, we were ready to get out and tour a bit.  We did lots of walking... and talking.... We filled each other in and caught up on life as we walked to and from the bus stop at the (far) end of our street and around the city.

We walked around Oxford quite a bit and the kids were both patient and bored as they've seen it all for the past 4 months.  Instead, they made the most of it and played Bible Trivia along the way, not without lots of laughter.

The Bridge of Sighs

A little re-enactment by Olivia and Luke of the scene in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus.  This is taken by the lampost that is thought to be C.S Lewis' inspiration for the scene in the book. 

Just about every day we pass Saxon Tower, yet I had never been inside (Jeff was able to tour it with his class at the beginning of last term).  We did spend some time inside the church and tower in awe of the history in just this one little place.  The church tower is the oldest building in Oxford, built around 1040.  Inside the tower you can see the prison cell doors that the Oxford Martyrs, Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley, were marched through on the way to their death.  They were burnt at the stake just a few yards from the church in 1555 and 1556 for embracing and teaching Protestantism. There are bricks in the form of a cross on Broad street marking the site of their execution.  The church also contains the 15th century pulpit where John Wesley preached in 1726.  There is also an incredible ancient clock mechanism that we got to see in action.  From the top of the tower is a beautiful view of the city and its famous "dreaming spires".  

Saxon Tower

Prison cell door of the Martyrs

Site of the Martyr's death in the middle of what is now Broad Street

Mom and Dad at the top  of the Tower

Overlooking Cornmarket Street

One of the things to love about Oxford is that you can be amidst such history and beautiful architecture and within a few minutes be out in the countryside (as seen in the distance of this picture).  

The Christ Church College and Cathedral (famous for many things, some of which I found to be interesting are.... where John and Charles Wesley were students and were both ordained in the cathedral, has produced 13 British Prime Ministers, is the setting for parts of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and has been used in the filming of Harry Potter).  The dining hall is an impressive and imposing room.  

We visited the libraries (below) where Jeff spends many hours in research and study. The first is called Radcliffe Camera (which is another name for 'room'), and is part of the Bodleian Library, the main research library for the University of Oxford and one of the oldest in Europe.  The Bodleian is actually much bigger than is pictured here (this is just one section of it) and has vaults under the streets containing the many volumes of the library.  There are a myriad of original manuscripts contained in the Bodleian Library, only some of which include a Wycliffe Bible, The Wind in the Willows, some of Jane Austen's works, Tolkien, Shakespeare and many other famous people that I've never heard of.  The Bodleian is not a lending library.  Even King Charles I was refused permission to borrow a book in 1645.  If you request a book at the Bodleian library, the staff will do their best to get it to you by the end of the day thought it's not always possible because of its sheer size.  It is not open to the public - only university students and staff members have access.

(This picture is from Wikipedia)

This is the best our little camera would do

Another view of the library, but taken back in September when the skies were
actually BLUE.  All Souls College is pictured in the background. 

Oxford University is made up of over 40 self governing colleges and private halls. Wycliffe Hall is one of the theological halls of Oxford University, and is the college which Jeff's OCCA (Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics) program partners with. Below is the library at Wycliffe Hall where Jeff spends many more hours studying.  

Jeff spends most of his in-class hours in Wycliffe Hall and RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries) as well as the Sheldonian Theatre.

Wycliffe Hall 

OCCA students in front of RZIM

Sheldonian Theatre

We also went to the Covered Market,  a must see when visiting Oxford.  It opened in 1774 as a response to the mess and smell of butcher shops in the streets of Oxford. Originally the Market contained about 40 different butcher shops and soon after the Market was open, meat was only allowed to be sold inside the market.  Today the Market has butcher shops, fishmongers, bakeries, gift shops, ethnic shops, traditional English gentleman's barber shop, a shoe cobbler, an American cookie shop and several food retailers.

It appears all the Christmas Turkeys have been killed by suffocation

Ummm....... couldn't there be a better way to sell rabbits?

I think this is a Boar.  I know I saw a pool of blood below this animal. 

Eel for dinner anyone?

Beautiful produce section to balance out the unnerving meats around the corner

One day Jeff and I took Mom and Dad on a drive to show them where the kids go to school.  After seeing Max's school, we walked down the hill to the canal where people live year round on these narrow boats. There is a view here too of Port Meadow, an ancient area of grazing land still used for horses and cattle.  The River Thames also flows through Port Meadow.  This land was used in the 17th and 18th centuries for horse racing.  During WWI it was used as a military airfield and during WWII as a camp for military personnel.  Today, many people walk across the meadow with their dogs (and wellies) and end up at the Trout Inn, a pub in the village of Wolvercote, walking distance from our house. 

This is a very small view of the meadow from across the railroad and right next to the canal

One of Max's friends lives on a narrow boat not far from here

Port Meadow 

The city can barely be seen in the left background

At the Trout Inn

This peacock can always be found at the Trout

During the week, Dad and Max spent lots of time wrestling.  I think they both enjoyed it as much as the other and was even the highlight for both of them.  The morning after mom and dad left, Max lamented that his wrestling partner was gone and that it was "much funner to make tea for 3 than tea for 2."  (Max makes himself and me a cup of tea quite often but during their visit had been making it for mom too.)

A most wonderful visit from Mom and Dad and time spent together with family were the greatest gifts of this season.  We also were GREATLY BLESSED with many notes and gifts from friends and family afar.  I'm pretty sure we hadn't dreamed and begged for this kind of special Christmas, but I know our Heavenly Father gave it to us just because He knew we would love it.