Christmas at the Mansion

So my in-laws live in a mansion. Let me explain. They are working for CMML which is their mission organization that they have been affiliated with for years. They have lived in Manila, Philippines for 20 years as missionaries and just moved back to the states this past summer. They are now living in the “mansion” hosting missionary families that come through and taking care of the property. It’s the perfect place for family get-togethers!

Here is the backyard. The house was originally on over 200 acres of land. Now the mission organization only owns 17 acres.


As the story goes, the original owner of the home had it built in 1930 for his fiancé. (I know!) Apparently, he also owned a lot of horses and like to parade them in his backyard between these trees. Isn’t it cool? This was one of my favorite sides of the house. The sad part is, this guy had an inner ear problem and was told not to ride his horses. He did anyway and ended up having a riding accident and died before they got married. So, neither of them lived in the mansion. Sad, isn’t it?

Ok, back to Christmas. So we got to spend a full week with Dave’s parents and his older sister and brother-in-law. It was a great time! We ate lots of good food, played lots of games, spent a day in New York City and even snuck in a trip to IKEA. It was fantastic!

Christmas morning started with a phone call from Josh and Val. It was fun to get to talk to them. And it sounded like they had a fun and busy Christmas in Manila.



After we opened presents, we went on a hayride around the property. It was fun to get bundled up and spend some time outside. Lucy loved it at the mansion. Lots of spaces to roam free!

We had the most amazing Christmas dinner and we got to eat it in the formal dining room of the mansion. We transported all of the food and dishes down to this table to eat. It was so fun! We felt like royalty!


This is my sister-in-law, Heather and her husband, Bryan:




Here is a picture of Dave and his Grammy. Isn’t she cute?


I tried brussel sprouts for the first time. They were pretty good. I couldn’t eat a plate full, but this one made it down just fine.


We spent the day on Thursday in New York. We took a 2 hour train ride and landed ourselves in the middle of New York. It was my first time to visit. I loved it! It was a whirlwind day of trying to see as much as possible and as fast as our little legs would carry us. We started at Ground Zero (amazing, by the way, and very moving. I was surprised at how much it affected me being there), went through China Town, ate pizza at Cha Cha’s in Little Italy, took a subway to Central Park, visited the huge tree at Rockefeller Plaza, sauntered down the sidewalks of 5th Avenue (more like a mob scene – it was SO busy!) and finished the day in Times Square. We were beat at the end of the day, but we had a great time!

Central Park:


Rockefeller Plaza:


Times Square:



Lucy had her first swim in the ocean and loved every minute of it.


And I discovered my extreme love of jigsaw puzzles!


We completed a 1000 piece puzzle within a few days. (Actually it was 999 pieces - one was missing) Those few days of puzzle fun were full of good conversation, frustration and joy. I love puzzles! Can you find the missing piece?



All in all, it was a great trip. It was so nice to be away for so long and be completely separated from work and the day-to-day routines. To our New Jersey family – thank you so much for your hospitality! We can’t wait to come back to the mansion to visit!