Christmas lunch at church

Sunday
A really early start this morning as we were picking Laura up from Luton airport (over 2 hours drive), flying in on Wizz Air from Macedonia at about 7.30! We had set the alarm for 4.30 and left about 5.15, having received a text from Laura to say they were about to board. The second part of the journey was dreadful - heavy rain and windy. Just as we arrived at the airport we received a text from John who was tracking the flight on his phone, saying they had been over 50 minutes late taking off! However, they must have made some time up en route as she got in shortly after 8 am. We were just so glad to see her, especially after the uncertainty of whether she was going to make it due to the dreadful smog in Skopje, resulting in the cancellation of the majority of flights for a couple of days. By the time we left the airport it was light and the weather was improving considerably, so we had quite a pleasant run back up to Appleton. We had missed service, but there was just time to get a quick shower and get to church for a special Christmas lunch. We were joined at our table by John's Dad who also attends the same church. It was a very good meal, starting with mulled wine and canapes, then soup, turkey and all the trimmings, Christmas pudding, cheese and biscuits and grapes, and tea or coffee and chocolates to finish up! It was mid afternoon by the time we left church, leaving us just enough time for a quick walk to get some fresh air. Then we went across to Rogers parents for a bit as Janet and John were still at church for choir practice followed by evening service.