A wonderful family Christmas

 Christmas is over for another year and we are sitting relaxing on a quiet Boxing day. We managed to do everything we wanted and I even managed to bake us a Christmas cake. I bought tins of biscuits and chocolates for the family instead of baking them cakes this year. I don't think they minded. 

On Christmas Eve afternoon in recent years our church has combined with one of the city Presbyterian churches to put on a free family festival. There are bouncy castles, food stalls and games and competitions and the last half hour is a presentation of the Christmas story. The local community has received it well and numbers have grown each year. I usually invite my little great grands and this year Arlo came along. He had lots of fun and food. The other two were away out with their paternal grandparents :)

That night I went to a Carol service at one of the local  Presbyterian churches as I'd been unable to attend any of the Christmas services in my own church for various reasons :(  It was a lovely service and I managed to sit with a friend I hadn't seen for quite some time. When I got home we watched It's a Wonderful Life on DVD, I always enjoy this movie at Christmas time.

Christmas Day dawned grey but warm and a bit humid. It was already 20C when we left to have breakfast with our eldest daughter at 9:30am. It stayed grey and muggy all day. Breakfast was simple, only the four of us and we had bacon, eggs, tomatoes and new potatoes chipped and fried with toast. Followed by tea or coffee. Just what we'd ordered. We never have a cooked breakfast so really enjoyed it for a change.

And then about 11:30ish we headed over to our eldest grand daughter's home to deliver presents and wish them Merry Christmas. We sat and chatted over a drink and Christmas fare for a while and headed home again to watch the live stream of our church's Christmas day service that had been held while we were having breakfast. Aaron had recovered from covid which was just as well as he was the service leader :)

Before long we were away again to our youngest daughter's home where most of the family were gathering for a late Christmas lunch. Yes, all the covid patients were finally testing negative by Christmas Day. Luckily we were able to open the doors and let the kids run around outside, and in. Lunch was cold ham and salads which we followed with cold desserts. Gifts were opened in stages, whenever someone felt like handing some out, which made for a nice relaxed time.

 Eventually in the early evening  we arrived home after a busy and enjoyable day - just in time for the Kings Christmas message followed by the Princess of Wales' 'Together at Christmas' service. Tired but happy. I'd like to tell you I slept like a log but I think I'd eaten too much sugary food and found myself sitting up reading at 2 in the morning.

I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours was.

Until next time enjoy the remainder of the Christmas season.

Diana.