The Wonder and Magic of Christmas

Our Christmas card designed by Kimberly

We just love Christmas and spending time with our family, even more so now that Aaron, Jess and their families live in the States. This will be the 6th Christmas since they both moved there and the 1st with us not spending it with them as they have either come here or we have gone there. But this year Jess and Aaron came to visit earlier in the year which has turned out for the best with the deterioration of Steve’s Dads health over the last few months and he is still in hospital although I have say he was looking and feeling much better today when I visited him. Also Steve’s Mum had a knee replacement on December 1st and is going to take a few months to recover. It’s very hard to watch loved ones suffer and has been especially hard to watch Steve’s Dad suffer and his quality of life lessen. Mum is recouping in a care home just down the road from us until she comes next weekend to spend Christmas with us and we hope she makes a speedy recovery; as she is desperate to get home get well and have Dad back home.

I put our tree up 2 weeks ago while we watched the wonderful movie ‘Scrooge’ the musical with Albert Finney I recommend you watch it if you haven’t as it’s a wonderful movie. There are so many wonderful smells’s that I associate with Christmas ~ candles, potpourri, home baked mince pies and sausage rolls. Many of our family traditions I brought to our marriage, just like my Mum every year I make a Christmas pudding and Christmas cake covered in marzipan and royal icing and mince pies and Sausage rolls. The 2 Christmases we spent in the States I took Christmas cake and pudding and made mince pies and sausage rolls there much to the pleasure of Aaron and Jess. Another tradition is watching a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve in front of an open fire in our PJ’s, eating roast beef sandwiches and lots of yummy goodies. In the morning we open our gifts again in our PJ’s before heading off for the Christmas Day service at our church in Loughborough, which usually lasts about an hour. For as long as I can remember we have attended a church service on Christmas Day, I would go as far as to say it’s the highlight of our day as it seems so appropriate to sing praises in celebration of our Saviours birth on the day the world recognises.

We love to listen to Christmas CD’s especially the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, watch Mr. Kruger's Christmas and read from the bible of the birth of our Saviour. It is a time to reflect on just what the Saviour has done for us and to know just how blessed we are to have this knowledge. We would like to wish all our family and friends a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.