Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I have always loved Christmas and all our annual celebrations, but seeing Christmas through a child’s eyes is simply magical. As a family, we place great value on our Christmas traditions and celebrations – and our girls love it! Our Christmas Day is usually very small as we both have very small families and both MC’s sisters live in the UK. We usually celebrate with just our parents (if my in-laws are not in the UK) and the five of us.

We were pretty shocked this year when the two big girls came bouncing through to jump on our bed and it was already light outside at 6.15am, and we felt so bad sneaking in to wake up the sleepiest baby sister. But after hearing the word “Christmas”, she bounced out of bed and they raced down the stairs to see if Father Christmas had been…

Shrieks of excitement and delight to see presents under the tree (some bigger than others!), milk, cookies and carrots eaten and overflowing stockings. We sat handing out gifts and watching as everyone opened theirs with a special sparkle in their eyes and so much joy and happiness! There is so much more to Christmas than the gifts but it is truly beautiful watching the magic of opening a gift that you really wanted or that someone made or someone saved for – so much love and thought (and endless hours of play time too!).

We sat down to watch our Christmas church service online. We are so blessed to be a part of our church who have adapted so well to online services, and speak so much life into our homes on Christmas Day – but we were also sad not to be in our church building, celebrating our Kings birthday with our church family and community. After church, we all got dressed for the day and the girls played with their new gifts whilst MC and I prepped our Christmas lunch. Our Christmas lunch looked a little different this year as my in-laws were unfortunately in isolation after being exposed to a friend who tested positive for coronavirus, so we packed their lunch in a takeaway and did a drive by drop off of their lunch, their gifts and the girls Christmas wishes.

My stepdad popped in to wish us and exchange gifts, and then my mom arrived for lunch and to exchange her gifts. We had a chilled and relaxed lunch of gammon and roast chicken with all the sides, and ended with our favourite family dessert, pavlova. We spent a lazy afternoon playing games, wishing family and friends online and then an early night in Christmas pjs.

The happiest hearts and all the JOY of Christmas.

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