Merry Christmas to all!

It is the final few hours of Christmas Eve here, and on this night I like to recall another Christmas Eve when I was much younger, when the astronauts of Apollo 8 sent a Christmas message from lunar orbit to a world weary with strife and upset, much like now.

They opened with the majestic first words of Genesis and ended with,

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.

That's one of my favorite Michael Card songs, @jo.  

It snowed yesterday, so this morning most of the family including myself went sledding. We had a lot of fun. There were a few snow bumps in the hill, so I expect some of the siblings will have some lovely bruises especially the boys since they tried and were successful in going over the larger bumps. I did get some fun pictures of them which I have been resizing to send to the grandparents and a friend who doesn't care for snow or cold weather, I am sure the pictures will be much appreciated.   

My mom couldn't wait any longer, so we opened some presents this afternoon.   My sister Scarlet recently purchased her Cricut machine, and my mom really wanted to get something for her and the rest of us girls that could be used with the Cricut...so we were given a lovely set of colored markers. We will be having fun labeling things in the next week and into the new year.

It's time to play games and have the Christmas music way too loud and get in trouble.  

Merry Christmas, all!

SnowAngel

For anyone who doesn't like finishing the Christmas season on 26 December, how about going until 6 January and finishing with a Twelfth Night celebration, when you have fun, play games, and start removing decorations?

If the day after Christmas aka St Stephens Day, or Boxing Day, is Day 1, you will find that 6 January is Day 12, making its evening Twelfth Night (some people count from Christmas Day itself).

I hold Twelfth Night parties at my place, anyone can come, bring a contribution to the mid-evening supper (like afternoon tea, rather than a meal) and we play games, chat, or sometimes watch a movie.

Cool, coracle!

I have saved this from a few years back, and find it most interesting:

"The word “merry” is from an old Anglo-Saxon word which literally means "valiant," “illustrious,” “great,” or “gallant.” Thus, to be merry is not merely to be mirthful, but to be mighty. In Shakespeare we read of fiercely courageous soldiers who are called “merry men.” Strong winds are “merry gales.” Fine days are marked by “merry weather.” So, when we say "Merry Christmas," we are really exhorting one another to take heart and to stand fast!"

Hence ... Merry Christmas! Happy Boxing Day!  

Love that @jo!

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and a lovely weekend. We had a lovely white Christmas which started with sledding on Christmas Eve.  

On Christmas Day, we had apple cake for breakfast and a very untraditional meal of spaghetti, green beans, fresh bread, and fruit salad for lunch, it was very festive. I made a mixed berry cobbler for dessert, it was very yummy and also pretty.

We spent Christmas morning opening presents and the afternoon playing board games: 10 Days In Africa, Catan, Scrabble, Spinners Dominoes, and Sequence. We also enjoyed drinking coffee and eating dark chocolate. 

We had white lights on our Christmas tree this year, but part of the top string of lights went out on Christmas Eve. So Saturday we changed to colored lights and redecorated the tree. We will redecorate again on the 7th and changed the ornaments to silver and blue balls and white bells for January and also switch the tree skirt from white to dark blue.

My younger siblings received Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids from some old family friends or at least I thought they were friends, I am starting to have some doubts. Last night I was attacked by the knock-knock jokes.  

SnowAngel

Tonight was my last Christmas season event; I hold Twelfth Night most years, which is usually a few friends coming round to play cards, a board game, or just chatting for a few hours. Party food, a cup of tea, and the lights on the tree for the last time. Tomorrow morning I will take off the tree decorations, and put the tree outside to be disposed of (a real pine tree), and pack all the decorations away for next year.

Nice, coracle!  

Since we could not have Christmas with our kids this year because of the pandemic, our gifts to each other are still in bags, unwrapped, at our respective homes. We are all eager for when we can finally be together to celebrate, which may not be until spring. Therefore, we are having a bit of fun here, having chosen to leave all our Christmas decorations up in high anticipation of that time. We are taking down the outdoor lights, but the indoor festiveness is all staying put. Our tree is real, and is showing no sign of fading (we cut it down on Dec. 5), so it will stay up as long as it is still fresh/drinking water. I doubt it will last to spring though, haha, in which case we will bring up our medium-sized artificial tree and load it with mini lights.  

When we first thought we would be able to get together, I worked on a bunch of baking, and while we have consumed some over the holidays, the items that will last well are packed away, awaiting the arrival of ... family!

Two years ago, we had another delayed Christmas celebration, when the precious dog of our son and daughter-in-law ran away at an extended family gathering (she is a rescue dog) and was lost for six weeks in the bitter cold, ice, snow, with coyotes prowling. No one had the heart to celebrate after that, so once Bear was finally (and amazingly) found, we were able to have our Christmas together ... on March 9.