Our Christmas Plans

Christmas this year is going to be special, it will be the first time in 5 years that we will be at home for Christmas.

Christmas Eve we will be going to Church for their service. It is a tradition that we go to service however where has always been up for discussion. One year John was Baby Jesus in the the Living Nativity at the church we attended Christmas Eve service, it was such fun and great memories. This year we will be attending the service at my home church. We will have our traditional meal of Rouladin, Speatzle and Rot Kohl. It is a German meal and I don't cook them often for Michael so this will be special. We always have a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. This has been a tradition since my sister was little. We will hang the stocking and sit a visit with each other until late.

Christmas morning we will get up and open our stockings. This is a time for a free for all. This is about the only way that we celebrate Santa but it is fun and filled with memories from when I was a child. Then we sit around the tree and the youngest person present gets to play Santa and delivers the present one at a time to its recipient and we all watch as that person opens the gift. Yes this draw out the process but we enjoy it. One time I was at my in laws and they all opened there presents all at once and I just sat there and looked around, I was too busy watching other to open any of my own at the end I was left with a stack to open, some things are just hard to change. Then we have a big breakfast; fresh made bread, breakfast casserole, and a fresh fruit salad. The rest of the day is spent playing with our gifts, visiting and preparing for our Christmas dinner. I'm not sure when that will be this year as my sister has to work from 4-8pm and the old age home. It is usually a very relaxing day, nobody is in a rush to do too much.

We will be leaving late on Boxing Day, which is a much a holiday as Christmas day for a lot of Canadians. We usually get together with friends on Boxing Day, this year my friend is coming up to my mom's to visit and we will be taking the kids to Chuckie Cheese's so they can play. Hopefully my brother will be able to change his family's plans and come up too so that we can see the new baby and the cousins will be able to play.

We are leaving to come home late on Boxing day and driving through the night. We are praying for good weather.