Christmas! Part 4 - the day after Boxing Day!

Okay, the Day After Boxing Day is not actually a holiday. I had to go to work in the morning (only 4 hours!), but we continued celebrating because my sister and her family came to visit for two days. So . . . more Christmas food, more Christmas crackers and more presents - especially for Edie-chan. Edie got so many presents that she could have opened her own toy-and-small-people-clothes shop . . .
. . . she was extremely busy. In fact, she was so busy that she couldn't even sleep at night and we all became very very tired. But it was great to see them and continue the holiday feeling for even longer.
I really hope you all had a fantastic New Year holiday and enjoy 2011. 今年もよろしくおねがいします！

Christmas! Part 3 - Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas Day and also a holiday. On Boxing Day my brother and his family always visit us. It's like a second Christmas Day - more turkey, more Christmas pudding, more presents!
Fantastic.

Christmas! Part 2 - Christmas Day

We woke up and opened our stocking presents before breakfast (family tradition) . . . . . . then Dad and I drove to pick up my nan (grandmother) from her old people's home (care home) . . . . . . then we had a lovely Christmas dinner . . . . . . followed by Christmas crackers . . . . . . and dessert . . . . . . then more presents . . . (!)It was a very busy day :) And my nan is old and often confused. After we had opened all the presents, she looked at Shun and me and said to my Mum, "Who are they?" Mum said "That's Rebecca and Shuntaro," and we waved at Nan and said, "Hi Nan, Merry Christmas!"
After a cup of tea, Mum and Dad took Nan back to her care home, where she forgot everything that had happened.

Christmas! Part 1 - Christmas Eve

Ah, my favourite time of year! On Christmas Eve, Shun and I packed the presents for everyone, a few clothes and went to stay at my Mum and Dad's house for a few days. Their house felt full of Christmas . . . . . . we watched films on TV, drank prosecco and campari cocktails, ate sausage rolls and mince pies (proper Christmas food!) and waited for Father Christmas :)

Just before Christmas . . .

Just before Christmas Shun and I decided to have a little party for our family, with Christmas drinks (mulled wine) and party food. The snow was still on the ground so it was difficult for people to drive, but everybody came and we had a really good time. When each group arrived, they had to sing a Christmas song before entering the house. Here is my Auntie Penny's family singing Jingle Bells:Well done, Auntie Penny and co :)
And, at the end of the party, before leaving, everyone had to kiss under the mistletoe (Christmas tradition - no idea why):

Heavenly choir!

The first snow finally melted, but about 10 days before Christmas, the second snow came. It started at the same time that Shun, Mum and I were waiting in a very long queue to enter St. Paul's Cathedral (big, beautiful London church) for a Christmas carol concert. Very VERY COLD!!!! So cold that my Mum put her scarf on her head (I have never seen her do this before - she looked like a slightly stylish grandma from a fairy tale.)We stood in the queue for about 30 minutes, the snow falling all around us. Just when we thought we might become ill from cold, just when we thought a nice glass of red wine in a nearby pub might be a better idea, the Cathedral stewards told us we could enter! Inside the cathedral was almost as cold as outside the cathedral, but it was a beautiful concert, with a boys' choir and an orchestra, and we could sing our favourite carols and soak up the Christmas atmosphere. Afterwards we had a delicious pizza and the long-awaited red wine. Lovely (but freezing).

おきゃくさん！

The other exciting thing that happened in early December was our Japanese guest! Our friend Junko came to visit us from Tokyo and we had a fantastic time with her - eating, drinking and laughing. She came with a suitcase full of Japanese treats (eg.めんたいこスパゲチー、トマトすきやきソス, lots of other Japanese food packets, and the December issue of MOE magazine, which I love.) It was like an early Christmas and Junko was Santa-san. Thank-you, Junko! Junko doesn't want me to put a big picture of her on my blog - but I'm ignoring her! Sorry Junko!

December etc!

Oh dear - time flies. I can't believe I haven't blogged for more than a month! Oops! My excuse is: December was very very busy - snow, guests, Christmas preparations. Phew! So if you have a bit of spare time, here is the simple (lazy) version of what's been happening this winter.
First, the snow was crazy! It was so bad that one day, my work was cancelled because the shop didn't have enough staff to stay open - no-one (apart from Patrick and I) could get to work. This meant I had time to put up the Christmas decorations - hooray!And it wasn't only me. The shops in Sevenoaks did some very lovely Christmas displays and looked great in the wintry weather:Ah . . . . nice!