Family, friends and falala-ing

Thanks to my hardworking hubby and father-in-law (who gave up his Saturday to help Peter paint the craft room) we got everything moved back where it should be on Saturday, after 5 weeks of chaos.  No more extra furniture in the hallway :-) Then, after a day of cleaning, shopping and baking, Anni dressed in her ourfit which has something akin to Buddy the Elf's costume and we welcomed family and friends for carols round the piano.

It was lovely to gather with some of our nieces and nephews, all dressed up for the occasion. Ann and Jon's three were sporting matching Christmas jumpers.

Anni had baked lots of gingerbread Christmas trees and brownies. Afterwards I did find a few left over trees, devoid of their smarties.

It was like a kitchen warming party and my sils got to see it for the first time. Dee is already a dab hand with my new oven.

It is nice to know that this is just the beginning of Christmas family gatherings.

Sadly, we were missing the lovely Keith, our amazing trumpet player, who went to be with the Lord this year and it was so wonderful that his wife Jean found herself able to come after all, such a hard step to take when Keith was always a big part of this event. We were also blessed to have Dave playing the clarinet this year

It is always lovely to hear people of all ages singing together. Especially when it comes to the 12 days of Christmas.

Every year we are relieved when we manage to find all of the flashcards.

Sometimes you realise that too much time has passed by since you saw some dear friends. I think it could be over a year since we caught up with Gharry and Claire. But then my sil Helen hadn't seen Gharry for years and years and Glen for even longer.

It is always good to keep up with old friends. Glen's little Alicia had shot up and was a fantastic little helper when Judith and I were clearing up.

I hope this is something we will always do. Next year we must make sure we plan it to co-incide with Tom being here. He doesn't get home until Friday, after his exam.