Christmas This Year

... been a busy hols, this year. And I thought term time was busy enough. Christmas came so suddenly this year. I had not much time to 'plan' my Christmas shopping. And the Christmas mood wasn't really felt till the eve after I went out for breakfast with the George, Linda, Lee Fun and Andy. And we ladies, joined by Deb went out for a short shopping trip in the afternoon.

As it has been for the last few years, we spent Christmas Eve at Ah Ho's. This year's highlight was Joseph's roast lamb. It was still over the fire when we arrived. We were early. I wanted to see it before it was carved up.

Dinner was nice, it always is at Ah Ho's place. And this year, her kids (D-I-L included) did all the cooking.

Then we waited for the carolers. It's been a tradition for many years that this is the last stop for the carolers. So we had a second round of people dropping by after 10 p.m.; parents of the kids who would pick their kids up after the caroling.

Church service on Chrismast was at 10.30 a.m. This year's attendance was very good. Almost 350 people, almost a 3-fold over our normal attendance. There was buffet lunch, kindly sponsored by an anonymous kind soul. God kept the rains away and the weather was just nice enough for an outdoor makan.

I saw a group of young people taking a group photo after the service. They are our earlier batch of church kids now grown up. Many of them were primary going when we first came here. And now some of them are already married. Adults they've become. How time flies!

This was followed by a wedding dinner reception at the Chans' place. We're getting a flurry of Chan weddings. This is the second wedding in the family in 2 months and a 3rd will follow suit within the next 4 months! An informal dinner at the house instead of the usual restaurant wedding dinner meant that we could move around and mingle in a relaxed atmosphere.

My gal had a nice time collecting presents this year! She asked me how come she received so many presents! We told her it's because people remember her. 8) For a kid at her age, presents make Christmas time a happy time. My boy was kept busy with his usual MYF year end activities. Reminds me of the years past when Other Half and I were at that age. Our year end hols would be filled getting ready for Christmas too! And it was good for us. Our time was well filled and working together with our friends helped to shape our characters.

Christmas this year is also enriched by the presence of the Thompsons in our midst. It's been many years since they left here and I think it's nice that we're able to see them rather regularly in the last couple of years too.

So, Christmas 2010! Yup! It's a blessed one for many of us.