Some more Christmas memories

I really enjoyed this year’s Christmas. It actually started on the 22nd this time. My beloved and I both celebrate Christmas Eve and Day at home with our parents, so we don’t see each other as they live about to hours apart. Therefore we had our own little Christmas evening at my place. We cooked some good food (we both love cooking) – duck in a sauce of oranges – watched a movie, exchanged Christmas presents and just enjoyed each other’s company. He left early on Friday and I had some friends from church over for soup and breadpudding, fellowship and worship. Then I left for my parents’ place to put up the tree. Do you like it? The picture is a bit blurry, but I hope you get an idea. Christmas Eve we went to church in the village where my parents live. This is where I got confirmed and on one of their camps I took the decision for Christ. There is always a Christmas play done by the youth. You have to be really early cause the church is packed, people are standing in the back. Most of them never enter church on any other day of the year... Afterwards we had gifts and food and just talked. Christmas day as quite relaxed. I took my mom to the service in my church in Bonn. It was wonderful seeing everybody and celebrating the coming of Christ to us. On the second Christmas day my beloved came for dinner. And we had snow! So it took him twice the time it normally takes to drive from Paderborn to my parents... Dinner was fun. My sister’s boyfriend was also over. We stayed for a little while after Christmas. On Tuesday we visited my best friends who are also the parents of my little goddaughter. She turns two in January. And of course she knew right away that that bag I had must hold a present for her J. And of course it did. We had so much fun together. She is just too cute and funny. She especially loved my hat. In the afternoon we met again for some tobboganing. That was fun!
And on Thursday we met with some friends back in Bonn for tapas and “Feuerzangenbowle”. That is a German winter tradition: you warm redwine and orange juice with some spices (cloves, cinnemon, etc.) and put orange pieces into it. Then you place a certain metal fork/bar over it, put a sugar cone on the fork, drench it in rum (54 %) and then light it. The rum starts burning, so the cone melts and drops into the warm wine. Well made, it tastes quite good. Otherwise, believe me, it doesn’t. This one was good though. Hope you enjoyed some more pictures of a German Christmas.