It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas

I love this time of the year. There are a lot of reasons: trees, fires, lights, carols, hot chocolate, seasonal food, advent calendars, presents, santa, snow (hopefully) and of course the fact that our annual trip to South Africa is imminent. That's the reason we don't usually have a tree here in London but this year Nicholas pointed out that our house doesn't look very festive without a tree and decorations. We agreed that this is the best time in the boys' lives to have a tree. We decided to get one even though won't be here for Christmas and we'll probably have a tree in Magogong and Wakkies. The boys were very excited about choosing a tree, and believe me it is a complicated business over here. We also had fun digging out our old decorations from years gone by and making our house a bit more festive. It's great sitting next to the blazing fire and flickering candles drinking hot chocolate and listening to carols. One can really get caught up in all this Christmas cheer!