Christmas Wishes to you all .....

Santa's work is done, all that is  left for him to do is deliver all the  Christmas gifts and I have been tracking Santa and his progress.  He has just left St Petersburg in Russia and  will eventually make his way to my family in South African,  then he will stop over here in the United Kingdom and  later he will visit my children in the United States. 

 Have you been good, I hope Santa has some surprises in store for you.  

 My wish is  for you to have a blessed peaceful Christmas,   I would like to wish you happiness peace and blessings beyond your wildest imaginations and I hold the families who lost love ones especially  in the recent shootings in the USA the homeless and lonely,  in prayer and love, always, but especially at this time of the year.

Hugs

Cheryl

xxx

Christmas weekend .......

I had so much to say whilst on holiday and took so many photo's and then when I arrived in South Africa  I could not connect to  my blog.  Hardly anyone uses WiFi, they  work with dongles so I couldn't send out  my posts.  I would still love to share some bits with you so I will try to catch up on Christmas and New Year over the next few days..... 

Christmas was the most amazing day.    45 members of the De Beer clan were together for the first time in  years and years. 

The five remaining De Beer Siblings

The only members of the family that missed the reunion were my three children and their families and their absence was deeply felt, but I think that  they were there in spirit and sharing photos  and messages ensured that they  could keep up with all the celebrations.

The Nieces and Nephews and their Partners

  It is so difficult to get such a large family together for an occasion,  so the fact that we had so many of us together was wonderful.    

Some of the great Nieces and Nephews

 It was such an emotional time for us, having not seen the family for  just over 6 years meant that there were a lot of tears, excitement, hugs an overdose of love and of course food

and food and more food.

 We had a Hog and a Sheep on the spit

Hog on a spit

and salads for Africa (excuse the pun)

Salads and home made breads  - yummy

  Desert was full cream caramel and vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce and I made my famous butterscotch and strawberry pavlova!

After all that celebrating and over indulging  Christmas day, we spent boxing day (the 26th December) just relaxing around the pool drinking and eating, some more ....... what can I say?

Eating prawns and dip in the pool

The temperature was 35degrees Celsius with a 100% humidity most of the time so the only way to cool down was to dip in the pool!

Koeksisters - sweet syrupy plated cooked doughy - love them

 The day was finished off with a Braai (barbecue)  there is truly nothing like sitting round a fire and  talking about the day and  the smell of meat cooking on an open fire 

Braaing (barbecue)

Braaied meat and baked potatoes - some more yummy!

Wwhat more could we have asked for, braaied steak and baked potatoes with sour cream and cheese.

A stunning end  to an amazing Christmas weekend

Hugs

Cxxx

Giveaway # 2

Giveaway # 2 - Christmas Scrapbook Bundle

This may seem like a bit of a cheeky giveaway, but I would be so happy if one of  you could benefit and enjoy this little  bundle of Christmas scrapbook supplies that I have put together

I am making a Christmas ......  umm  what shall  I call it .... a brag book, album, memory book,  not sure, I suppose it is a combination of all  these things  ......  I  will share some  pictures  soon.

Stickers

When you do a project do you also end up with  loads of extra  'bits' , I do. 

A few 12 x12 papers and a few A4's

With the very limited space to keep all my craft stuff I thought that maybe someone else could enjoy the extras instead of me trying to  find space for it.      

Bits and  Bobs

Soooo if you  would like to win this bundle of Christmas Scrapbook bits, please go ahead and ......   

a)     Leave a comment  for one chance to win,

b)     Become a follower  for a second chance,   let me know if you are a new follower or an oldie

 And

c)     Mention my giveaway on your blog for a third chance,  don't for get to let me know.

I will draw a name randomly on the  20th November .

Thank you  for  taking part and good luck

Hugs

C

xxx