Christmas Eve was wonderfully relaxing ahead of the full-on onslaught of the following day.
I completed the task I began the day before, that of constructing and filling the crackers.
Unfortunately, the chocolate balls had a habit of escaping. Some rolled off the table and across the floor. DH failed to observe the one that made it on to a dining chair and sat on it, completely flattening it. Amazingly he never noticed that it was there. Evidence, if ever I needed it, that he is definitely not a princess! Baby wipes removed all noticeable traces of the drama. Alas, his pride was wounded, and somehow I was to blame for not failing to take adequate precautions to prevent the wayward confectionary from escaping and ambushing my poor unsuspecting husband...
In the evening we rang for the midnight communion at the parish church, which was resplendent in the darkness, with floodlights making sure that that the beauty of the stained glass could be appreciated inside the church. 
The oil lamps had been festooned with fairy lights, rather than filled with oil and lit. This meant everyone could relax, instead of anxiously monitoring the lamps for signs of unexpected combustion or struggling with the smoky atmosphere.
G1(aged 11) had volunteered to ring and did very well. We got the back four down at the end of the service, thus qualifying as ringing on Christmas day.
Christmas morning found us back at our local church, in a lovely interactive service. G4 (aged 5) and G5 (aged 3) had bikes, which they triumphantly rode down the aisle, in a way that was vaguely reminiscent of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Lovely as the are, they lack the divinity and dignity of our Lord!
After church there was a brief interval before the grandchildren invaded. We began with eleven for dinner, and the gathering grew to seventeen by tea time, when the grandchildren's favourite relative arrived - their cousin once removed. S has the status akin to a celebrity, with G1-4 all vying for her attention, all wanting her to notice how cool they were. G1 was delighted to discover that she is now taller than S, despite being only half her age.
The day ended with a brief introduction to Exploding Kittens. The KHT was partnered with the celebrity relative. Everytime they did a preview and saw an Exploding Kitten card, the KHT would look absolutely horrified, so we all were in no doubt where the cards of doom lay! She will never make a good poker player!
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