Christmas 2018 has come and gone, and along with that we shared Christmas with 5 new fluffy kittens.  Believe it or not, our Christmas and kitten experiences weren't quite the ones we were expecting.

Sometimes life can throw you unexpected curve balls... like when the white fluffy Ragdoll kittens you've been waiting to arrive turn out to be dark tortiseshell & tabby kittens (partially my fault for not keeping a close eye on Ripley!).

Christmas day was the same this year.  The usual plans were suddenly changed when our youngest spent Christmas day vomiting.  This meant there was no big Christmas day lunch or extended family gatherings.  No family photo together... because someone was sick in bed.  Just an unusually quiet day spent at home.

The unexpected - this reminds me so much of when Jesus came.  People were looking for a strong and mighty King, yet initially, all they saw was a vulnerable and ordinary child.  People were looking for wealth and power, yet initially all they saw was a young couple laying their child in a crude animal feeding trough.  No royal palace and plush, fancy bedding.

Sometimes in the unexpected we discover beautiful things - and usually God resides in the midst of it all.

This Christmas, although we didn't have the dreamed of kittens arrive, we have the most dreamy little kittens to adore.  This Christmas, although we didn't spend time with extended family and enjoy delicious Chrismassy food, we drew closer as a family, and made some lovely sweet memories.

Remember when life throws you curve balls, keep an eye out for those glorious moments you can so easily miss when you are distracted by disappointment.  As I mentioned in my last blog post, enjoy life and embrace those moments when things don't quite go to plan... those are often the moments when God shows up and  some of the best memories are made.



Want to see some cute kitten pics and snap shots of our lead up to Christmas?!  

We also lived it up a little this year and got ourselves a real Christmas tree for Christmas... which then died early, and had to be replaced by our fake Christmas tree a day or so before Christmas!

Christmas Day we came, and we stopped and remembered and had thankful hearts.  For Christmas isn't just about the traditions, presents, food and treats... those are all part of the celebration, but I never want to forget the one we are celebrating.  I never want the birthday part to outshine the one whose birthday it is in celebration of.