Have a blessed Christmas 2025

This year, as I was consulting with Sally about how to prepare our Christmas card, we decided on the one shown below. I had previously thought of doing a life timeline for Jesus Christ on the inside, but Sally suggested the second nativity picture. Cindy was here and suggested using ChatGPT to create an image, and we did that and put it on the front page. I had selected the nativity scene that we put on page 2. Shown below are the two versions of the card.

Then, since postal services are not what they were when we grew up, when I remember going to the Post Office and licking many many postage stamps to attach to the many cards that my family sent to family and friends all around the Globe, I created a 'bookmark' type of card as I did last year, that can be sent in WhatsApp that is a very widely used social media platform in 2025 (and has been in use in our family from at least about 2008! It is difficult to see when we started to use it. Wikipedia says that it was originated in 2009 and so we have evidently used it from the outset.)

Bookmark version with timeline that I shared with very many friends and family.

Most people received the bookmark. Since our printer stopped working, I only printed about 6 copies, and gave Sally one of the best. So, here is the bookmark that can be opened in WhatsApp and zoomed in to see the timeline as well as it was visible in WhatsApp. And then the card.

Front

inside - timeline

Inside - Sally's choice

Most of the back is blank, so keep scrolling.

Back

It amazes me what can be done on the Internet, with major companies sharing facilities that enable one to send and store unimaginable amounts of data, media such as photos and videos, and such amazing things for making information available to so many people. This blog is an example of how much can be shared with so many people.

Here is something that I shared with a family member this morning who is concerned about having had her last Christmas with her granddaughter and our son and family being in Australia for the next few years.

In 2025 and 2026 we're able to be together in so many ways that were not dreamed of by our ancestors 5 generations back, or even when we were in our 20s. I can see how we can all see the Second Coming as it happens - when it happens. We can literally all see everything, live streamed or replayed, and not miss any important details ❤️ because of our time zone. The only thing that is important is that we are tuned in to the right broadcast and that our contact details are right so that we don't miss the notifications ☺️❤️