Christmas is celebrated on the 24th in Finland. Families meet up and exchange gifts, they might even get a visit from Santa who will give out the presents.

It was a really cold morning, a really, really cold morning - the mercury was showing it was -29c and the digital thermometer was -27.5c. So whether it was one or the other, or somewhere in between, it was cold! The windows of the cottage had beautiful ice crystals. Looking beyond the ice crystals, it was a magical sight that you might dream of waking up to on Christmas morning. The light was the Arctic Blue of dawn (and dusk) and the lights of the wooden buildings sparkled against the backdrop of snow covered fir trees.

We had agreed not to get each other gifts this year, our present was our year off to explore Latin America. Maria did get David a selection of beer though, which was promptly put outside to chill even though it would only take a minute or two before freezing.

Grandma had made coffee and put out some cakes and biscuits, just to keep us going while she made rice porridge with a dried fruit soup. For native English speakers, soup might conjure up thoughts of a different type of dish. A fruit soup, in Finland, would probably be best described as something halfway between juice and jam with the consistency of a creamed soup, pourable but thick. It is really nice though, a couple of big dollops in the middle of a plateful of creamy porridge. Delicious, but dangerously filling. We have lots more food to eat today.

There were still some chores to do before we could sit back to relax and enjoy the day. For starters, there was a need for firewood and it wasn't just one pile of firewood that was needed. We needed wood for the main house, the cabin, the little cottage, the sauna and another for the sauna's hot water. David got to work in the woodshed with the axe and soon had big piles of wood everywhere there needed to be. Katja got the fires going in the sauna and David did the cabin and the cottage.

In the meantime, Maria's aunt, Tarja had arrived from Kolari to help prepare for more of the family coming later in the day.

Saunas were invented by the Finnish and are still an important part of the culture. Unlike other parts of the world where a sauna might be seen as a one off exercise to cleanse the pores, it's considered part of normal washing here. Whereas having a sauna is normally an evening activity, this being a special day, we needed scrubbed up and put on our best clothes - so we had a sauna.

A sauna is not a sauna (as David was told by the Finnish men) unless some cold beer is drunk afterwards, if not during as well. David's Lapin Kulta Christmas beer had been sitting by the sauna door and tasted delicious. It may seem strange, but standing outside in -25c with just a towel on after a sauna, with a beer in hand, is very refreshing.

You can't stand in the cold all day, when it's -25c, five minutes is about enough and the body temperature has lowered back to normal.

After 5 minutes we quickly changed into our smart clothes, David finished his beer, and Katja drove us to Sieppijärvi.

It was mid afternoon by the time we arrived at Grandma's house and Christmas dinner was ready to be served. There was so much food it had to be laid out on the kitchen table and worktops for everyone to help themselves. With Maria's mum, brothers and the Helsinki folks (who drove 12 hours overnight) there as well, even though it was a huge dining table, it was still quite cozy sitting around it.

The food was delicious, there was slow baked, mustard encrusted ham, liver and vegetable casseroles, salads, breads, cold meat and cheeses. And then there was dessert, a lovely plum cheesecake with berry topping.

We were hoping that Santa might come to the house to hand out the presents under the tree, but it was not to be. Perhaps he didn't have the time to spare because there were so many presents, not only under the tree but sprawling all over the floor around it. Someone else would have to be Santa and it was decided to bring out the scales for a weigh in between David, Ömer and Joonas - David wins... or loses depending on the point of view.

The gifts were handed out and we got some very nice presents, we must have been good throughout the year. Lots of chocolates, books and Marimekko stuff. Marimekko is Finnish design that is a must have for every Finn, wherever they live in the world.

The biggest surprise of the day was for Sari, she had absolutely no idea that the pair of skis standing by the tree with just a red ribbon round them was for her. Ömer had sneaked them into Jasmin's snowboard bag and into the car before driving from Helsinki. Along with a new pair of ski boots, Sari was absolutely gobsmacked and, of course, delighted.

We drove back to Venejärvi, with Joonas as well, and the Northern Lights were out again for the second night in a row. There are definitely some advantages to having a clear night sky even if it is bitterly cold. We had a show for about ten minutes before we got into the forest too deeply and our view was obscured by the trees.

Maria's dad had come to Venejärvi and some of the other members of big family came to say 'Hi' and swap more gifts. Once again, we got more really nice presents - glögi, tons of Finnish candy, plush towels and hats. You can never have enough hats, we've probably got one for each week of the year now...

We had some coffee and cakes while the glögi was being warmed. Glögi is a Scandinavian Christmas drink similar to spiced mulled wine that can range in alcohol content from zero to 20% ABV. Needless to say, it's very nice.

The Northern Lights came out again and this time David tried to photograph them. Without a tripod for the camera, it wasn't the easiest task. Despite being -25c, David couldn't wear gloves so that he could change the settings on the camera, it was still experimental shooting for him after all. Fifteen minutes later with the light show still going, David had to give up. The metal button on camera to take the photo was beginning to freeze, not to mention freezing the fingertip that was pressing it. There were a couple of shots which came out okay despite the shaking hands because of the cold.

Back in the warmth of the house, we had a late supper of ham and cheeses. We finished off the evening with another sauna, a very hot one this time, and then it was off to bed in the cabin.