Across Australia families will be reuniting this Christmas, but for siblings Nadia and Haithem Yayha the occasion is extra special.
The pair reunited this week in Sydney after 18 years apart, and are now spending the holiday season making up for lost time.
Ms Yahya's daughter Bedoor Raheem says her mum hasn't stopped talking about how grateful she is since the emotional meeting with her brother, sister-in-law and three of their children at Sydney airport on Tuesday.
"At the airport she was crying the whole time - all she's thinking about is that he is finally here," Ms Raheem said.
"It's been 18 years that she hasn't seen him - he's been a major thing missing in her life."
Ms Raheem and her family left Iraq in 2003 and spent 11 years in Syria before coming to Australia on a refugee visa for people facing persecution in their home countries.
It was a process that took five years. When they arrived and settled in Canberra they were given assistance to find a home, enrol in school and open bank accounts.
Now, with the help of the Red Cross, Ms Raheem is fulfilling that role for her uncle and his family who touched down from Jordan on Tuesday, sponsored by Ms Yahya.
They're grateful for her help.
"I keep telling them it's not a problem at all - we're not strangers, you don't have to say thank you to me," she said.
She's also getting to know three of her cousins, who are all in their 30s.
"They thought because I'm younger - 20 - I might not get along with them much and they said 'sorry if we're boring'," she laughed.
"But we have so much in common - they like to talk, I like to talk."
Ms Raheem's brother has sponsored a fourth cousin, who is still in Jordan with her husband.
It's hoped they'll be able to join the family in Canberra next year.
The reunions and celebrations are continuing this week, with plans for a big gathering on Christmas Day.
Christmas and New Year public holidays have caused some headache for the Yahya family as they settle into their new city.
With people able to travel over the festive season it means they had to pack up and move to a new hotel on Thursday morning.
Ms Raheem will take them to appointments with doctors, banks and Centrelink hoping to arrange as many essential services as she can around public holidays.
"The more things we can do on the same day while things are open, the faster the process will hopefully be," she said.
Then comes the bigger task of finding a house so the families can live close by.
"My uncle has told my mum he's not going to learn how to drive - he'd rather walk everywhere than drive," she said.
"But even if it's a bit of a drive away mum will visit him every day."
With nearly two decades to catch up on, they'll have plenty of stories to share
