Complete the text with the Past Perfect Simple or the Past Perfect Continuous forms of the verbs from the box.

- always start
- correctly predict
- do
- go off
- hear
- look forward
- love
- put up
- receive
- snow

George and Gina had been waiting for Christmas for roughly 364 days. Ever since they were children, they 1. ........ everything about the festive season, especially Christmas dinner. And George and Gina 2. ........ early. By the end of each summer, they 3. ....... most of their Christmas shopping, and by late October, they 4. .......... their tree. Their friends 5. ....... Christmas cards in early November for as long as they could remember.

This year, the weather forecasters 6. .......... a white Christmas – George and Gina's absolute favourite. Ever since they 7. ......... this, they 8. ........... to Christmas even more than ever. When George opened the curtains on Christmas morning, he was greeted by a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, when he went downstairs, he discovered it 9. ........ so much that the electricity 10. .......... . Christmas dinner was a cold ham sandwich eaten in a dark room next to an unlit tree.