A Peak Into Our Family Christmas....

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone once again. Having skipped a traditional Thanksgiving this year for a beach holiday, it seems like Christmas just arrived without much warning. But it was a great time for the whole family to gather and share food, gifts, and lots of laughter. For Christmas Eve, I typically put out simple hor d'oeuvres, dips, crackers, and a cheese ball, plus an assortment of my christmas baking.



We just nibble all evening. We also play games, which one family favorite is a rousing game of Taboo. We are usually paired up by couples, and sometimes that can get a little tense. This year we chose partners from names in a hat. That was much better. I was paired with my son-in-law Tommy (Melissa's husband).

Tommy put these glasses on and looked like Drew Carey. Paired up, we won the game, which was in close competition with everyone else....as long as we can keep Susan and Julie from being partners, everyone else has a shot at winning!



The next morning the families were here by 11:00am and we gathered to read The Christmas Story (Luke Chapter 2 verses 1-20). For the first time, our son Billy, read the Bible story to everyone.



Then Bill prayed, thanking God for His gift to us, and asking for His blessings on the breakfast. So sweet to see Cassidy bowing her head in prayer.



After breakfast, we gathered in the living room and exhanged gifts.



How wonderful it is to have a grandchild to enjoy Christmas with! Every gift she opened, received the same excited squeal of delight!



We talked, played board games and watched Christmas movies till 5:00pm, when it was time to have dinner. This year was a traditional "Thanksgiving" dinner, because, well....you know why. :)

I used paper plates and cups for Christmas dinner this year. I admit it doesn't look pretty and I don't know if I'll do it again, but I wanted things relaxed and easy this year.



The only tears shed the whole day was while I was getting Tom Turkey ready to go into the oven. My vegan daughter Susan surprised herself by tearing up for ol' Tom. I tried to console her by telling her this was an off brand turkey, and he probably lived a long life, and died of old age. I'm thinking that didn't help......Here's the turkey just out of the oven. Beautiful!




Afterwards, the men washed and dried all the serving dishes and pots and pans. I'm very thankful for the help from the guys! The ladies all took a walk in the softly, falling snow.

This was a wonderful, relaxing family Christmas. It was the kind of Christmas I've always dreamed of. Everyone was laughing, happy, and content. What a blessing God gave me this year.

We are now experiencing 40 mile an hour wind gusts on this cold Monday. With any luck, all the wreaths will blow off the windows, so Bill doesn't have to climb up that ladder again. Out of seven wreaths, three are already down!! :)