It is a blessing to be able to welcome our family to our home.
On Christmas Eve our son's fiancee's family hosted us for a wonderful celebration including a beer/cheese tasting contest which was lots of fun, delicious foods, wonderful conversation, and a spectacular toast scribed and read by the hosts. They also included a number of traditions from their family history including breaking the bread with a host they received from Poland and a tree skirt rimmed with gold and silver walnuts as a remembrance of their grandmother's childhood activity of wrapping fruits and nuts with silver and gold to decorate the Christmas tree. The house was decorated so beautifully and the beautiful tree was adorned with red ribbons, white lights, and ornaments that told the story of their lives. It was a warm and welcoming evening.
We spent Christmas morning preparing chicken stuffed with wild rice, apples, cranberries, and goat cheese, a spinach pie, squash, and scalloped potatoes. Family members brought a salad and many desserts. Our guests arrived at noon. There were appetizers, the dinner, a yankee swap, story telling, karaoke, and a game of Scrabble and holiday movie for some. It was a joyful day with lots of happy people.
All in all, it was a very positive and celebratory Christmas holiday. As I think ahead to next year, I want to do the following:
On Christmas Eve our son's fiancee's family hosted us for a wonderful celebration including a beer/cheese tasting contest which was lots of fun, delicious foods, wonderful conversation, and a spectacular toast scribed and read by the hosts. They also included a number of traditions from their family history including breaking the bread with a host they received from Poland and a tree skirt rimmed with gold and silver walnuts as a remembrance of their grandmother's childhood activity of wrapping fruits and nuts with silver and gold to decorate the Christmas tree. The house was decorated so beautifully and the beautiful tree was adorned with red ribbons, white lights, and ornaments that told the story of their lives. It was a warm and welcoming evening.
We spent Christmas morning preparing chicken stuffed with wild rice, apples, cranberries, and goat cheese, a spinach pie, squash, and scalloped potatoes. Family members brought a salad and many desserts. Our guests arrived at noon. There were appetizers, the dinner, a yankee swap, story telling, karaoke, and a game of Scrabble and holiday movie for some. It was a joyful day with lots of happy people.
All in all, it was a very positive and celebratory Christmas holiday. As I think ahead to next year, I want to do the following:
- Stick with a theme for every family member when it comes to gifts.
- Buy gifts earlier and wrap earlier--I was a bit short on time this year.
- Focus on healthy foods--just like last year, people ate many more of the health foods rather than the sweets.
- Spread the events out in order to maximize energy
As I've written time and again, it's essential to celebrate the good times, and the Christmas holiday is one of those good times worth celebrating.