Christmas 2010 recollections

[Jordan]

Well, it seems the decorations are starting to come down and Christmas 2010 is now little more than a memory. So I thought I would start a thread where we can all share our memories of last Christmas and keep them alive. What did you do over the Xmas holidays? Were you surprised by anything you received? What did you eat?

I live on the west side of Canada and have to travel east with my wife for Christmas every year to visit family. I spent Xmas morning with my in-laws, visited my great-grandmother (she's 101!) in the afternoon, and spent the evening at my mother's. We had a big turkey lunch (I had a drumstick!) with purple cabbage, potatoes, stuffing, and lots of other goodies. I got lots of great presents, and I like to think I gave as many! Boxing Day, we visited my father and opened presents there that evening after a big dinner with his side of the family.

All-in-all, a great Xmas. Looking forward to next Xmas already, when my wife and I will have a new baby to celebrate it with! :elf3:

[SilverBells]

A new baby? That's wonderful. Congratulations :elf3:

My Christmas was wonderful. I spent it with my husband and our two kids at home. We opened presents Christmas morning, went to visit my hubby's parents, had Christmas dinner with my parents, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy etc. I'm sad now that is over and already looking forward to next Christmas.:)

[Jordan]

A new baby? That's wonderful. Congratulations :elf3:
Thanks, TIATIA! I'm pretty excited, myself.


My Christmas was wonderful. I spent it with my husband and our two kids at home. We opened presents Christmas morning, went to visit my hubby's parents, had Christmas dinner with my parents, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy etc. I'm sad now that is over and already looking forward to next Christmas.:)
Sounds like you had a great time. I'm looking forward to hearing about other peoples' Xmas experiences, too. Reliving Xmas memories is one of those things that keeps me going through the year.

[ornamentmaven]

Had some of my husband's family over for Christmas Eve. Had my traditional buffet dinner with Shrimp cocktail, Bacon wrapped scallops, Stuffed clams, Baked ziti, Long grain and wild rice, Chicken marsala, Swedish meatballs, Antipasto salad, cookies and fudge, wine, soda, etc. Had a really great time! Christmas Day was a quite day with the immediate family, presents and ham dinner

[steph535]

Jordan, this is a great thread; thanks. We went up north to Ohio and Michigan for Christmas and New Year's to spend time with family. We had a wonderful time. We went a week early and stayed with my sister and her family for most of the time, and then spent the last two days with my oldest son. For Christmas (at my sister's) we had beef loin tips, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, sweet potato, crescent rolls, green been casserole, and for dessert we had triple chocolate mousse cake that my sister made from scratch. Heavenly! This is the first time, that I can remember, that we haven't had turkey for Christmas dinner. My BIL decided he didn't want turkey this time. Oh, one more thing; we hadn't seen snow in at least 6 years and there was plenty for a while, then it warmed up enough so that all the snow melted within a day.

[JollyElfDC]

Well 2010 was a rather strange Christmas. First off it seemed that nobody I knew was feeling Christmassy. I had to work Christmas day and we had a potluck. It was very untraditional, but all the food was amazingly good.Since there was nothing to do at work, we ate and watched Christmas DVDs. On boxing day (Dec 26) I had my real Christmas dinner. I had a dear friend (who also has no family in this area)over and made a nice ham with scalloped potatoes, squash, greens and champagne. We watched the 1960's movie "The Parent Trap" and had a great time.(We had 2 bottles of champagne and then washed it down with some regular wine:elf3:) The only down side was he refused to wear the hat that came out of his Christmas cracker. He thought the whole Christmas cracker idea was silly.:sad elf: It was by no means how I would have liked to spend the Holiday, but it was still an enjoyable Christmas.:gelf:

[flick's tongue]

As is tradition, my Mom visited Christmas Eve and joined my family for Mass. My in-laws joined us at the Church, and came back to our house afterward. Lots of excitement in the evening getting my two kids to bed. Of course, we had to check the Santa radar to see where he was at the moment.

After the kids are asleep, the adults watch parts of "It's a Wonderful Life" on NBC. We also love watching the "A Christmas Story" marathon on TBS over and over.

Christmas Day we open presents, listen to Christmas music, and enjoy each other's company. The afternoon is spent at my in-laws. Early dinner was ham and many wonderful sides.

It's hard to believe it's almost been a month since then. We took down our tree and decorations today since we've been so busy. (We haven't turned on the lights since the Epiphany Jan. 6.)

[Jordan]

These are great memories. Does anyone have anything else to share? It's nice to hear that people still make the most of it even when they're not with their family over the holidays. :home:

[Mary Angeldog]

Actually for the first time in several years the whole family was able to gather at our house(even my 96 year-old mother-in-law)for our traditional Christmas. We had turkey, my husband's special dressing.green bean casserole, corn casserole,gravy, sweet potatoes and many desserts brought by family members. The decorations turned out exactly as I had planned and everyone seemed pleased with their gifts. That evening we went to my best friend's house and had snacks and wine and opened more presents. Really one of the best Christmases in years. The dog got so many snacks we still haven't used them up yet!

[MinnesotaMike]

Well...thinking back a couple months, it really was a wonderful holiday season in 2010. We watched Christmas movies every night all through the month of December. On Christmas Eve, we went to our new church for the very first time, and we've been going every Sunday ever since. We spent the rest of Christmas Eve at home, with just my wife and boys. On Christmas Day, we got up and opened presents, then went to my in-laws for the day. We had fondue for the big meal. Starting in 2011, we are going to plan for what will become our traditional Christmas Eve dinner that my wife will make for our family to have after church...from now on. We still aren't sure what it will be though. So far, we're leaning toward prime rib. Christmas 2010 was truly wonderful, and as my boys keep growing, they will just keep getting more and more enjoyable!!

[Jordan]

One thing I enjoyed this past Xmas was going to my grandfather's house to look through his old Xmas decorations. He has promised them to me once I move back home to Ottawa, so I was invited to rummage through his stuff to see what was there. A lot of people would probably consider it to be cheap, old "crap", but it all takes me back to being younger and visiting grandma and grandpa's place at Xmastime. :home:

[ChristmasFairy]

Your Christmas recollections of 2010 all sound very lovely and I wish you a very Merry 2011 Christmas as you continue to build happy memories of years past.

I don't mean to bring anyone down but reality is what it is. For me Christmas 2010 was the most challenging and saddest one that I can remember as it was the first Christmas without my husband of 30 years as he suffered a sudden heart attack and died.

I couldn't bring myself to do any decorating and it was a very sad time for me and our two sons. I spent most of the time just thinking and double thinking with my mind on 'fast rewind mode' thinking of each and every Christmas in 30 years.

I went into the city on Christmas Eve and wished that I had never gone. Being amongst the happy shoppers, I felt like an alien trying to come to terms with everything and to be perfectly honest I didn't want to be a part of anyone's Happy Christmas.

This year ... at least since finding this forum, I have become a little bit interested once again in everything Christmas and have enjoyed reading all your posts and looking at your pics. I hope to at least decorate a tree this year for my sons... well at this point I hope to, but as the holiday season approaches... so many conflicting emotions ... so who knows if I will and my heart goes out to those who have lost close loved ones...

[ornamentmaven]

Your Christmas recollections of 2010 all sound very lovely and I wish you a very Merry 2011 Christmas as you continue to build happy memories of years past.

I don't mean to bring anyone down but reality is what it is. For me Christmas 2010 was the most challenging and saddest one that I can remember as it was the first Christmas without my husband of 30 years as he suffered a sudden heart attack and died.

I couldn't bring myself to do any decorating and it was a very sad time for me and our two sons. I spent most of the time just thinking and double thinking with my mind on 'fast rewind mode' thinking of each and every Christmas in 30 years.

I went into the city on Christmas Eve and wished that I had never gone. Being amongst the happy shoppers, I felt like an alien trying to come to terms with everything and to be perfectly honest I didn't want to be a part of anyone's Happy Christmas.

This year ... at least since finding this forum, I have become a little bit interested once again in everything Christmas and have enjoyed reading all your posts and looking at your pics. I hope to at least decorate a tree this year for my sons... well at this point I hope to, but as the holiday season approaches... so many conflicting emotions ... so who knows if I will and my heart goes out to those who have lost close loved ones...

I feel for you Calypso and am sorry for your loss. Just do as much or as little as feels right!

[ChristmasFairy]

I feel for you Calypso and am sorry for your loss. Just do as much or as little as feels right!

Thank you ornamentmaven ........ and that's very good advice :elf2:

[Jordan]

I definitely feel for ya, CC. I lost my sister only two years ago. The first Xmas was tough, but they do get better. I started shopping for underprivileged children using the Angel Tree at the local mall to honour my sister. I find it helps keep her involved somehow throughout the holidays. It's money I would have spent on her anyway.

[mina553]

so jordon how old is your baby now ?
Last Christmas i was surprised to receive this lap top dell from my husband its the best gift he ever picked with out me asking .
I had my mom over 4 the Christmas holidays i was happy she was here this year i cannot have her over as my dad is now in an senor home & iam having him over in sted .
i spent last christmas with my daughter her husband & my then 2 year old grand daughter, My eldest daughter was pregnant & we had our 2 nd grand daughter on the 30th of dec.
shes now gonna be 1 year old day b4 news years .

[Jordan]

so jordon how old is your baby now ?
She'll be seven months old next week! My, how time flies. Just wish she'd sleep better!

[mina553]

awww shes still a lil baby is she in her crib or in your bed?
if shes breast feeding she may not be full enough @ nights or is she on bottle?

[mina553]

i wish my parents were still 2gether A GIRL CAN STILL WISH CAN'T SHE ?

[Jordan]

awww shes still a lil baby is she in her crib or in your bed?
She used to sleep in her crib, but in order to try and shape her sleep habits, she's now sleeping in our bed. I'm stuck sleeping out on the futon. :elf2:


if shes breast feeding she may not be full enough @ nights or is she on bottle?
She's breast fed, and she definitely gets lots to eat before bed! I think she just needs to learn to fall asleep (and get back to sleep) on her own.

[mina553]

i have 4 KIDS good luck trying to get her out your bed.
thats bad your on the futon.

I ALSO KNOW U WILL DO ANY THING TO MAKE HER STOP CRYING & 4 U GUYS TO GET SOME SLEEP I FEEL 4 U & YOUR WIFE .
BIN THERE CLEANED THAT
THINGS WILL GET BETTER AS SHE GETS OLDER .....

[ChristmasFairy]

I definitely feel for ya, CC. I lost my sister only two years ago. The first Xmas was tough, but they do get better. I started shopping for underprivileged children using the Angel Tree at the local mall to honour my sister. I find it helps keep her involved somehow throughout the holidays. It's money I would have spent on her anyway.Thank you Jordan and I'm so sorry for your loss.

That's a wonderful way to honour your sister for the holidays
:elf2:

[jessicayy]

Christmas is one of my favourite festivals.I often celebrate it with my friends.And we will have a dinner together:hopxmas:

[mina553]

it is def my fav holiday