Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!   As I sit by my fire and look at all my beautiful Christmas decorations with my son safely home I am grateful to the Lord for all my blessings.   I wish for you all the same Peace and Happiness I feel at this time of year.

Happy Christmas, you guys. I love hearing everyone's family traditions. So important to keep them. When I was a kid, Christmas had a big, month long build up and lasted well into January. As well as a tree, we always went completely over the top with the indoor decorations, and family and friends came over to help each year (with Mum passing out the obligatory sherry). When we were done, the living room hung with tinsel, paper chains and decorations. It went all around the tops of the walls, across the ceiling from corner to corner - just about everything got decorated. That's something else we do now as well, even though my wife wasn't the biggest fan of tinsel at first. Winning her over slowly

Some time during the night, Santa brought your presents in a sack and left them at the bottom of your bed. My brother and I could open them as soon as we realized they were there, which meant Christmas Day started in the early hours of the morning some years. Stockings (that were actually long socks) would hang on the fireplace with fruit, nuts, small toys, etc in them, and more presents would be under the tree - typically the larger ones that wouldn't fit in the sack. We'd sit around, and like KiwiMum's family, we'd read the label and open each one in turn while everyone watched. Then we'd play with our presents (wearing our new snazzy sweaters) while we waited for dinner. I remember that "Jason and the Argonauts" was guaranteed to be on TV every Christmas morning when I was growing up. And we still enjoyed watching it every year.

Dinner would be roast turkey (back before I went veggie, anyway), with sage and onion stuffing. My Mum would make mashed potato and swede (rutabaga) to go with the roast veggies (potatoes, parsnips, carrots, etc) and Brussels spouts. The meal was always superb, and my Dad always tracked down a bottle of Blue Nun Liebfraumilch to go with it. We'd open Christmas crackers with each other around the table, and even us kids got a glass of wine (to go with the sherry my other had been slipping us all morning. Shhh...). We'd finish up with Christmas pudding and cream, then fight to stay awake as we sat in front of the TV and topped off with homemade mince pies and jam tarts.

After we got married, we did Christmas the way my wife's family did and waited until lunchtime to open presents over at their place. It didn't feel right , and a couple of years after our son was born I told her that I wanted to try it the way I remembered it. That year, my son woke to find a sack of presents on his bed, sleigh tracks in the front lawn with half eaten carrots scattered around, and an empty glass and cookie crumbs in the house. It was a huge success, and it's been that way ever since.

Anyway, back to tidying up so we can start decorating this place

Techno I love the sound of your paper chain. Do you dismantle it (as in undo all the links) every year, or do you just put the whole thing in a box? It's a lovely idea. 

Well said!  My wife and I shall do as much as we can to avoid the world, staying indoors (Chicago is headed to negative zero temps), eating copiously, and doing a lot of nothing! 

I hope it's not too early to start a Happy Christmas thread. The members on here are from all over the world and we all do things differently but are still connected through common interest and friendship and I'd like to wish you all a very happy Christmas.