Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Family Christmas

Our Beautiful Tree
Okay, I know you're expecting my usual Christmas rant. But instead, I'm going to write about the joys of our Christmas celebration, and share a few photos.

We had a really fun Christmas this year. We were very happy that two of my brothers and my son travelled to our Island home to spend Christmas with us. We also had the chance to spend lots of time with my two grandsons, their mom (my daughter) and our son-in-law. We got together with friends, and participated in several holiday community activities (one of which involved cooking a community dinner for 60 people!).

I did a lot of cooking (and eating) this Christmas. Somehow, I forgot to take pictures of the food -- how did that happen? We balanced all the time around the dinner table by going hiking several times, skiing twice, and skating once. There were also some very competitive games of cribbage, jenga, otrio, and battleships. We saw the new Star Wars movie together, as well as a new Christmas movie, and some of us watched quite a few hockey games.

The first ski day, we had beautiful sunshine, but hardly any snow. We scratched our the bases of our skis badly on rocks that were poking through. But Rob and my brother Tony are talented ski techies and they fixed up our skis the next day. 
Rob and My Son
Look How My Little Boy has Grown Up



















One afternoon, we went to a community skating party -- my daughter, son-in-law, son, two grandsons, and me.
Grandson with Hockey Moose
My Son, Older Grandson, and Me



















On Christmas Eve, we managed to fit in a pub dinner.
Brother, Brother, and Son at English Style Pub
And then on the big day, there was much merriment. We cut back quite a bit on the consumeristic aspects of Christmas this year. But there was still joyful giving of gifts, along with sipping of wine, board games, walks, visiting, and cooking and eating a traditional Christmas dinner. (Where's my photo of the turkey? I thought I took one...)

Of course, one of the best parts is watching the kids get excited about giving and opening their gifts.
The Bag Of Gifts
Harry Potter Lego!
My Own Camera!

The adults had fun too.
The Velvet Devil??
Awesome Album!


Rob installed a new cartridge on his turntable so Tony could listen to his new album. A few nights later, we had friends over and spent half the evening in the basement man cave listening to LPs from 50 years ago (re-mastered ones).

And, yes, we had to sample quite a few of those yummy wines, craft beers, and a few of us got into the scotch (not me). 



Gallivanting Around Europe
"We interrupt this important moment of putting the hot food on the table to take a Christmas dinner photo..." My seven year old grandson took this dinner photo! The younger one, age four, also took a few hundred photos with his new camera, which were then deleted so he could take more photos.

Of course, one of the sad things about Christmas is missing the family members who are celebrating elsewhere. We phoned my other daughter and her significant other who are spending Christmas in Europe. She's sent lots of cool photos of her trip.

We also talked with Rob's daughter's family, and shared photos. We're excited to see that set of grandkids soon, because we're going on a trip together in January.

We had dinner at my daughter's house on Boxing Day. It was a chance to learn a really cool new board game called Otrio, which is a bit like tic-tac-toe but more complex and strategic.
A Serious Game of Otrio
The best thing about Christmas this year was spending time with each other. When the holiday is less about "stuff" and impossible decorating standards, there seems to be more time to just hang out and do thing things together. I feel so grateful to have these wonderful people in my life. Relationships are the true meaning of Christmas, I believe.

But even a wonderful Christmas like this wasn't all rosy. There are always little negative things, like moments when the kids get over-tired and full of sugar, or me having insomnia Christmas Eve and being really tired all day on Christmas, or the fact that the kids' new skis and bindings weren't set up properly and we didn't discover it until we got to the ski hill. The usual worries (like about a loved one's health or financial woes) don't go away just because it's Christmas. And Christmas is also a time when we especially miss people we have lost, like my dear Mom who passed away more than a year ago.

The joys of Christmas seem all the more poignant set against the bittersweet aspects. As we transition to the new year, I want to remember the lessons of Christmas -- being together is what matters; we're doing our best and that's good enough; let everyone contribute in their own way.

26 comments:

  1. What a beautiful way to spend Christmas. We have similar stories, minus the grand children and snow. Friends, community, family, are really all we need to make the season bright. Happy New Year and all the best in 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you and yours, Suzanne. So many of my past Christmases have been filled with the anxiety of trying to get everything done on time and trying to ensure that everyone is happy. This year, I just relaxed my expectations a bit and focused on spending time together.

      Jude

      Delete
  2. Thanks, Jude, for sharing your joyful family Christmas and photos with us. I agree with you that being together is what matters. We had a fun family get-together last week. Now looking forward to New Year's. Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy 2020!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie, happy 2020! Hard to believe that it will be 2020 tomorrow.

      Jude

      Delete
  3. What a lovely Christmas you had! All the best for 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anabel, it was a really great Christmas. All the best to you and John in the new year.

      Jude

      Delete
  4. Hi Jude! Merry Christmas (past) and happy New Year (future!) It sounds like you have had a wonderful holiday season with people you love focused on what REALLY matters to you. That's the BEST way to celebrate IMHO. May 2020 bring you more of the same. ~Kathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy, I am grateful everyday for the dear family and friends in my life, and this Christmas seemed to really highlight our good fortune in having each other. All the best to you and Thom in 2020!

      Delete
  5. What a lovely Christmas holiday you had! Happy New Year to you and Rob, and all the best in 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope 2020 is. Great year for you and Paul, Janis. Rob and I brought the New Year in quietly last night, just the two of us, and it was just right.

      Jude

      Delete
  6. This looks like a wonderful Christmas! Love the combination of adding hiking and skiing to work off all the extra calories and also the games. We love games in our family too, but a lot of those names were ones I didn't recognise. That's a good photo by a 7 year old! Always fun to get one's first camera...

    Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year.

    Peta

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Peta. Yes, I thought my grandson did a great job of taking that photo. Although my daughter and son-in-law do a good job of limiting the kids’ screen time, somehow they are both technological whizzes. The younger one has known more about my phone camera than me since he was two and a half, and he loves the Google maps feature.

      For some reason, my link to your Green Global Trek blog got broken a couple of months ago and I couldn’t seem to access your blog. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I’ve fixed it now, and your blog appears again on my sidebar.

      All the best in 2020!

      Jude

      Delete
  7. Happy New Year, Jude! Relationships are the true meaning of Christmas...and of life.
    Wishing you and Rob a wonderful 2020 ahead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Donna! I hope you and Richard have a great 2020!

      Jude

      Delete
  8. Your Christmas could become a Hallmark Channel movie. What a wonderful testament to the power of family to encourage and enrich ourselves whenever we are together.

    Tell Rob I am collecting LPs to go with my new turntable. I am finding the original albums at garage sales and antique stores. With a deep cleaning most sound amazingly good for being 50 or even 60 years old. And, at $3 or $4 each, they are quite a bargain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob, I have never watched a Hallmark movie, although one of my daughters works in the film industry and has made Hallmark Christmas movies.

      Rob, an audiophile, has a huge collection of digital music (formatted to be of very high auditory quality). He has organized it as carefully as if he were a librarian, and backed it up multiple ways. Still, there is nothing like an actual LP. These days, the problem is in replacing the cartridge when needed as it is hard to find them. We both still have our LPs collected in our younger years, but a few years ago we discovered that some of the best classic rock, blues, and funk from the 60s is becoming available in remastered LPs, which are of better quality than the originals. I’m sad to say that Rob doesn’t really want me to play my old albums on his turntable as he’s worried they’ll damage his stylus. I admit they’re a bit scratched up — they were well used!

      Jude

      Delete
  9. Hi Jude, glad to read you had a wonderful holiday with family. Happy 2020!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deb, you must be busy planning your move at this point. We were doing the same two and a half years ago.

      Jude

      Delete
    2. Yup! Busy decluttering and sorting (far) in advance of packing.

      Delete
    3. It’s great to start well in advance, I found. For me it was quite hard getting rid of so many items from my past — I found myself overwhelmed by memories. We still had a big truckload, even after all the winnowing of items!

      Delete
  10. Sounds like a pretty perfect Christmas, Jude! It’s so wonderful to spend time with family and loved ones and I couldn’t agree more with your statement that this is important and the spirit of the season. We value spending time with family (or more often) friends, any time of the year. Our Christmas Eve was spent with new-made friends in Kentucky and our Christmas Day was simple - boondocked in a park near a city with take-out Chinese. We will cherish family time whenever it happens instead. :-)

    Have an amazing 2020 with fun, family time, writing, travel, other passions, and art.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Liesbet. I’m glad you spent Christmas with some new friends. Reducing the amount of gift giving this year really seemed to take a lot of the stress out of Christmas for us, and also aligned with my aim to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

      I hope you, Mark, and Maya have a great year in 2020!

      Jude

      Delete
  11. Happy New Year, Jude! It sounds like you had a great Season surrounded by family, friends and food. I love seeing the photos with all the huge smiles. I wondered about a children’s style camera for one of my granddaughters. I see that your grandson received one. I may investigate further for birthdays. The lego is always a winner! Remastered LPs, what fun. I totally agree with you on how the best thing is spending time with each other. And, yes, doing our best and that’s good enough. I look forward to connecting with you in 2020!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Erica. The younger one really loves his camera. Although his parents are quite strict about screen time, he loves everything technological. And the older one is an absolute whiz with LEGO. Before he was three, he was already better than me at figuring out how to build things with it. The future IT professional and the future engineer....

      Jude

      Delete
  12. Your grandchildren are fortunate to have you in their lives, Jude. You see their strengths and the bigger picture in life.xx

    ReplyDelete