What a busy, festive, joyful whirlwind of a holiday season it has been! I am kind of glad its over in a way, to get back to our normal routine. But we had a great great time with family this year. My grandmother bravely traveled from Florida to Seattle, her first solo trip after Grandpa's passing, just to be with us this Christmas. She stayed with my mom who also hosted her youngest brother, my Uncle and his lovely girlfriend who visited from Phoenix. This was significant for my mom b/c this is her first holiday in her new home and she got to have guests in her guest bedrooms, much to her delight.
We had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners at our house and my inlaws came as well, so we had a full house of family, which is how I remember holidays when I was growing up--lots of people, good food, loud talking and laughter, lots and lots of gifts, desserts and candy, etc. Ever since I moved away, holidays were different. I often traveled and split time between my parents or my boyfriend's family. Then when Bill and I were in San Diego we spent some holidays with my family or his, or sometimes we spent it just the two of us or with friends. It seemed like I would never have one of those holidays from my childhood with the house full of family and no place else to rush off to. But this year we did--4 generations, two cultures, the young, the old. It was wild at times--pandemonium even. I remember saying, "Hurry, we have to open gifts and get the kids in bed before they fall apart! Everyone in the living room NOW. We'll do dishes later." We didn't take too many photos, but we did enjoy great food and each other. The kids made my grandma smile, even when it was clear she didn't feel like smiling. Lana LOVES my Uncle's girlfriend--LOVES her! They played and colored and pretended. Bill cooked (a true holiday for me) an amazing meal--he even dry aged a prime rib in our basement wine cooler for a week--I was a little skeptical and was afraid we would be eating moldy meat, but it turned out perfect. I made my vegan pumpkin pie again--it rocks. What I will remember most about our Christmas this year is when I looked around the table at dinner and saw all of us sharing a great day together and just when I was taking it all in, Lana announced that she wanted to share what we were thankful for, just like at Thanksgiving, and around the table we went, sharing our blessings, wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
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6 comments:
How wonderful to have all that family together in one place and bless your Grandma for coming all that way. Sometimes you don't need pictures - the memories you make are more than enough.
That sounds great. We had the opposite Christmas this year - just the 4 of us, no friends or family, we didn't get out of our PJ's all day. It was heavenly. Please post the vegan pumpkin pie recipe...
Sounds perfectly wonderful!
I would love to get my hand on a copy of this vegan pumpkin pie recipe if you're willing to share! I got a copy of the Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook for Christmas and it made me think of how you introduced me to the magazine and epicurious back when I didn't know how to cook. :)
So glad to hear that you had a good holiday!
What a wonderful holiday! It's so great that you got to have one of those crazy, crowded, loud, family holidays. LOL about getting presents open before the girls lost it. We did not, and had to stop playing santa for a few minutes so Michael could go into time out. Bad planning on my part.
Awww, sounds awesome. The best part is that you appreciated it while it was happening--not an easy thing to do with all the buzz happening at once. Happy happy New Year!
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