Christmas Eve Celebration
Mon, Jan 5, 2009
Every year our Christmas is a little different – that’s what happens when you have a set of parents and step-parents.  But usually, if we’re at home during the holidays, we spend Christmas Eve with my dad and stepmother and Christmas day with my mom and stepdad.  This year, instead of visiting my dad and stepmother at their house, they made the long drive to my little brother’s new home.  My brother got married this past March and he and his new wife were gracious enough to host the Christmas Eve celebration.
It was my first time seeing their home – they had done a great job of making it warm and inviting.
I loved the use of colors…
and how the rooms opened up to create a nice living space.
And they had done a beautiful job decorating the tree.
With pretty blues
and silver.
After everyone visited for a bit, it was time to dig in and enjoy the feast that they had spent so much time working on. Â (Or at least the people at Honey Baked Hams had worked on.)
Once we were done eating, it was time to get down to business – the business of opening gifts. Â My parents had put together a little basket for each of us.
Inside, the basket was filled with old-fashioned games. Â There was a kazoo…
and a set of jacks…
and the toy that was an instant hit – the spinning top. Â
The parents seemed to enjoy their gifts too.  There was the birdhouse that we found during our trip to Amish country.
And a wedding picture that looked like an oil painting from my brother.
There was even a picture from my sister from her recent wedding.
And of course, we can’t forget the traditional Senate ornament.
It was a great evening. Â We had lots of fun playing with our new toys, visiting with family, and listening to Christmas music. Â The only thing we were missing was snow. Â But hey – it was Georgia after all, and a white Christmas is pretty rare in them there parts!
What did you do on Christmas Eve? Â Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
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Tags: Christmas Eve
January 5th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Sounds like a lovely family time. Love the photos!
January 5th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Beautiful photos. Looks like y’all had a lot of fun. Makes me wish the Christmas season was still here. I had to go back to work today and I wish I could set the clock back a couple of weeks and enjoy it again.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:38 am
My husband and I spent a quiet Christmas Eve at home. Living overseas and far away from family, we’ve traveled the past two years, first to Italy where we had Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner with Mr’s former landlords (there is no language barrier when food and drink is the theme!) Last year my sister came from California and spent Christmas in Portugal with us. The focus was again on food (both Portuguese and Spanish) and sightseeing from the southwestern tip of Portugal to Gibralter and Jerez, Seville, and Tavira between.
I’ve never had a single Christmas Eve tradition but generally it involved time with Mom and stepdad, dinner at home or out, an evening church service singing lots of carols, and the opening of one gift late at night. I do miss that and hope that when we return to the states we can establish a new family tradition.
Happy New Year!
January 6th, 2009 at 5:33 am
Hi Vered – welcome back from the holidays – hope you enjoyed the season!
Alzo – we did have a great time and I agree with you – wish we could turn the hand back a little and enjoy some more time off!
Melody – it sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas Eve! It also sounds like you have some great traveling opportunities over seas. But I understand about missing traditions too – it’s hard to be away from them sometimes.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Let’s see…I typically go to my dad’s house, but this year we met up at my brother’s instead. And we typically get a honey baked home and then open presents, which will of course include something wedding-related. It sounds pretty familiar to yours.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:46 am
P.S. Do you remember how Amanda liked those sugar cookies and I thought they were nasty and threw them away before realizing that she liked them? That was pretty sad once she went looking for them to have to tell her that they were in fact in the garbage…
January 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am
WofOdie – ha ha, you’re so funny! Yeah, it seems pretty familiar, doesn’t it? And no, I didn’t know what Amanda’s cookies were thrown away. Good thing we had lots of pies to make up for it.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
We had those same dark blue, white, and silver ornaments on our tree. The only difference was the tree–ours was white. Your stepmom looks so funny with that bow around her head!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Funny that Madison noticed the bow! So did I! Traditionally in our family, my sister and I end up covered in bows and ribbons from our gifts (and those we snag off other’s gifts!) We probably have some funny Christmas morning photos too!
January 7th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Your pictures are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing! It’s great to see what you guys did for the holidays. We made our annual “tangerine run” to Utah after Christmas & saw family along the way.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Hi Madison – I’d love to see what your tree looked like – can you send pictures? (fromsingletomarried@gmail.com)
Melody – I bet you had some great photos with all of your bows! I tend to keep some of them because they’re just so pretty these days it’s hard to throw them away!
Susan – thanks, it’s good to see you. I’m sorry I missed the “tangerine” run – I think the last time I received some of your yummy tangerines was about 10 years ago. Of course it would help if I were back in Utah!
January 29th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Amanda and I were so glad to have everyone over. It was so “cozy” in our little place, but I would not have had it any other way. I am just glad that we were all able to get together with Dad and Carol. We are still a little bitter about the thrown away cookies.