Christmas Celebrations - it's a wrap!

Well we are back home. The boys are downstairs with one of their cousins, playing Xbox. DH and I are upstairs here watching TV, AND the deer slowly wandering down our street. The snow is softly falling outside and it is just a smidge below 0.

How quickly the anticipation and the busy-ness of those two days has come and gone.  The overarching feeling this year was how happy we all were that mom was still here for the holiday, coupled with the reality that she is just so tired.

Originally the plan was to have Christmas eve supper at Sister 1's (the one with MS) and Christmas Day at mom's, who insisted she could still host it. After returning home from her last surgery, even she admitted that she could not do it. Sister 2 was gone to Alberta to have Christmas with her daughter and the grandkids. Sister 3 was just returning from Mexico and lives 2.5 hours north of here. And me...well my house is just too small to host anything (and that continues to bug me)


Sister 1 said that as long as she was hosting Eve supper she might as well do the Day supper as well. She just needed help with the prep, cooking and cleaning.

Christmas Eve I went over early to help prep. We were having appetizers (coconut shrimp, wings, ribs etc) followed by lasagne, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Her children and their families were there (2 beautiful little girls to hold/play with), along with our parents and my family. Sister 1 always cooks way too much. Hosting is her thing and having this darn disease that saps her energy and strength, is so hard emotionally on her. It was nice for mom and dad to be able to come over, share time for awhile, then head home when she needed to nap.  

After we finished there, DS1 headed off to his girlfriend's house and DS2 went to hang out with friends for an hour or so.

Christmas morning, we opened our gifts here. I have to say that we all really missed not having our tomcat here. Traditionally DS1 opened that kitty's stocking with him and DS2 opened the one with our maine coone.  It was hard not having him there and things just felt off without him. DS1 was particularly quiet.

We cut down a bit on presents this year (thank goodness) especially between DH and myself. I have been trying to get him to do that for years but he just fights it. Then he complains about spending money on gifts LOL. Sometimes there is no reasoning with him. DS1's gifts were clothes and sports items. One of his favourites was a fur hat like this -

 

 

You can snap up the sides to the top. Maybe now he'll stop stealing his brother's.

 

DS2's favourite gift was this quick little stove for his winter camps or canoe trips.

 

 

DH was mainly given 'dry wear' gear for his work outdoors. My list was short and I wouldn't have even made a list if they hadn't all asked. I told the boys all I wanted was a nice picture of the two of them together. DS1's girlfriend will take it and voila. They both agreed to it. DS2 hates pics like his mama.  I got some candles and towels, little things like that. I also got a gift certificate for a pedicure and one to put towards some art to hang on my living room walls. Seriously tired of having nothing on them.  I will have to pick something out and then save the rest of the cash.



After we opened our gifts we headed to mom and dad's where she insisted on doing brunch. Sister 3 and her family were there cooking when we got there. We don't get to see them much so it was fun to catch up and share a meal together.  The phone was busy there this holiday with more relatives making calls to talk to mom (and dad) than usual. We left so mom could rest for awhile.

Sister 3 headed over to Sister 1's house to get started on prep and I joined her there not long after. Another delicious meal. and lots of the kids to help clean up and do the dishes.  We played a couple of games, as usual. This year was Taboo and Catch Phrase. DS2 is coveted for these games as he is a quick thinker (much like his mother) and it is good to see him shine.  He even played on the Wii for awhile with his brother. He doesn't like to use the Wii as his tremors make it incredibly hard for him to hold his hands still for the games and he is so self conscious about that. Was good to see him kick his brother's ........ in archery, especially since DS1 is the jock of the family.

When the evening was finished about 7:30, mom and dad went home, Sister 3 took off for home with her crew, my boys headed off to join friends at the outdoor rink at my school and...... we fast forward to where I started this prairie tale.

We have not yet opened gifts at mom and dads. She likes to do that with one daughter and their family at a time and there just wasn't time yesterday. We can do that on Boxing Day or the next..whatever works.

Simple Christmas celebrations here. Sometimes I yearn for fancy but I know we don't have the kind of cash to make that sort of thing happen.

When it comes down to it, I got to be with my parents, and that is the best gift of all. I cherish those moments even more than ever now.