Christmas Traditions

I was scrolling through old December posts and came across this one from 2010. It made me smile, just to read it. Despite the changes in our lives and our families, many things appear to be the
 same.

Christmas traditions are different for every family out there, but the  essence of the celebrations seem to be the same....quality time with family or friends, spending time together and eating way too much.

Whether folks have a big Christmas or small, go out to eat or do a family gathering, no matter how diverse we are, we all seem to crave the same core values and traditions over the holiday season. I find that rather comforting in some way.

We began our celebrations tonight (last night), and no matter the players, the essence is the same. There were only 21 of us, half of our immediate family clan, but fun was had by all.

Mom and dad hosted Sister 3 and her family at her place. Sister 1 and two of her kids made it, and sister 2 made it with one of her daughters and her two little ones.  The four of us were there, along with DS's girlfriend. While the cast of characters changes, the theme is the same.....food, games, conversation and lots of laughter.

My niece wasn't going to be there with her two little ones as they are going to her dad's for Christmas (divorced family), but when she heard DS1 was going to be home, she bartered time off work and drove the 2 hours to see us. Her son, who is 4, idolizes his UncleDS1.  We brought over our ministick nets and sticks and it was great to see the 20 year old and the 4 year old engaged in a 45 minute hockey game.  Sister 1 got the little guy some evil racetrack thing that needed to be assembled so it was UncleDS2 to the rescue. He spent an hour with him, helping him set it up and then playing cars with him.

There were a couple of heavy Kaiser and Crokinole tournaments going on. Competition is always fierce. DS said that down in the States where he is, the boys have never heard of Kaiser, so  he and his roomie (also from SK) have been teaching them how to play.

It was an appetizer/crockpot kind of supper. Dry ribs, homemade pizza, lasagne, sweet and sour meatballs, wings, spinach/cheese dip, veggies, fruit etc. As usual, there was far too much food. Aren't we blessed to be able to say that?

As I write this, everyone but DS2 is home. He was finishing off a last round of Kaiser so the rest of us came home and Sister 2 will drop him off within the hour and then it is off to bed for everyone.