2020 Christmas in July Week One 1-4

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PamelaG

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May 27, 2011
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Washington, the Evergreen State
We used to have a Christmas eve buffet too! We stopped two years ago because we just had enough of it... we were buying tonnes of "party food" and the four of us couldn't get through it in time! We started having Chinese takeout instead-no cooking and cleaning!
We have had a Christmas Eve buffet for as long as I can remember. Started as a child at home, then I continued the buffet in our household. When I was younger, Mum would make a roast dinner on Christmas Day as well but I did that one year, and spent most of the day in the kitchen, missing the fun of Christmas. So now, the buffet stretches into Christmas Day and several days beyond. I bake a ham and have all sorts of salads and relishes and breads and cheeses.

Although, I have to admit, if we had a good Chinese place nearby, I could probably talk my family into Chinese for Christmas Eve. Sadly, this side of the water has zero options. If we lived in Seattle, we'd have lots of options in Chinatown.
 

halimer

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Aug 30, 2008
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Long Island, NY
For DS's first Christmas he was 3 months old. Not much to do there.

For his second Christmas my mom and I were at home waiting for DH to finish work and he just got up and started to walk! When we went to our friends (been going there for 40+ years) we put up two chairs a few feel apart and had him show off his walking.

We've gone to these friends so long that we've seen the family change. Our parents from the early 70's are mostly gone now and some of us have become grandparents ourselves.

But every year I can count on goose, duck, ham, mashed potatoes and "granny cake".
 

PamelaG

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Just received my Griswold Family Station Wagon mini for my Nora Fleming napkin holder and it made me think back to my Dad's last Christmas. We had no idea it was going to be his last Christmas, he'd had a bad fall earlier in the year and it was touch and go for a while but he rallied. We traveled from Rhode Island to Oregon for Christmas at my sister's (Dad was living with them) and I expected him to be frail but he was in great shape and up for a moderate form of whatever festivities we had planned. He had COPD so mobility was limited but we made it work.

We started off with a slideshow. I brought four wheels of family slides - there were a few from my parents' early years in Paris (they met and got married there - Dad was stationed there with the U. S. Army and Mum worked for the British civil service), all the way through our years of traveling through Europe (Dad had some great duty assignments) all the way up through probably the 70s. I didn't think Dad would be onboard, he was never one for pictures of the past, said they made him sad, but he thoroughly enjoyed the show.

On the weekend, we headed out to look for the Griswold Family Christmas Tree - my BIL's last name starts with G so we just changed it to Griswold. He rented a big pickup with four doors so we all fit comfortably and Dad was settled with blankets and a thermos of hot chocolate to wait while we trekked through the wilderness to find the perfect tree. And trekked we did, my BIL rejected one after another until he found the perfect tree. He chopped it down and we dragged it back to the truck. I tripped over a tree root, fell down and couldn't get up because I was laughing so hard and Vic hyperventilated from the altitude! Oh my goodness, what an adventure.

When we got back to the house, the boys (then 4 and 5) decorated the tree as far up as they could reach and Sophia finished off the top. I had to laugh at my sister's ornaments (three small tubs) but we managed to space them out over the tree. We added some presents underneath and it looked lovely until the boys were fiddling around under the tree checking out the packages and managed to bring the whole tree down on top of themselves. No injuries other than two subdued boys and a couple of broken ornaments! How I wish I had video of that moment.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, my BIL gathered everyone around to hear "The Polar Express" and there's a line at the end of the story "I shook the bell". I had a small bell concealed in my hand and tinkled it at just that moment. My nephews' heads snapped around and their eyes grew wide, another great moment. They soon had me rustled though and we all had a good laugh.

Six weeks later, Dad was gone but what memories of his last Christmas.

Griswold Family Station Wagon.jpg
 

sweetpumkinpye

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Apr 23, 2008
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A couple of years after dad died we all decided to get together and celebrate. We had so many people at our house, the boys had tents pitched in the back yard. We had 2 grand kids sleeping with my Mum and there were people everywhere. We hired a Santa to come and speak to the kids and they so loved that. Of course we had worded Santa up so he knew all the kids names and that was pure magic.
We all pitched in with making the meals and there were so many presents that we had to stop half way through for a break. It was one that we still talk about to this day.
 

girlsinmo

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Jan 1, 2008
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Not sure about this year but we usually prank someone's gift, usually DGD.. It usually means wrapping it in some weird way like with lots of saran or bubble wrap or. Lots of different boxes to open to get to the actual gift inside. One year we prank our DD by asking her to help us wrap her then bf gift. DGD & I got her to wrap what she thought was most of the gift using lots of different boxes. When she got so much done we told her we'd finish it later. Later we added boxes. When she got to a certain area of opening her gift before we opened his prank gift she knew she was actually the one who'd been pranked into helping wrap her prank. The look on her face was so funny
 

Snowbell Ann

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Jun 29, 2020
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Well... this one is a bit tough because I'm 19 so, so far that means I only have had 1 Christmas as a adult... well technically 2 if you live in MO... My answer would be 2019's Christmas. We did all the traditions and such but it was quite and relaxing void of drama that has happened in years past (minus the part where there was drama in our family were a family member nearly got the cops called out to her house and possibly put in jail... But that's a whole other story, For A whole other time... altho on the plus side everything worked out well and there was no drama here at our house) okay so maybe there was a little bit of drama but, what family don't have a least a little bit of it at their family gatherings... Anyway it was quite, relaxing, and Fun. We ate, laughed and opened gifts then laughed some more :) Side note: girlsinmo that was the story I was originally was going to tell LOL

Now How exactly will Christmas 2020 work is anyone's guess.

~ Ashley ~