A glimpse back as I am getting ready for the year ahead after winding down from the holidays. The last month and a half has been both busy and fun as our holiday traditions changed slightly.
For starters, this was the first time that I have taken all of Thanksgiving week off from my job. The extra time off allowed me the opportunity to unwind, catch up and have a relaxed pre-holiday time. For our Tuesday fun we watched a movie, had a very nice lunch and then went back to the theater for a second movie! Certainly time well spent, slow paced and involved food.
Thanksgiving Day found us at a friend’s home for the meal so I only had to make the cheesy, garlic mashed potatoes. Thus, a very relaxed Thanksgiving dinner prep and a nice break that helped me ‘slide’ into the Christmas preparations.
As usual, the tree and house decorations were up the day after Thanksgiving and our Christmas calendar of events began. Early December started with attending my grandson’s school Winter Celebration Concert. The next week we attended Phil Wickham’s Behold Christmas Tour Concert both were a wonderful time. Then it was a trip to Disneyland for 3 days before settling in for the family celebrations at home.
For our little family of 3 Christmas lunch I made pumpkin cobbler for dessert, a new food adventure for me that will definitely be added again often. The turkey breast I roasted was a bit too much food wise. Thankfully I was able to share the leftovers so I did not have to keep eating turkey for days.
The routines shifted and our traditions changed for the larger family celebration. Not everyone was able to make it over at the same time this year. The annual family ping pong tournament was replaced with a family board game of Payday. We still popped our Christmas crackers, told the silly jokes and wore our tissue paper crowns while making dessert. Dessert time involved everyone decorating the mini donuts I baked earlier in the day and a side of ice cream.
We will have a 3rd gathering to include the family members that were not able to be here, more food and fun to come. Though our celebrations have been a little different this year the one thing that has not changed is all the laughter and joy that comes from being together enjoying ourselves as a family. Going with the new flow of events. Who knows, maybe this will be our new tradition.