A happy family holiday thread!

[amg35]

.....

 

[hegsag]

Cheers!!! What a wonderful post

 

[SaraJayne]

Absolutely no disrespect for those who have family problems during the holiday season. I feel bad for you. In fact, reading these threads makes me appreciate my family even more than I already do.

Thus, the reason for this thread!

I love my family, no drama. Our Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, (heck, all holidays) are wonderful. I have parents who have made all my 35 (36 after this one) Christmas holidays amazing. Sure, things have changed a bit over the years with the passing of beloved family members, but it is still filled with food, wine, laughter and fun! All are welcome and luckily, we seem to be the family that the in-laws want to spend the holidays with!

I cherish these times and will miss them greatly when they are no longer.

Cheers to happy families!! And to those who don't have one this year, I hope you have it next year and all the years to come!

signed,
a very thankful daughter.

I so agree with you!

 

[minkydog]

I have loved our celebrations ever since we made the decision to NOT go home for the holidays. Thanksgiving is actually my favorite. I do most of my cooking on Tues or Wed(comes from years of working night shift--no way could I leave everything for THE DAY.) Then on Thanksgiving I only have to do the turky, dressing and carrot souffle. Everything else is done! ANd I can watch the parades with my kids. There's no drinking, no fighting and NO FOOTBALL! After the dinner(around 1pm) we set up the Christmas tree and turn on sappy Christmas movies. Stir up some hot cocoa with marshmellows and put a fire in the fireplace. Let kids' friends in, let them out. Eat leftovers. Put up lights on our porch and dig out the Christmas door wreath. What's not to love?

Christmas is more of the same. My kids sleep in their own beds and get up in their own house with their own toys,et al. There's no rushing off to anyones house leaving the new gifts behind. No drama at all. Just a lot of laying around in our PJs enjoying the day. And if we get bored we go out to a movie.

Our families are welcome to join us, but they never do. Maybe they've discovered the same joy we have.

 

[emma'smom]

We're headed "over the river and through the woods" to Grandma's house for a big Thanksgiving Feast. There have been years when someone was sick or pregnant and the "feast" was relocated accordingly to different houses in different cities, but the traditions remain the same and so do the people.

So this year we're looking forward to a big turkey, Grandma's stuffing (from Great-Grandma's recipe), snow in the air, Macy's parade on the TV, smiles of small children and the company of good family!

P.S. I like the holiday films idea....we hole up in the woods for the whole Thanksgiving week-end---a great time for a little Miracle on 34th Street or Its a Wonderful Life.

 

[amg35]

yay! Thanks for replying!

I sometimes myself get a little crabby right before the start of the holiday season, spending money I don't really have and all that, but then I can't help it... I get that stupid happy feeling and I smile for the entire month of December!

I'm already watching Christmas movies. My boyfriend is ready to kill me. (he secretly likes it)

 

[The Princess]

Nice thread!!! I too enjoy my family and the holidays

 

[m&m's mom]

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! We are all invading my sisters house. The only negative is I do not get off work til 5:00 on Wed and we have to drive 6 hours after that.
My family is drama free, everyone gets along and all holidays are such great times!!

 

[amg35]

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! We are all invading my sisters house. The only negative is I do not get off work til 5:00 on Wed and we have to drive 6 hours after that.
My family is drama free, everyone gets along and all holidays are such great times!!

I'm lucky in that way. Our family (immediate and extended) are all within an hour's drive from each other. (except my sister, her family is 4 hours away, but they make the drive in.)

My dad is from a huge Italian family, so none of them ever went far from each other, and all of the kids in the families tend to be the same way.

We're from a big city and surrounding suburbs, so it's easy to stay close.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I enjoy our family holidays too, there is no drama because its just dh,me and the 3 ds. I really do wish we had a more extended family but all our parents have died and so has my sis. We still have fun, going to church on thanksgiving to give thanks, laughing when we say thanks at the table after the prayers are over for some of the funny things the ds are thankful for, at christmas watching the parade etc., I do try to instill in my ds that no holiday is about the "getting" its about the giving and we have been so blessed this year its such a joy to give to others. This year is special now that my cancer is in remission too. I do wish all those going through difficulties at the holidays much peace and patience.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

I agree!! My family is so laid back, we're practically comatose. LOL! Holidays are great for us! Even the one troubled, teen aged boy in the the family looks forward to family gatherings!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I am happy to say there is no drama here, either. My kids would always spend Thanksgiving w/their dad & family, and Christmas with me & my dad & family in Texas, or split Christmas with their dad & me. Since both of my parents have been gone for the past 4+ years, I encourage the kids to spend both holidays with their dad & family so they can enjoy the family get-togethers (they always come back with, um, interesting stories. )

Now that the kids are older, they split their time between their dad and me, depending on school/work schedule on their part, and my ex & I are both easy-going in that we do not give them grief for whatever decision they make.

Luckily for me, my son has a wonderful girlfriend who wants to spend as much time with our family as hers.

 

[4nana]

We have a large family who seem to enjoy each others company and thankfully we're all about a fun time at holidays.

DH and I are firm believers, life is too short to sweat the small stuff!

 

[C.Ann]

For the first time EVER I will still be here at the lake for Thanksgiving and by Christmas I'll be back living with my DD, her DH, and my precious DGD for the winter.. Doesn't get any better than that!!

I can't bring back my lost loved ones, but I can love the ones that are left with all I've got..

 

[kilee]

I look very forward to Thanksgiving. My mother goes all out and makes a huge, wonderful meal. We have a wonderful day together and then my sister and I pour over the Black Friday ads and plan our strategy. I cannot wait, I think it's my favorite holiday of the year.

 

[Becky2005]

I agree!! My family is so laid back, we're practically comatose. LOL! !

Sounds like us. For that matter, I'm hosting Thanksgiving & still not 100% sure who all is coming, because I think my mom might add a few more people before we are done. It's all good. They just may need to bring more chairs.

We might have little dramas occassionally but nothing huge to cause a ruckus...mostly we just provide entertainment value in a fun way for whoever shows up. We make no claims about our sanity (or lack of).

 

[klacey1]

I absolutely love the holidays!
I come from a huge family-- our Thanksgiving is a feast of 30+ people at my grandmother's house. Christmas is a whirlwind-- uncle's house for Christmas Eve dinner, stay at DBF's house that night, and back to my grandmother's for Christmas Day dinner. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Obviously, in such a big family, we have drama sometimes, but everyone is wonderful at just making the holidays happy occasions!

 

[Robinrs]

Since I lost most of my family in the past few years, getting together for Thanksgiving is a BLESSING and I look forward to it every year. I love my family with all their quirks and faults and WISH I could get back everyone I complained about when I was younger....

 

[SDFgirl]

Nice thread!

My in-laws (who I adore) live a block from us, and my parents live 45 minutes away from us...I look forward to the holidays every year with them!

On Christmas morning, we have "our" Christmas with just my DH and the kids...we open stockings/presents...then around 10am we load the kids into their wagon and walk over to my in-laws' house for breakfast and more presents!

Then around 2pm we go to my parents' house (one town away) for Christmas night...usually lasagna, wine, Christmas movies and MORE presents!

It's a lovely day with no drama. Although at the end of the day I'm pooped! But I really look forward to spending the day with my dear loved ones...

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Despite all the "stuff" that is surrounding our family this yr we make the best of it. We talk and work things out.

My mom is hosting Thanksgiving in her apartment and then we are off to DH's dd trailer for another Thanksgiving.

It is going to be a lot of togetherness this yr.