Did anybody else actually have a "good" Christmas?

[alliecats]

I had a wonderful Christmas. One of the nicest we've had in years, and miles better than last year. Plenty of quality time together, cooked a big meal for just the two of us, saw some family, just a nice peaceful time. I am trying to 'practice gratitude' with more awareness of the blessings in my life. Not to sound sappy, but it makes a huge difference in my outlook. The negatives have a way of drowning out the positives. That is human nature. I am trying to make sure the positives don't slip by unnoticed.

As for presents, DH made a list and I picked things out from it. And for mine, we both took a day off work and drove to a great outlet mall in a neighboring state and let me pick out a bunch of clothes. This was his idea and it meant a lot to me--not the gifts so much as the fact he was willing to take a day off to drive 3.5 hours each way to take me to my favorite outlet mall--shopping, voluntarily.

 

[Minnie]

Oh yes we had a great Christmas

And though the gifts were fantastic (my mom really went above and beyond this year ) the best was the fantastic news by dad received regarding his health

Though we missed family members that were snowed in we were able to spend time with those that have not come in the past due to family problems. This year it was wonderful

I feel very blessed this year

 

[skater]

I had a wonderful Christmas. I was surprised at some of the Christmas "bitterness" I read. I can understand it if someone has experienced loss or illness, but as long as we're all alive and healthy, my Christmas will be great. Last Christmas, I was recovering from a tooth implant and was not allowed to eat anything solid - I was somewhat miserable and very upset, but it was still a great Christmas. My kids were around me and I got to spend time with all the people I love the most. What's not to love?

 

[mom2boys]

Our Christmas was lovely. Of course, we don't have unrealistic expectations. Christmas is different because both of our boys are teenagers now. Santa doesn't visit our home anymore and my youngest received his "big" gift and accessories back in September. (He's a hunter & got a new rifle, scope, shoulder strap & storage case.) I put it all under the tree with bows on each piece. His brother got a laptop - he'd asked for it but we led him to believe it was too expensive.
We had Christmas dinner with relatives. The man of the house can be uptight but his heart is in the right place. My brother brought his new girl friend & her 3 year old. No one had ever met them before but we all tried to include them. Some even bought them small gifts. The little boy was thrilled with the hot wheels pack I spent $4 on. But I think he liked the candy cane some found for him when he asked even more. Some of the food was great, some was so-so - including the dessert I experimented with We enjoyed each others company and all realized that it will be very different next year with one family moving to warmer climates & another who will be out of the country.

 

[clovergirl5]

We had a good christmas too. Dh had to work christmas day, so we celebrated the 23rd. Other than that...it was fun! Dc LOVED what they got and were very happy all day. We watched new movies and played games and ate like pigs Whats better than that!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I had a really nice Christmas. My daughter went to her dad's earlier in the week. My son had to work so he went Christmas morning to spend time at his dad's house.

Christmas Eve, I went to Mass, and when I came home, one of my son's friends came over with a gift for me. He recently returned from Iraq and said that I have always supported him, so he wanted to bring me something. The gift was nice, but the thought behind it was so sweet, it brought me to tears.

My son came home from work and we spent a really nice time together. Christmas morning he went to San Diego. Later in the morning his girlfriend & her brother came over. Her brother wanted to bring me a gift (he loves my chicken soup, so whenever we make it we text him to come over & have some with us) because he says I'm like a second mom to him.

I went to my ex-sister-in-law's house (my ex's sister) in San Diego, and had dinner there then spent the night. Her aunt, uncle, & cousin also went over for dinner. It was such a nice visit.

Today the kids (20/21) come home and we'll open our presents and spend the day together.

 

[yaytezIOA]

We had drama, no doubt, and my kids are with their mother which was sad....but despite it, I was with the woman I love, and we had a really good time spending time alone. What better can you get than that?

 

[1stluvispooh]

I had a great Christmas manly because I heard my DD who talks non-stop in the shower say. "I need to e-mail BFF's and tell them I had the bestest Chrstimas ever!"

 

[momrek06]

FABULOUS. My family left for Las Vegas on December 23rd and just returned. We had a WONDEFUL time. Didn't win a penny... But had some fabulous meals and went to some awesome shows!!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

I had a very nice Christmas:

We went to the Children's Christmas Eve Mass (it's at 5:45 instead of midnight) and it was just beautiful!!

DS was up insanely early, but that's pretty normal here, and it gave us time to open gifts slowly and play a bit before heading over to M&FIL's for dinner (which was yummy) and then over to SIL's to see the nieces (oldest is home from college).

I love my presents! And everyone seemed happy with what I gave them, too - especially something I made, which always feels good.

We were extremely tired when we got home, but I think I'm almost back to normal now.

Thanks for starting a happy Christmas thread.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Wow, I think there must be at least a dozen negative Christmas threads on the first page alone. Don't get me wrong, I understand family drama and problems (my wife's family produces enough drama to provide good material for at least 3 soap operas and a talk show or two), but I have to wonder if anybody else besides us actually had a "good" Christmas?

We had a fantastic, wonderful Christmas. It was a great time leading up to Christmas, a fantastic Christmas eve, and a very special Christmas day. This was probably the best Christmas we've ever had. It wasn't because of the presents (we couldn't afford all that much this year, but the one's we did give were well thought out, and very much appreciated), but more a real sense of being together as a family, and enjoying everything together that makes Christmas what it is.

So, who else had a good Christmas this year? Sound out! Let us know why your Christmas was special this year.

I'm glad I was not the only one that noticed this.

Yes, our Christmas was good!

 

[MOMTOCUTESTDOGEVER]

We had a really good Christmas. I went into it with a positive attitude and was determined that it was going to be good, regardless of what happened. And, I even got gifts that I didn't like and there was family drama! Still had a wonderful time.

 

[dcentity2000]

We had a great Christmas. In fact, we haven't stopped yet! We had a party today and scheduled another one in a few days! My Christmas present to the others in the family? Tickets to the Lion King on New Year's Day, so the magic will continue at least until then!



Rich::

 

[DMRick]

We had an awesome Christmas. Started as I mentioned in another thread, when my son and his wife had a beautiful baby girl on Christmas Eve. I love technology..she was born in Ireland and we got pictures and movies almost instantly. What a blessing! Our US family were together both Christmas Eve and Day. Everyone seemed to love their gifts. We got to see friends, and it ended yesterday with 8 kittens adopted at our adoption clinic. Wonderful wonderful time. No family drama.

 

[donac]

I too went into it with a very positive attitude. By Christmas night I was very tired but we had a nice day.

For us we start with Christmas eve at my parents house. We had our two sons and one son's girl friend drive up with us so that we would only be taking one car. We didn't have to wait too long for my sister who is always late. Dinner was great and the kids behaved even when we asked them to get together to get a picture with grandma and grandpa. The should the youngest is 8.

Christmas Day was long since I do all the cooking but since we transport the food to in laws it means that the house doesn't have to be super clean and that has taken some of the stress off of us. I was a llittle bad at one point. All the cookies I made were from premade cookie dough from the grocery store. My sister in law made the comment "Homemade cookies?" I hesitated for a second and said "YES"

The kids got some crazy stuff from in laws (parents give money they are tired of trying to figure out what their grandkids want. They are very different. Two are engineering students and very smart and one is about the same age and into cheerleading . One nephew is just going through the motions with school and I know he hates it even though he is only in the 8th grade.) My son got two metal structure for his desk, one of Big Ben and one of the Empire State building.

I am glad that the days went well and no one got upset with anyone. I am also glad that for my family everyone made it. For my in laws I know the guys were upset that their cousin wasn't there. They thought he would be since he didn't make it up for Thanksgiving. But they know that it does depend on his schedule.


Yesterday we had a couple of families over and we shared leftovers. We started this a couple of years ago and it is fun for the kids to get together and we can all try other people's food.

Glad to hear that others had a nice holiday.

 

[NMAmy]

We had a very nice Christmas. This year, it was just DH, DD, and I. Very quiet but a lot of fun--dd got me a couple of Wii games and we had a blast playing them and watching movies.

I've only had a couple of Christmases that I'd call bad. One was the first Christmas after my ex and I separated and the other was when my dad had a stroke on December 22.

 

[Silent1CB]

I started a similar thread about all the negative gift threads.

We had a great Christmas. No gifts at all. Hosted for 18 people. Probably best Christmas ever, and had several of the same comments from everyone about how much fun everyone had & what an enjoyable day it was.



Even received an email today from one thanking us for hosting...and that has NEVER happened and we host every year.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

We had a great Christmas with delicious food, many laughs and wonderful memories. New Year's Eve is a very big event for our family as well, so I'll be busy preparing for our party this week. Food is the main priority.

 

[mrs_hower726]

I had a great Christmas!

I turned 30 on Christmas Eve and DH got out 3 hours early from work, then him and I along with my best friend went out to dinner and drinks afterwards.

Christmas day was a quiet day at home with DH and two friends. We watched movies, played video games, etc.

Yesterday was my friend's wedding that I was a bridesmaid and DH was a groomsmen. They were supposed to be married last saturday but with the blizzard they had to postphone. Everything went off without a hitch and the couple looked simply stunning. Then after wedding, we went out to an after-party and I had a little too much to drink.

Today was spent sleeping and watching the Steelers win!

The only thing that would've made Christmas better was to spend it with my family, we were unable to with DH's job (they live 8 hours away), but we will be seeing thim on Friday and I'm excited! We will be seeing DH's family in mid-January.

 

[Sparx]

i had a great christmas.

it makes me sad to see so many people who had horrible christmases.