Christmas morning, both daughter and I slept in. Later, as I made my tea, I became a bit nostalgic thinking about the Christmases when my daughter was a little girl and would wake up at 5:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, all excited to see if Santa had come and brought her any gifts!
In the afternoon, we went to my friend A's home to have Christmas lunch and to exchange gifts. A's aunt used to invite us to her house for Christmas, when she was alive. After her aunt's death, A has been inviting us to her house, and now, it has become a tradition. My daughter is good friends with A's two daughters, having known them since she was 5 and they were 5 and 4. As usual, A had prepared a feast for our lunch.
After lunch, around 5:00 p.m., we left A's and drove to my cousin V's to participate in the family Christmas get together and dinner. This included part of the extended family, as V had invited her husband's family of seven siblings and their families, as well! We had a White Elephant gift exchange with about 25 people participating, which was a lot of fun. Later, we exchanged gifts with the family.
The forecast had called for rain on Christmas day. It had been cloudy all day, but, the rain held off until evening. When we were at cousin V's it started to rain and it continued to rain all night. We left cousin V's house around 10:30 p.m. and had to wade through a gushing stream of rain water, several inches deep, that was flowing down the side of the street to get to the car that was parked on the side of the street! Fortunately, I had worn ankle high boots, so my feet remained relatively dry.
After we came home, daughter made us a cup of tea and we chatted about the day for a bit and I had a late night snack, before we both went to sleep.
It had been a lovely Christmas day, spent in the company of family and friends. I feel blessed to have been able to celebrate with my daughter, family, and friends.
On Christmas day, I was grateful for:
- Being healthy and alive to celebrate another Christmas
- My daughter being home for Christmas
- Spending the day celebrating with family and friends
- Safe driving to places and back home in the rain
- A warm, dry home providing shelter from the cold and rain
Hope your Christmas day was also filled with family and friends, love, laughter, and good cheer.
Glad you had a lovely Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. Hope that you, too, had a lovely Christmas with your loved ones.
DeleteI love how you count your blessings. I have been thanking God for helping my back to get better each day. I am so glad you had the best times with friends and family. I miss my daughters being small too. Blessings to you, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susie. Counting my blessings keeps me grounded! I'm glad your back is getting better; I hope it will be completely fine, soon! Hope you had a good Christmas and everything is well with you and Ted.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas. I'm glad you were able to stay dry in this weather. It sounds like you are feeling better, too.
ReplyDeleteI did have a lovely Christmas, Stephenie. Hope you did, too. Yes, I'm feeling much better, although, my daughter seems to be having a scratchy sore throat, now! I'm sure you got some fresh snow up where you are - this morning, I could see the snow on the mountains in the background - it looked so pretty!
DeleteGood to hear of your Christmas festivities with lots of people and good food and fun. I went to the Christmas Eve early mass with my friend and her daughter and there were plenty of wee children muttering and making us smile. The church had not been decorated previously so it was lovely to see all the lit trees, the flowers and the creche.
ReplyDeleteDS and family arrived in time for lunch on Christmas Day and the turkey was cooking ready for the evening meal. We opened gifts, watched the Queen's speech and caught up on news before supper. Boxing Day was sleep in day for DH (aka grandad) and DGD! Breakfast and lunch were late, but there was time for them to skate on the river and we played board games before supper. I have to say that I have been enjoying cooking for us all and have had plenty of help.
Sounds like you are having a lovely Christmas with your family, Bushlady. Your church must have looked very special with all the decorations. I think it is more fun, cooking for the family, than to cook for yourself, especially when they help and pitch in with the cooking and cleaning up! Hope you continue to enjoy the rest of their visit and the days leading up to the New Year.
DeleteYou had a good day - your list of thankfulness matched mine almost exactly. Yes, we did have sadness, as you know - but the love of family and friends, and faith, have kept us going. This year, more than ever, I am conscious of the goodness and genuine affection of friends I only know through Blogland. We may never meet in person, but I genuinely value our friendship.
ReplyDeleteI did have a good day and I am very thankful for that. I remember other Christmases that weren't as joyful. Blog friends are special, aren't they? I, too, value the friends I have made on Blogland and count myself blessed to have you as a friend.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a lovely day with friends and family. What did you get in the white elephant gift exchange? I'm never very lucky with those!
ReplyDeleteI didn't do all that well in the gift exchange, myself. At first, I "stole" a label maker that someone else had won, instead of choosing a wrapped gift, but, then, someone else "stole" the label maker from me and I picked a wrapped gift which turned out to be a box of make up brushes. So, that's the gift I finally received. Not something I am likely to use (I use minimal make up) and daughter declined my offer of the brushes, saying she already had the make up brushes she needed. But, I am not averse to a bit of re-gifting new, unopened gifts, so, I'll keep them in the cupboard until needed. If nothing else, I have a gift for next year's white elephant gift exchange! :D
DeleteMuch to be grateful for. It sounds like you enjoyed a lovely day. X
ReplyDeleteI did have a lovely day, Jules, and, yes, there is much for which to be grateful. :) Hope you are enjoying a few quiet days after the excitement of Christmas. Happy New Year to you and yours.
DeleteI, too, was able to spend Christmas with immediate and extended family and had a good time. I feel very blessed.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to celebrate Christmas with your family, Live and Learn. It's an especially good time of the year to count our blessings, isn't it?
DeleteIt sounds like you had a very nice Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how long you've been spending Christmas with your friend A - and previously with her aunt.
It's so nice your daughter and her's spend the holiday together.
I bet you were glad to get home and out of all that rain.
Yes, I did have a very nice Christmas, thank you. Hope you did too, Debra.
DeleteI guess you could say and A and I are family friends. My daughter feels closer to A's daughter than to her own cousins; they make it a point to get together and do stuff whenever she comes down. I can see them continuing the Christmas tradition and inviting my daughter over when it is their turn to host Christmas. :)