A Christmas Recap
Christmas of 2015 will be remembered as the warmest one we've ever experienced.
On Christmas Eve, I said, "You know, I can't remember a Christmas this warm." and when I looked it up, I discovered I was right! It hasn't been this temperate in December since the 1930s.
Which was, you know, a while before I was born.
This is certainly the first time I've opened Christmas presents while wearing a tank top.
And it's definitely the first time we've opened presents with the windows open.
(the girls got hair chalk from their aunt, so their hair has had streaks of random colors lately.)
(Lip gloss. Purchased mostly because, hello, cute penguin!)
We had our usual breakfast of caramel monkey bread.
And we stayed home all day, which is pretty much a 100% awesome way to spend Christmas day.
We ate our usual dinner of crepes, fruit, sausage, and sparkling juice.
It's not exactly a traditional Christmas meal, but it's what we do every year.
Which does kind of make it a tradition. 😉
Several of you asked for some details about kid presents, but I haven't taken pictures of all the gifts. So, look for that on Thursday.
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How was your Christmas? Do you like to stay home on Christmas, or do you feel more festive if you get out and about to visit people?
It was warmer than normal for us too, but not *that* warm! Looks like you had a nice Christmas!
Stayed at home for the first time ever on Christmas day! It was -- like you said -- so totally relaxing. We did my husband's family gathering on Christmas Eve and my family gathering the weekend after. It was a great way to spend Christmas day - especially for an exhausted introvert!
It's so nice to not have to hurry and clean up for guests, right? Or hurry and clean up to go somewhere. It really helps me to have a fun day.
We had crazy weather in Texas too! It was 70 degrees a couple of days before Christmas, and then a blizzard hit the day after! Glad you had a happy holiday; we did too!
Whoa. That's pretty crazy for you all to get snow, right?
We had a "warm" Christmas too. Which means no snow, which is not usual for where I live (Quebec, Canada).
Today however I woke up to about 5 inches of snow, with more coming all day, so back to normal!
We always spend Christmas at the in-laws, 6 hours drive away. This year my mom joined the clan (4 of us + her + 4 of them, a nice gang).
Except the involved driving, it's nice. We open the gifts on the 25th morning, then chill out for the day, then they receive the extended family for supper.
Came back home yesterday. Good to be back after 4 days. And today I'm back at work (for 3 days, then vacation for a 10 days, yay!).
Ooh, you have some fun stuff to look forward to!
Your photos are so great! Everyone looks very animated. I really enjoy hearing about other people's Christmas traditions, whether they are typical Christmastime activities or not!
S/O to other Texas readers and our crazy weather!
We had a white Christmas for the first time in years and years! Which was good since I am in the drought-stricken west, although it did make driving on Christmas Eve treacherous. I had eight people over for Christmas day, which was nice, but next year I suggested doing something simple but still festive, like fondue or something. I really don't love spending the entire day cooking and cleaning when I really just want to enjoy the people and the fun of Christmas!
It was abnormally hot in West Palm too. Still a nice day with my family. I see that Mr. FG has an Escher gift. I love Escher. The first art book that I bought was Escher when I was about 15 years old. I went to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg a few months ago and there was an exhibit of Escher's that had his original work along with the the mathematical equations to do the drawings. It was amazing! Have a wonderful New Year!
It was so warm where we live that we had the AC on in the house - definitely a first since we left Florida many years ago! We also did a non-traditional Christmas meal of grilling steaks...we thought about eating outside but it was too hot and humid!
We had the air conditioner running on Christmas day -- I think it was in the 80's, whereas it should only reach the 50's on that day. We had our grown kids and the grandkids over for lunch, which is our tradition. We had our traditional ham, along with praline sweet potato casserole, green beans, Kristen's No-Knead rolls, real cranberry sauce, deviled eggs and our very traditional Lane cake. I've been making it for Christmas for years and everyone expects it eagerly. I put out my china and crystal and table linens, but in spite of that, the day remains pretty low key and we have a nice, relaxing day, because everything is prepared the day before and just put in the oven on the morning of, except for the green beans which were crock pot cooked overnight by one daughter, and the eggs made by the other daughter. I enjoyed the photos, and the penguin is darling.
Well, with weather in the high 30s-low 50s it was the coldest Christmas I can remember out in Southern California!
Oh yeah, that's way colder than what we east coast people experienced!
We had a relaxing morning. Leisurely opened presents after which we sat down for a very late breakfast. I took a nap (a Christmas first). Then some cooking chaos later as we prepared for guests. Prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, & more. Guests stayed for hours. Games were played. Much fun!
Spent Christmas eve in a tshirt and jeans. Christmas day I was freezing with temps almost 30 degrees colder than the day before.
We spend Christmas eve with my mom's side for dirty bingo and the Sunday after Christmas for Christmas with gifts for our name exchange. Christmas eve day we visit my parents and Christmas day is with my in-laws. Everyone is within40 minutes so it's not that much traveling.
We made a brisket and mashed potatoes on Christmas Eve so all we had to do was reheat them on Christmas Day, (which makes brisket taste even better!), and make a veggie. We stayed home and my mom and brother came over. Christmas Eve my husband and I did a very New York thing and ordered in Chinese Food since we had spent the day cooking and cleaning and were tired. Together we all watched the Alastair Sim version of Scrooge. Both days were low key and lovely!
We ran all over on Christmas Day. All three meals at a different family member's house. I appreciate spending time with extended family, but I certainly envy your relaxing Christmas! Running here, there, and everywhere with a toddler is a bit stressful....Or a lot stressful.
For me, Christmas Eve is for socializing, Christmas Day is for relaxing. Most people I know are frazzled after Christmas from all the shopping and prep leading up to the holiday. I've gotten more and more laid back about it over the years. Gifts are mostly handmade and simple. Much better to me than the years I shopped and shipped and baked up a storm. 🙂
We have no local family so we stayed home together and it was really nice. This is the second year we've stayed home and I love it. We had a roast for dinner and mimosas and cinnamon rolls for breakfast and talked/facetimed with family in the afternoon.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016!
Gosh... apparently here in Colorado we're getting all of the winter that everyone else is missing! It's been one snow storm after another here, and I don't think we've seen the thermometer crawl above freezing in over a week. My parents both caught terrible colds, so we've postponed our Christmas until after the New Year. Hopefully, the weather will improve by then! In the meantime, I've been hibernating with the fe-lions and crying my way through every sentimental Christmas move that Netflix has to offer. Not a bad way to spend the holiday!