Family Christmas contrasts

Our tradition has been to celebrate Christmas with the Swan side and another celebration with the Patterson side.  I am thankful that my family does not get all 'schizeee' about the specific day.  It doesn't matter if they celebrate on the 25th, 26th....you get the picture!  No drama or fighting over who gets to have the actual day of the 25th to celebrate.  Everyone knows that the date on the calendar doesn't matter as much as the getting together, enjoying each other's company and, of course, eating massive amounts of food.

Swan Christmas is generally quiet with no real schedules or rushing around.  Sometimes it is the five of us but quite often we have some 'orphans' at the table with us...people who happen to be away from home and alone for Christmas.  Either way, Mom always sets the table up with her favorite Christmas china and I generally make Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce for dessert...YUM!!

On the other hand, Patterson Christmas is usually at the cottage and involves copious amounts of people, chaos and food!!  The kitchen is filled with many people who are madly cooking up a storm.  The windows of the cottage are generally steamed up with all of the heat and moisture generated.  We arrived on the 27th (after tentatively tackling the roads in the remains of a snowstorm) to a cottage full of 20+ people.  We celebrated Eunice's 50th birthday and ate until we couldn't stuff one more bite into our mouths!!

I guess the best evidence of this Christmas contrast are the following pics : - )

Swan table

Patterson table

Both are very different but equally enjoyable!  I love my family and thank God for them every day!!

Christmas Eve 2010

As is our annual Christmas Eve tradition, Dave and I headed up to Heather's for an evening spent with Richard's family.  We always look forward to it every year and have a blast picking out little dollar store treats for the kiddos!  Dave Jr hates the camera so no pics of him here....

We used to have a big feed of Chinese food but in the past couple of years, we have gone toward a more simple meal of pizza, salad, etc.  With Dave and Richard having dietary limits, this year I tried out a pizza with crust made from almond flour (that Janet so kindly keeps us supplied with).

Dave said it tasted really good but the crust is much heavier than a wheat crust and sits hard on the stomach.  It is hard with this diet to prepare really tasty things because everything gets compared to the original.  Food is not nearly as interesting or delicious without all of the 'bad' stuff in it!!  There certainly was more than enough to eat anyway and I had also made some 'brownies' that they could eat for dessert.

After supper, Annie, Sadie and Robert performed the story of Christ's birth using this nativity scene that Jennifer had made when she was Clara's age (13 or so).  They did a great job and also sang some Christmas carols in between scenes.  We all got a kick out of Joseph's 'do'....we didn't know he was a Rastafarian : - )

We ate some candy treats and enjoyed the company while Clara took a few pics with my camera.  Robert hung in pretty well but, eventually, gave in and went to sleep.  I wonder if visions of sugarplums were dancing in his head??

Family time!

We headed down to Oxford on Saturday as Janet had flown in for the weekend and invited everyone down for a 'drop in' at Grandma and Grampa's.  Janet had phoned Bea from the driveway and gave her the surprise of her life when she realized that Janet wasn't in CT.  I forgot my camera (which happens almost never) so I didn't get any pics...sigh!

When we arrived Elaine, Yves and the kids were there along with Andrew and Donna.  Yves was going stir crazy so he and I went out for a brisk walk around town.  I guess I should have taken a hat or earmuffs because I couldn't hack the chilly wind on my ears and we headed back.  Janet had worked hard and prepared a 'snack' for everyone...and what a 'snack' it was.  Prime rib, salad, raw veggies, lasagna (from Elaine) and five different pies..slurp!  I ate so much I had to go lie down.

Rich, Jen and the kids arrived as we were finishing supper...er, the snack!  It was great to get together and have a visit with Janet while she was here.

Cookie exchange

On Dec 11th, a bunch of gals enjoyed the ?th Annual Cookie Exchange at our home.  I honestly can't remember how many years it has been but it has been many years that we've been exchanging sweet treats to help with entertaining for the holidays.  Some don't bring cookies and just come for the food and fun : - )

We enjoyed a delicious brunch and then everybody grabbed their cookies and headed home.  We now all have a great selection of treats that can be pulled out of the freezer (if they last that long) when visitors arrive.

The Nutcracker

Heath and I took Karissa, Clara, Selina, Annie and Sadie to see the Nutcracker last night.  The younger girls had never had a chance to see it live so it was a special treat to finally be able to take them.  Gi, Josée and Heath's two roommates, Laura and Becca, came along as well. 

We had a fantastic time!  I got such a kick out of watching the girls taking it all in.  Sadie couldn't sit still...she kept trying to move farther forward on her seat so she wouldn't miss anything!  Annie told me that Dave (Jr) told her to take Kleenex with her because the main character, Clara, dies and she will cry....older brothers are a pain, aren't they??

We treated them all to a hot drink at Tim Horton's to finish the night off.

A good time was had by all.  The quote of the night belonged to Selina who said "In my opinion, boys shouldn't wear tights!!!" ☺

 I do so enjoy the Christmas season!  I don't like the crazy 'commercial' aspects of it that seem to have taken over this time of year.  I love the family time and fun with friends that reminds us all that relationships are more important than 'things'.  I love that our family has the gift-giving aspect of things down to a science.  We usually receive one gift from each other and a stocking.  Mom is a crazy stocking-o-holic!!  She fills them with so much that it ends up being a big bag instead of fitting into a sock.  This year, everyone's budgets are tight so we have agreed to ratchet back the stocking stuffers to a reasonable level.  We shall see if Mom can do that ☺

There are always lots of things going on at this time of year.  I am so excited about Friday night.  Years ago, Heath and I used to take my nieces to see the Nutcracker at the beginning of December.  It was our kick-off to the holiday season and the girls just loved dressing up and watching the ballet.  Then....they stopped showing the Nutcracker at the Capitol Theatre and my younger nieces never got to experience this special treat.  When I heard that it was on again at the Riverview Arts Centre, I jumped at the opportunity to take the girls again.  So, Friday night, Heather and I are taking Karissa and Clara (who are teenagers now but not too old to still enjoy this night out) as well as Selina, Annie and Sadie (who have never had the chance to see the live performance).  Gi and Josée are going with us as well as Heather's two roommates, Laura and Becca.  I have made up little gift bags for the younger girls with a small Nutcracker tree ornament and some sweet treats.  It should be a lovely evening with my special girls : - )

On Saturday, I will host the Annual Cookie Exchange.  Every year I question whether to do it again as it is yet another task that has to be completed for everyone and I hate to add any additional pressure to a busy season.  But everyone always asks when it is scheduled so I assume that they are keen to do it.  Some come just for the friendship and fellowship and don't bother with the cookies.  We enjoy a lovely brunch and get to take some delicious treats home!  Here is a picture from two years ago...I just realized that I didn't get a picture last year??

Even with all of the busy-ness and activity, I want to always remember that "Jesus is the reason for the season".  I know that some say that Christmas originally came out of a pagan holiday to celebrate the winter solstice but, to me, it is a celebration of Christ's birth and always will hold that meaning for me.

Christmas Program 2010

Saturday afternoon we gathered for our annual Christmas Program.  Since we were in borrowed 'digs' last year at this time, we didn't get to have one so it was great to be able to use our wonderful new facilities this year.  We had about 160 people there and a ton of new visitors (parents, grandparents, siblings) that we had never seen before.  Of course, the delicious turkey dinner is always a draw but they heard a plain and clear gospel message from Brian J (our special speaker).  Michelle had given Baby Johnson clear instructions that he was to stay in-utero for the duration as we weren't sure who our "Plan B" would have been if Brian couldn't make it.  Baby listened very well and did not make an appearance...despite the fact that she could go into labour any day now.

Bea and Doug drove up and were there an hour early to make sure they got a good seat for their grandchildren's performances.

Brad & Gi's kiddos - adorable (check out fashion princess in the middle..so cute)

Bethany & Emma were our narrators.  They did such a fantastic job!!

The entire Sunday School posed for a photo at the end.

Wow...160 people make a lot of dirty dishes!!!



Many hands make light work...

It was a busy weekend.  Heather hosted a baby shower for Michelle and we also had our annual Christmas Program.

In preparation for the Program, a bunch of people stayed after Bible reading on Thursday night to peel carrots and potatoes.  There were probably around 15 people who helped out and we knocked out those veggies in a little over an hour...and then stuffed the treat bags too!!  It is wonderful to share the work among a group.  Lots of fun and fellowship as well as more speed to get things done ☺

                              Heather, Brad, Uncle Bob and Ashley focused on the task at hand.

 That is a lot of carrots!!

 We packed almost 90 treat bags for the kids.

Michelle's baby shower went great and she got tons of adorable stuff for little "Howard" Johnson!!