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!!
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