Share your family Christmas plans here

[Darrell KSR]

...if you want. I enjoy reading them. Some of you have some really heartwarming traditions and get-togethers.

We have a busy day ahead. I will be picking up a couple of photo projects at Walmart today for the final gifts. My daughter will be traveling down from Nashville so all seven of us will be together (prayers for safe travels today!)

This afternoon and evening will include attending three Church services. We have our usual 4:00 children's service, and my wife, youngest daughter and I will be attending another denomination at 5. Her voice teacher is the music director there and asked her to sing with his choir today.

Afterward it will be to a friend's house to share pizza. We used to go out with them every year for Christmas Eve dinner and have had some great times. Their four children match up in ages with our four oldest. When I used to post about the Navy Blue Angels, their daughter - who is getting married in May - was one of my players.

We will depart after a short visit and enjoy family time and family gifts at home. Christmas Day has always been for Santa Claus, so we exchange family gifts tonight.

My wife, youngest daughter and I will head back to Church at 10 pm for our late service.

Tonight if kids have been good, Santa arrives. We negotiate each year with our youngest on when he can get up Christmas Day. We each start with an absurd position before arriving at a reasonable compromise. Sounds like work to me.

My wife, with some help with daughters, will prepare a big Christmas meal around 2. We will overeat, and some will nap.

The day after, I hope to get everyone together to go to Gadsden and Noccalula Falls, with some pretty lights decorations in the Park. It's about an hour drive, and something I really enjoy.

Nothing big for us, mainly just spending time together. But very special.

Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope you will be enjoying your family time together this year as well.

[kingcat]

We were always a Christmas Eve family but that has changed somewhat to accommodate the kids' in law celebrations. Still, part of them will be here at our house at around seven'ish and we will all head to my sisters apartment where my Mom and her reside. 'Tater salad, wings and weenies, sweets, etc..will be on the table and there are a few gifts to be exchanged I believe.

When back at home I'll stay up late, post here and watch a Christmas movie, as usual. I'm thinking Miracle on 34nd St possibly, but that could change.

Tomorrow morning the Grand kids will be arriving to see what Paw Paw Clause and Nana Claus (that's me and the wife by the way) have under the old Christmas tree for them. That will be followed by all day long light sabre fights, operations (Hasbro type only I hope), Dolls galore, dress ups, nerf wars, Crayola painting etc.. culminating in the finest of Christmas dinners, followed by chocolate cheesecake (my fav), pies, homemade fudge, and finally Tums Extra Strength and a rantidine or two.

This old fashioned Clark family Christmas will be the stuff holiday movies are made of, and then some. God bless us...every one!

And you fine folks too.

[KentuckyWildcat]

Not much really. Mom's today and the in-laws tomorrow. We are lucky to see both of them often. Oh and a bigger in-law get together Saturday evening, but again we see them a lot also. Longest drive is 10-15 minutes.

However, the little one is 16 months old so this should be a fun Christmas seeing her open presents. She was 4 months last year and had fun tearing the paper but she obviously did not understand what was happening.

added - Christmas Eve service tonight at church that we will hopefully go to.

[jazyd]

My brother, sister..neither ever married..and my dad arrived yesterday.

My daughter and her family will be at her in laws tonight.

So we will have dinner with my family, watch Christmas Vacation that I have memorized and tried to copy when I could still get on the roof and put up 15,000 white lights :) and now just a few hundred on bushes..thanks to the net types now..plus a couple blow ups for the grand kids.

Off to my daughters in the morning after Santa has left and toys seen. We have kinda of a breakfast brunch and then time to open which should take about 2 hours. I have two grand daughters, 5 and 7 so the majority of presents are for them naturally as it should be.. I bought both a child size cowbell since their parents are Bulldogs, I hope they ring them all through the house the rest of vacation. LOL

After all the presents are opened, we come back to my house while the kids play and my daughter and her husband rest and there will be plenty of naps at my house.

Then dinner. Because my 5 yr old grand daughter is gluten free we have to watch what we put out, she loves bread but isn't supposed to have it. So tomorrow will be a honey baked ham that the girls love. we will have one speciality, a redhotapplesauce jello that my mom always made, she died 5 years ago and my wife has kept up the tradition.

For dessert, my sister makes a from scatch French Silk Pie that is to die for, my wife made a cheery cheese cake minus the crust for the 5 yr old, and my 7 year old requested a chocolate cake...she takes off her grandfather :)...so we bought a 3 deck chocolate cake with cream cheese icing that is topped off by chocolate icing. Its a million calories per slice and I am so glad she requested it.

And Saturday I am smoking a ribeye roast with twice baked potato, and probably anything left over from Christmas dinner and of course the desserts.

Today I am at work, open 10-2, and we do so little I am not paying anyone to come in. And we always close the day after Christmas so this year all our employees get off Thurs thru Sunday and I get off Fri-Sunday.

And it is supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow.

[dan_bgblue]

Survive

[Darrell KSR]

Survive
Lol.

We just finished family gifts. Going to be tired tomorrow. Everybody still up, Santa hasn't arrived yet.

[PedroDaGr8]

Most of my aunts and uncles are visiting here in Lexington. We just went and saw my grandmother in the nursing home. Opened presents last night. Waiting on my sister and her kids to come over so they can open their Santa gifts.

[Doc]

I'm sitting in a bar with my wife


We went to see the star wars movie earlier today. It sucked.

[dan_bgblue]

Last night there were 39 members of Judy's family at the Eve get together at my daughter's house. I survived.

Today we had Christmas at our house with daughter's family and her mother in law. We had a traditional brunch after the grandkids had their Santa gift paper shredding early this morning at their house. I started cooking at 9:30 and finished up at 12:00. Pancakes, biscuits, sausage gravy, bacon, sausage, home fried potatoes, seafood quiche, fresh fruit, and a couple of omelets to order.

Exchanged gifts, put together kids toys, played with kids toys, and finished up about 5:00.

Sunday we get together with my brother and his family and have a Christmas traditional lunch of KY's best hot tamales, a veggie tray, and some fried chicken strips and mashed potatoes for those that do not like tamales.

[Darrell KSR]

Last night there were 39 members of Judy's family at the Eve get together at my daughter's house. I survived.

After that, everything else is a bonus :)

I love reading the plans from all.

Doc, sorry the movie wasn't better. I've enjoyed Christmas Day movies before, and it's a real treat. Maybe especially for me, since I don't go to many.

[CitizenBBN]

Drink a lot, try to not get dead or arrested. Not even kidding this time. I'll explain later. :)

[Darrell KSR]

This year hasn't been a drunken Cartwright Christmasfest, but with an adult daughter age 26, and twins age 23, with one of them having been a country club bartender for a part-time job, there were a few different drinks shared the last couple of days. So far I've seen wine, margaritas, some version of a Moscow mule that was my son's own concoction, and mimosas. Sounds like more than it is, but it's more a variety than a quantity.

[Doc]

Hey, I'd trade. Apparently the salad I ate had anchovy paste in it. 3:00 am I was sick as a dog. Considered heading to the ER due to the headache and vomiting. Fish does that to me. Still feel like crap and I've got to work.

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence!