FAMILY CHRISTMAS

We celebrate Christmas in waves. First comes Christmas Eve with the immediate family. My kids and grandkids. Always fun.

Daughters, Laurie and Kris, chatting over a glass of wine.

An unusual event, sharing new tattoos. Son Ken at 51 surprised all of us with his first tattoo.

Grandson Alec with his first tattoos.  He also has one on a thigh and the backs of his biceps. Hmmm! I’ve been thinking…no, not really.

We had a guest from Northern Italy, an exchange student by the name of Emil, who fit right in. We played a loud game called Pass Phrase, I think that was the name of it. All ages could play. It was loud and raucous.

Dinner was unusual as well, with smoked pheasant that Ken bagged during his recent hunt. Very tasty, replacing the usual turkey or ham or beef.  We had paella, a green salad, butternut squash and spinach souffle.

After dinner, we opened our gifts, which for the adults is an anonymous book draw. Each person buys a book, wraps it without any tags and puts it under the tree. The books are drawn by number allowing you to keep the book you’ve drawn or steal one from another person. Son Doug turned his book into a scavenger hunt, giving clues around the house for whomever chose his package, which was a 13 clue, fun, mystery enjoyed by all.

The grandkids kept company as the younger generation does, with their fingers texting away.

I finally understood that they do communicate with each other and texting isn’t such a dissociative practice.  I saw plenty of interaction besides the texting. It is no different than me talking to someone and taking notes. It was an eye opener for me.

And there was plenty of time for interaction between generations, with Stewart and Austin wrestling. It rained and rained. Kris wanted to take her exchange student to see the snow and big trees. They got turned away at Forest Meadows without chains. Timing is everything.

We celebrate on Christmas Eve. Played cards until the wee hours. Then, the next morning, we set up my computer and  skyped with Virginia and her family who are in Pisciotta, Italy with her husband’s sister who has a four-month old baby.

It was a calm Christmas, quiet. Between downpours, we walked the dogs, five of them,  and  nibbled and gamed the day away. I hope everybody had a happy Christmas.