More on Christmas

Recognize these boxes? They are leftover Harry and David gift boxes. We received a couple of gifts from vendors (though nothing as huge as we used to receive) and I just couldn't let the boxes go to waste (though the contents went to various waists, lol). Yeah, "packrat al" strikes again. Fortunately, all the boxes stack inside each other so they won't take up much room.

We spent Christmas with A's family and his brother's in-laws. For the past few years, we've spent it with my side, so this was a bit different. Traditions in his family are now non-existent since his mom passed away. (Or maybe we haven't had enough time to establish new ones?) And in my family, they've evolved or devolved, depending on how you look at it. Since Uncle T passed away, I just couldn't bear to spend it with my family and not have him there so I decided it would be better to spend it down here. As it turns out, my family was in several places due to Auntie M's passing so it was just as well I stayed down here.

We brought over cholesterol specials from thepioneerwomancooks.com. The olive bread was a bit too salty and I think we chopped the olives up a bit too fine since we used a food processor instead of hand chopping. But still, it was tasty. As were the bacon appetizers. Now you know we had to go out and buy all the ingredients for that, lol. They were surprisingly tasty. You can see them here in all their fatty goodness.

It was fun to see little G tear open his and everyone else's presents. He didn't quite get that they weren't all for him, especially since he was allowed to open his sisters' presents also. He's definitely got the oohing and ahhing part down. As soon as he tore into a gift, but before it was even recognizable, he'd cry out, Look at that, Wow!!! And before anyone had a chance to admire the gift, he'd be off to open the next one, lol. Next year should be even more interesting since the twins will be almost two, still a little young to understand what's going on, but old enough to get into everything.

In the past, we had gotten gifts for the in-laws' in-laws (got that?) since we were all opening gifts together. But this year, we thought they were opening gifts at someone else's house, plus there was the rumor that they weren't exchanging gifts. Well, we were surprised that everyone was opening gifts and that there were extra gifts for us. Opps!

Plus, we were a little embarrassed by the generosity of everyone. Not that we cheaped out, but we were more conservative than last year. I know Christmas isn't a tit for tat, but still, we were a bit overwhelmed by our gifts. Really, the best gift of all would be having all of A's family together for a holiday. But I don't see that happening any year soon.

We went to Target yesterday to check out the after Christmas clearances. Anything Christmas-themed is now 75% off. There were a few things left that I wanted, like some large gift bags, but I'm waiting until they're 90% off, lol. A says they'll be gone by then, to which I say, no problem, I didn't really need them anyways. I also didn't need the decorated As that I bought, but I couldn't resist.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful and full of love and joy! Happy New Year!