My favorite time of the year! Bright beautiful lights, decorations, snow for some, a time for friend’s family to get to together and a time to give! It doesn’t get any better than that. As you all know I live in Florida so I do not get the snow factor here, but that’s ok because I am not a big fan of the snow. However it has been cold this year so hopefully we will have a nice brisk day which will make it feel like winter. Everyone has a tradition that their families or friends do during the holiday which makes it that much more special. What brings your family closer together during these times? Is it food, activities or just simple gathering of loved ones?

Well over the last 3 years I have had the honors of sharing Christmas with my boyfriend’s family. And it is absolutely amazing!! I say that because they have given me something I have never had with my own family. They have traditions and everyone gets together and shares in the holiday. When you come from a small family like mine and they aren’t family oriented you tend to very seldom get to together. However now that I have been celebrating with his family which consists of 30 people… we get together every year. It is beautiful and every family should be this way!

It is a group of 6 families and every year they rotate for who is having the dinner party at their house. And now that the children are getting older, married and buying their own houses they have been put in the rotation too. And with the economy being tough this year everyone is going to chip in to help by bringing a dish or two.  Even though my boyfriend’s family is Indian they still have the traditional American Christmas dinner with turkey, ham and all the fixings. The younger generation actually gets creative with the traditional dishes which are fun and it adds a little more excitement to dinner. And every year we do something a little different to make it fun. Last year we took a group photo of all of us and then all the children secretly put them in frames and handed them out the same night as a Christmas present. The parents loved the idea and it created a lovely memory! This year we are going to play White Elephant and we have also put someone in charge of creating a slide show of memories over the years. The White Elephant Exchange game will be very entertaining! We actually are surprising them and went out and bought 30 gifts for a dollar or two dollar so we could play. They are all wrapped and we will place them under the tree…the gifts are small, but fun things. It’s really just the concept of the game that is entertaining. I can’t wait!!

During these special times they keep it family only or long time girlfriends like myself, but no know else. And that is what makes it so special and helps the traditions carry on and will for many years to come! So please share with me what you and your family or friends do to celebrate this special time of year. I hope everyone has a lovely Holiday and a Happy New Year!!!