With family scattered from North Pole, Alaska to southern Florida and Phoenix to N.Y. we are blessed they ain't coming here for Christmas.

Seriously, we really are blessed to have such a huge family; approaching 100 immediate family members.  Brothers, sisters, grandkids, great grandkids.  We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a joyous but peaceful New Year.
 

Thanks for sharing. You are blessed to have a large family and yes, lucky they are all not coming to visit!

Merry Christmas to you and Your Family!!!

We have a pretty large family between the wife and I, but we're lucky they are close so they don't have to come stay for the holidays. We typically have different days right before or after Christmas that we either go visit or some come visit us. Christmas eve we see wife's mom and dad and mine come by on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas.

p.s. that is a nice looking fire place

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas

My whole family gathers together and some friends.Now that my other older sis passed away we only do one main dinner,yet its a fairly large crowd,which I always have enjoyed at ChristmasI miss her yorkshire puddings,the best I ever ate!!!
This year my granson is torn on what he wants from santa,a new bicycle or a train set LOL or some video crap.I try to encourage him not to do video stuff,especially at his young age.There will be plenty of time later for that.guess I am old school.
Enjoy the holiday & God bless ya all

Normally if I am home for Christmas I do my bloody merry Christmas. No food no presents but an open bar. This year Dew is flying in with some VIP's from Japan. Japan is a Buddhist country and Christmas over there is more like Valentine's Day here. So I have been "TOLD" I got to do a traditional Christmas. Damn I have never done any thing traditional in my life. Researched Christmas meals world wide, very few exceptions from turkey or ham. So I have a smoked ham and deep fried turkey will be done the 22. The rest of the meal I hired my mom to cut chop dice and bake. Gave her something to do as retirement makes her bored all day when the weather is 14 degrees out. Sent her money to go buy any and all things needed for wrapping , etc. Have placed all my favors owed to me to a friend who is a professional Santa to deliver Christmas presents personally to the VIP's on Christmas morning.

It is very obvious to me why I have done my bloody merry Christmas for the last decade instead. Have a Merry Christmas no matter how you celebrate it?

It's been a long tradition to meet my two older brothers and their wives and families at our parents house for Christmas Eve until 2009. The whole thing revolved around material gifts and quantity of items that went to the favorites. It was the same insults, stabs, undermining, ego filled hypocritical double standard celebration. I've discovered that my side has little family value and is more concerned about financial status. There wasn't any meaning of Christmas left on those peoples minds. My wife and I have changed our position on fixed plans through out the holidays now. We'll do something different every year. Between my Wife's 3 kids and the out-laws (in-laws), there's plenty of visiting and coming together for a hot meal or an evening with some cocktails and laughs. There's no discussions of bills, money, debt, retirement. Tina and I may not have a lot of money but what we lack in monetary value we make up in spiritual worth. We love our life together and how we live it.

Share the time that you have with ones who encourage you, strengthen you, support you, love you, and be there for you.

I hope everyone out here has a HEALTHY Christmas with your loved ones and close friends.  Merry Christmas and Cheers!!!

  Sad to say but there's a decadent side to my side of the family as well.  It seems they were never humbled by what we didn't have growing up nor grateful for what we did have. Luckily for Gypsy and me, they live far enough away that no one is going to be dropping in.   Come to think of it; it's one of the reasons I moved away from N.Y.

Thanks all for sharing your "better" Christmases.  Christmas should be the safe deposit box of all wonderful memories.

Peace