What are your plans for…

[Princess Ariel]

New York!

[Tigger71]

First Christmas without DS1 who is doing his uni year abroad and because his girlfriend is also doing hers but on the other side of the world, so they are meeting up halfway in Thailand to spend Christmas/NY together. It will feel odd but it as it supposed to be when they grow up.

My FIL81 is coming over from Sweden and then its me, my DH and DS2 whi is in lower teens.

CHRISTMAS EVE
The Elf leaves a small Chrimtmas Eve sack with PJs, Games, a hot chocolate hamper
Normally go for a walk
Early afternoon we eat a “Julbord” - a scandinavian smorgasbord/ buffet with a cold breaded oven baked gammon as centerpiece. Then a dessert/sweet buffet in front of of tv until we collapse.

CHRISTMAS DAY
Presents presents presents and croissants for breakfast

Traditional christmas lunch

Then games, tv, lits of cheese, snacks and chocolate

BoXING DAY
online sales, leftovers, a walk, board games, tv, more chocolates

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by CarolynU

Christmas Eve is all chip in food preparation. We all peel and chop and I make various stuffings, cook a gammon/ham and possibly cook a turkey crown to eat cold in sandwiches etc.
Dinner is a no fancy affair.
Grandkids get ready for bed in Christmas PJ’s and put all their goodies out for Santa and the reindeers.
Christmas Day it’s present opening. Then a mixture of playing with the kiddies and cooking the main turkey, and all the veg etc!
Mid morning we will open the champagne until lunch time.
We all stuff ourselves. Son in law is usually the pudding guy. He sets light to it and we all enjoy that!
More playing with the kiddies until it’s their bedtime and then after they are asleep it’s time to pick at more food and drink and play a few games. Faves are pic charades, and a few others whose names escape me!
That’s accompanied by more drink and a few chocolates.
Boxing Day is usually a collapse day. The odd year we might go to the sea to watch the nutcases engage in the Boxing Day Dip but since the council has made everywhere permit parking only that’s harder to do as parking is a nightmare.
We watch any TV that we fancy and generally take it easy. Food is usually just picking whatever you fancy from what’s around!

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So you have grandkids Xmas Eve and all Christmas Day till they go home Boxing Day?
It sound lovely I’m bit jealous

[CarolynU]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

So you have grandkids Xmas Eve and all Christmas Day till they go home Boxing Day?
It sound lovely I’m bit jealous

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I actually go up to their house from the 24th until the 26th. It is absolutely fantastic. They are still at that magical age too. We only live around 20 minutes apart.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by CarolynU

I actually go up to their house from the 24th until the 26th. It is absolutely fantastic. They are still at that magical age too.

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Must be nice.
I hope when i have grandkids they come stay with me or us with them etc.

It’s the only think I wish for my kids is to have better family.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Very traditional family Christmas here.

Christmas Eve
DD gets home from her Phd on the 23rd for a week, and DS and his partner (and their dog) come home Christmas Eve for 2 nights. So Christmas Eve is busy and noisy as they catch up, and we prep veg, cook the Turkey and get ready for the big day. We also all have a Christmas Eve gift, a tradition we’ve had in my family since I was a small child. One thing we will all find time to do is to watch Muppets Christmas Carol as we do every Christmas Eve

Christmas Day
We all wake early still even though there’s no children. The morning is spent exchanging gifts and also having a video call to our eldest son and his wife who live in Vietnam. Then traditional turkey dinner, after which we doze and chat and eat chocolate all afternoon until we make an effort to eat some more food, usually a small buffet or a few sandwiches before tv shows in the evening

Boxing Day
Usually a lie in, followed by Turkey and ham and chips and pickles for lunch. Our son and his partner head back to their home mid-afternoon Then an afternoon of board games and watching football on the tv. Cheese and meat platter for tea and a few drinks watching a film before we head to bed.

It sounds boring but it’s a lovely family occasion which we all look forward to every year

[CarolynU]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Must be nice.
I hope when i have grandkids they come stay with me or us with them etc.

It’s the only think I wish for my kids is to have better family.

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I hope that your wish is granted. It makes such a difference to your life.

[TheHughesCrew]

Love reading about everyone's plans 😍
... sorry to hear that it's a tricky time for some though xx

Christmas Eve will be a normal working day for me and my husband. Our 18 & 17yr old boys both work at McDonald's, so they will probably be working too. We often have a takeaway for dinner, and a few drinks 🎄

Christmas Day is at my brother's. He has a huge house, and there's plenty of room for everyone. I'm one of 4, as is my SIL. So their house is always bursting at the seams! Last year she cooked for 23 of us... there were 6 dogs too! This year, I think it will 'just' be 14 of us. They live about half hour away. We will get a taxi both ways as we like a drink. We will have a new dog this year, so getting 2 of them, and all of us, in the taxi will be fun 🙈😂. We will come home about midnight after eating a big traditional roast, a mountain of my mum's sausage rolls, and drinking more than our fair share of champagne and cocktails 🍸 😀. I'm also in charge of the cheese board, so that will last us a few days too! We will have Vienetta for pudding... that's the Christmas Rules 😉

Boxing Day is usually at the beach as my younger son likes to 'Dip'. But our most local one has been cancelled this year due to not being able to meet the requirements for public liability insurance 😢. I expect we may travel to find another one somewhere 🏊

In the afternoon, we've got everyone coming to us, probably about 16 or so, and we will go for a dog walk somewhere. I'm doing heinz tomato soup (requested!), crusty rolls and a cheese fondue 🫕

On the Friday, I will work a half day, then have my step daughters, their husbands, and our 2 granddaughters over. My mum will come too. I usually do a huge buffet, but think I'm going to do Mary Berry's Tuscan Chicken this year. A huge vat of it that I can make in advance and freeze!

My boys will be in and out, and working too. And they may well bring friends round. Our door's always open, and we love spending time with friends and family. We're lucky to be able to share the festivities with as many people that want to be here 🎅

[Rac20]

On the 23rd, we’re going to panto. DS19 is flying home on the 21st with his girlfriend and he requested panto so that’s what we’re doing. Christmas Eve will be the usual of Christmas Eve boxes, probably buffet tea, Christmas carol service at church, before sprinkling reindeer dust and hanging out stockings with care. Boxing Day - DS19 flies home. 😢 The rest of us are going to DH brothers for lunch.

[Princess Ariel]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Very traditional family Christmas here.

Christmas Eve
DD gets home from her Phd on the 23rd for a week, and DS and his partner (and their dog) come home Christmas Eve for 2 nights. So Christmas Eve is busy and noisy as they catch up, and we prep veg, cook the Turkey and get ready for the big day. We also all have a Christmas Eve gift, a tradition we’ve had in my family since I was a small child. One thing we will all find time to do is to watch Muppets Christmas Carol as we do every Christmas Eve

Christmas Day
We all wake early still even though there’s no children. The morning is spent exchanging gifts and also having a video call to our eldest son and his wife who live in Vietnam. Then traditional turkey dinner, after which we doze and chat and eat chocolate all afternoon until we make an effort to eat some more food, usually a small buffet or a few sandwiches before tv shows in the evening

Boxing Day
Usually a lie in, followed by Turkey and ham and chips and pickles for lunch. Our son and his partner head back to their home mid-afternoon Then an afternoon of board games and watching football on the tv. Cheese and meat platter for tea and a few drinks watching a film before we head to bed.

It sounds boring but it’s a lovely family occasion which we all look forward to every year

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Perfect Christmas!