Christmas With The In-laws

Well we are back from the In-laws and a wonderful Christmas visit. We arrived Christmas eve, which happens to be the big day for my spouse’s family. We all anxiously await this day as we by tradition feast on a Scandinavian dish called palt. Palt is essentially boiled balls of potato and flour eaten with melted butter and lots of salt and pepper. To an outsider this tradition may seem very strange but once you have immersed yourself in the family you too become eager for the feast.

Christmas Eve is also when we exchange our gifts, usually around midnight as Gram arrives home from Christmas mass. This year my spouse and I decided to keep the gifts low key and opted to hand out framed photos of the kids (frames from the trash), home made jelly and handmade tree ornaments (made of sewing scraps). Gifts don't need to be elaborate or expensive to be meaningful.

We had a wonderful time and as usual, we were spoiled by all. I received some great multi tools and a flashlight, a walking stick and winter gloves, a craft kit and a pair of slippers to keep my piggies warm. While I was cleaning up the debris from unwrapping the kid’s gifts, I thought up a great use for those plastic coated wires that make it impossible to remove toys from the box.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We are off to see my family tomorrow morning so there will be more to come in a few days including the JUNK FOR CHRISTMAS wrap up and conclusion as well as some great ideas for redefining Christmas with your family and returning to the things that matter most.

Don't forget to take a look in the bin when you discard all you’re wrapping. You'd be surprised what others through away.