Merry Christmas!

Our group photo taken by Joel with my new selfie stick! First row: Alicia, Joel, Scott, Courtney, Khloe.
 Back row: me, Candice, Ross

Well the big day arrived and we "rocked it" Christmas Eve. Well .... that might be a bit of a stretch, but it was sooooo nice to have everyone at our place! I guess Christmas Eve has always been "my thing" as I started the tradition of having a bit of a "do" at that time. Being a teacher, I was usually off work a few days before Christmas so had the time to plan a Christmas party and invite friends and neighbors (since we didn't live in the same town as our own families). Now, many of our friend's families have expanded as spouses and grandchildren are added to the mix, so the tradition evolves into something new.

Fun and Games!

The new tradition in the Carr house on Christmas Eve is to don a festive hat and proudly wear it for a photo shoot. I got a bunch of hats and headbands from the dollar store, but I plan to keep my eye out for more unique ones throughout the year to add to the collection. The deal is ..... I put everyone's name in a bowl and we draw names to determine who gets to be first to pick their head gear. The last guy gets the least popular one. This year we had the lovely Khloe Kilpatrick (on the right with elf hat) drawing and reading out all the names and then leading each person to view the display of hats. She did a great job!

Food!

A topic of conversation around this time of year is, "what do you eat Christmas Eve"? My mother always made tourtiere  (meat pies) Christmas Eve. In the past our family has had a buffet style feast with meat pies, meat balls, sausage rolls, potato and cheese casserole, cold cuts etc. Some of our east coast friends have lobster (now your talking!). This year I made seafood chowder and appetizers. I haven't decided if that will be the new traditional menu for Christmas Eve or not. I rather prefer the casualness of a buffet as opposed to a sit down meal. I'll have to survey my kinfolk!

In any case as our family grows and changes, so will our customs. Can't wait to see the pics of next year's hat parade!

Merry Christmas!