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Country BearsI'll be having Christmas morning at home with hubby and my 2 kids, then off to the in laws for dinner, then to my folks for tea and overnight stay into Boxing day :dance: I've got it easy this year for a change, usually do it all every other year - I think they feel sorry for me this year as I've been so busy 
YAY!!
Just wondered what you all get up to where you are - have a good one whatever you do 
:dance:
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesJust me and hubby eating lazing about and watching old movies. We don't have any family so it will be very quiet, but I love to hear all about all your wonderful families 
West Sussex, EnglandWe are going to a restaurant for Christmas dinner this year with my family. We did it last year and it took so much pressure off spending all morning in the kitchen when I really want to be with my girls as they open their pressies.
It will be strange without Grandad who I lost a couple of months ago. I have spent every Christmas day with him for as long as I can remember.
When we get back completely full up we will open the rest of the presents and see what delights are on the TV and we will probably go for a walk across the South Downs with the dogs.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas XXXX
Bears-a-Bruin!That sounds like a great Christmas Day to me, Estelle!
We'll be up at some unearthly hour, so our daughter can see if Santa's arrived....yawn! Lots of unwrapping, chocolate eating, and general slobbishness later I'll get the meal ready (turkey etc). My dad and sister will be staying with us and sharing the lunch. In the evening we'll pile round to my sister-in-law's to meet up with the rest of the family. We've been invited out on Boxing Day this year too, but it's tricky when you have kids, don't you think? I know Katie will want to stay at home and play with her new toys!
I am cooking for 16 on Christmas day ....but we've voted that the men do the clearing up in return for their food being cooked for them.
I can't wait to give the babies the toys I got for them....Elizabeth has started to babble now and talks away non-stop and Rosie smiled this week for the first time..those are best Christmas presents anyone could wish for...
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesOh Kate Helena and Jenny that all sounds great I love the thought of the mnen having to pay for their dinner by clearing up "Girl Power" Children are such fun when they start talking 
I get up early and my daughter and I open up whats in our stockings.She is 16 now and does one for me too.After that we get a flask of hot chocolate and take the dogs a two hour walk on the beach.The dogs and cat get whipped cream on their lunch and we will head off to my mum and dads.This is the first time in seven years that we will see them on Christmas day.I just learned to drive which is making life much easier.After lunch with them we wil ldrive back home and lie around with all the animals eating till we fel sick and watching old movies.We open our parcels after Christmas dinner.
I sometimes get envious of people with big families.There used to be forty of us gathered but now there are only four.My four dogs ,cat and forty fish make quite good substitutes though.
I hope you all have lovely Christmas days.
Remember all the good christmas days with your Grandad Kate thats what I do.Mine used to arrive at 6.00 a.m to watch my late brother and I open our parcels.Grandads are special and we are lucky to have been close to ours.
Terries BearsWe will open presents at home Christmas morning and then drive 2 hours to my sister's house. We will spend the night there and then visit John's family, who live in the same area, on Boxing Day. My family is quite large and every second year we all get together for Christmas. That was last year and there was 35 - 40 for dinner, this year will be relatively quite with about 15 of us getting together.
Nettie, a walk on the beach Christmas Day sounds wonderful, some day I would love to do that!
Upstate New YorkChristmas is on a Sunday ... so we'll go to the early service. Then home for coffee and orange rolls, gift opening, watching movies and general loafing around.
It'll be just the four of us this year, which will be very nice. I'm going to CAN the traditional Christmas dinner and do a lasagna and salad.
Mine are 22 and 19, so we don't get up early anymore. BUT ... when they were younger, we had an understanding that they could get up and get into their stockings. We always put something in there that we knew would entertain them for at least a couple more hours (of sleep for us)!
Have a good one Teddy Talkers, whatever you do!
Bine-TeddiesHere in Sweden (as in my home country Germany) the biggest day is Xmas Eve. I don't know what we'll do. Usually we go to my brother-in-law's, because they have two children (we don't), but they are moving at the moment and don't know if the new house will be ready. If we don't go it will be my hubby and me, maybe his mother if she feels like coming over. We'll eat a late dinner and open our pressies in the evening. Then I may take out my Playstation and play a game. I only do that during my two-week Xmas vacation, because we need my sewing table for eating (kitchen is not festive and this table is in the living room). We tidy up the living room, because my hub's birthday is Jan 3rd and we get guests. The rest of the year the room looks like a war zone 
with all my sewing stuff piled everywhere.
Merry Christmas everybody
Pandy Potter BearsI go shopping with my daughter, Amy, Christmas eve in the afternoon. We have a pub meal and get the first sales bargains. In the evening when Amy has gone bed I have a glass of wine or two and order a curry for later.
Christmas morning its chocolate for breakfast then a traditional Christmas lunch with my mum and dad coming mine this year. At teatime they take Amy to my brother's for the evening while I slob out with my hubby. We usually stay up late watching old movies. Last year we were outside throwing snowballs!
Boxing day we walk up my mum and dads where we have lunch and tea, and my brother and his family also come too.
We usually have my mother-in-law down Christmas day but she is going her other son's. The thing I enjoy is staying up late, old movies and just the general feeling of Christmas. Also a great night out or two, dancing and drinking and everyone in a good mood. I've missed the church service this year at Amy's church as we were working but I usually enjoy that.
Then I look forward to our wedding anniverary break in January which this year will be in Bath. The place, not the tub! I hope you are all with your loved ones and look forward to a very Teddy Talking New Year.
Newcastle, OntarioOn the afternoon of Christmas eve, our son is flying into Toronto from Japan. My daughter will pick him up, and we will travel from Kemptville to Newcastle, to join them. We'll stay untl late Boxing day. We are always up by 7:00 a.m. and we eat our Xmas breaky first - always fresh baked croissants with jams and lots of tea. Then we undo our stockings first, (my hubby and our kids -30 and 32 - are still BIG kids at heart). Then it's on to the tree - the youngest picks a gift first with their eyes closed, and then we all watch the recipient open it. Then the next oldest picks etc, until we get to the oldest (ME -YUCK!) and then we repeat the cycle until the gifts are all opened. It takes a long time, but my family did it when we were children, and hubby liked the idea. Now our kids won't do it any other way. It's hard on our grandson, who is two on Tuesday, but we make sure he gets one gift each round. He'll learn soon enough. Then we have our traditional meal around 6:00 p.m. In our family the men are definitely the better cooks and hubby gets the turkey ready and makes the stuffing etc, so the gals do the clean up. I'm a great baker, but I loathe cooking, and our daughter definitely takes after me LOL. Their three cats will be perched near our grandson's chair, hoping he will drop some food! The evening is usually filled with conversation or friends dropping in. Diane and Kate, it's nice to hear how fondly you remember your grandads - since we are now grandparents, I hope we can create some really nice memories with our grandson.
Clearly, I have some research to do, because I have no idea what "Boxing Day" is, and apparnetly, it happens in Canada and the UK at a minimum. Where have I been all my life???
At our house, my parents will drive north for about a week long visit including Christmas Eve and day. Christmas Eve we drive across town to the best-lit, most exclusive neighborhood in Chico, and watch all the twinkling holiday lights and check out the decorations. Then, we come back home, snuggle under a polarfleece blanket, and watch the original cartoon of HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, narrated by Boris Karloff.
The kids get tucked into bed with warnings not to get up... but permission to ransack their personal stockings at any time.
They always wake me in the morning and then we groggily put on a pot of coffee and try to shove at least a little food into the kidlings before opening what is generally way too many gifts on Christmas morning. My parents spoil my kids to death. I never knew my own grandparents, any of them, so I really feel grateful my own kids have them in their lives; spoilt of otherwise!
Usually, my dad kicks back with a crossword and mom vacillates between drinking coffee and hovering nervously, because she doesn't have enough to do... and helping me cook. This year, because Toby has deemed ham "unsanitary" -- where did THAT come from? -- and we just had turkey at Thanksgiving, we're trying something new, and will do some kind of beef roast type thing with the usual ginormous pile of mashed potatoes, salad, carrots, etc.
My mom will have too many holiday cookies she's spent weeks making that we will snack on all day while dad watches football and the boys play with their new stuff -- building Lego, setting up electronics and playing video games, trying on new clothes.
Then we'll settle in for a relatively early dinner and finish it off with my famous and traditional Kahlua Chocolate Pecan Pie.
The rest of the night is generally spent watching movies.
Gee... writing all of this, I'm even more excited! Christmas is magic at my house; it always has been. My parents saw to it that it's been that way for all of time, so I try very hard, now that they are uninterested in decorating their own house, to bring that magic back to them... and to share it with my kids. This is the first year Toby "knows" the truth behind Santa, so I'm wondering how that will look. Hopefully, not much different.
Everyone's holidays sound so warm and special, no matter what the setup. Isn't tradition great and comfy and just safe?
Shelli, Boxing Day is when the alms boxes where opened and money given out to the poor....Well, that's what I've always been told...and that land-owners would give food out to workers.....but it would be interesting to know what other countries celebrate it...I didn't know that Canada did....you learn something new every day!!!!
I love Boxing day...I just hog the sofa all day!!!!
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesJenny you are spot on with your definition of boxing day it was also the day servants received presents from their employers that is where we get " christmas box" from 
Bine-TeddiesGermany and Sweden also celebrate Dec 26th. Its just called Second Christmas Day. I will be on vacation for two weeks, yoohoo. :dance: :dance: :dance:
I'll get to make bears, watch tv (no tsunamis this year, please) and play my Playstation (umm 
)
Gatehouse GalleryI love hearing how each and everyone of you will be spending Christmas, its so interesting, especially the Kahlua chocolate pecan pie...RECIPE PLEASE? :pray:
Christmas eve is a tradition in our home, and the only time I insist the boys stay home, and we watch Carols by Candlelight on TV(its held every year in Melbourne and televised nationwide)with plenty of nibbles and chocolates to eat.
Christmas Day mum and dad, Aunty Ev (mom's cousin who has spent every Christmas with us since I was a child), my boys and Lucas' wife Bec, my brother and his girlfriend and I will all go to my youngest brother's house (He is married with 2 small children) and sit around the Christmas tree and hand out gifts. Then we'll all go out to the big back veranda and have Christmas dinner (spit roast pork and chicken, cooked and eaten outdoors because of the summer weather).
Then us girls will do the clean up in the kitchen while the menfolk clean the spit, then dad will lay on the couch and snore for a while and I'll leave late afternoon to have dinner at a friends place (probably prawns, crabs and lobster...yum)
Then we spend Boxing day getting over all the food we've eaten and just lazing around
Patsy Lake BearsChristamas Eve I will go to midnight mass and then home to bed, up early and hubby and I exchange our gifts ...Then I ring my Dad and Brothers, off to my daughters for the day with the grandchildren we have breakfast with them and then exchange our gifts..... then the rest of the family arrive we have a cold lunch but eat too much and drink too much ........ but I love Christmas it is great to be with friends and family.....
Past Time BearsLove, love to read about what all of you from around the whole world do on Christmas Day. Very interesting and filled with happiness, contentment, and good will. Unfortunately, my older daughter won't be joining us this year, but we will call her, of course, at some point on the 25th. We will have homemade cranberry bread and sausage balls for breakfast (a tradition), then raid our stockings and open gifts to and from each other. I'll go visit my mom at her Alzheimer's Care facility around lunch time and feed her. In the early afternoon, we'll go to my younger daughter's house, open gifts there, and eat our Christmas meal. Am sure the guys will get in a little football viewing. Pam and I will probably take our dogs on a little tour around the neighborhood to walk off a little of our over-eating. 
Past Time Bears
To all of you . . . my friends at Teddy Talk. Enjoy your holidays and have a great 2006!
How wonderful to hear how everyone is spending their Christmas Day.
It is such a neat time of the year and a good way to end the Year.
This year we will be spending Christmas at home. Most years we have travelled down to my Parents
or Sister or brother.
We will miss the family but we have some friends coming around and they will share Christmas dinner
with us midday.
Another of our friends have given us a turkey and a ham that they were given in a Christmas hamper
from work, and as they are both vegetarians we were the lucky recipients.
We repaid them with a bottle of Moet as one of my husbands clients kindly gave us a doz. bottles.
It will be the usual excitment in the morning even though our children are 16 and 14 they will
probably wake up early to see what Santa has brought them.
We wish you and your Family a joyous holiday season and Best wishes for 2006!
Flying Fur StudiosClearly, I have some research to do, because I have no idea what "Boxing Day" is, and apparnetly, it happens in Canada and the UK at a minimum. Where have I been all my life???
Shelli, boxing day falls on Dec. 26th. Basically it is a stat holiday for us and it's the same as your 'black friday'. the major shopping day before thanksgiving. Saw some crazy stuff on it this year. Boxing day for us is when all the insane sales are, and EVERYONE is out shopping. Well, everyone but me.
For me on christmas, I spend xmas eve with my boyfriends family. They are from Europe, so that's their big day. They on christmas day, we do to my mom's open gifts and have breakfast, then I help her cook in the afternoon, we watch movies, eat lots of chocolate ( Toffee ) for me! And then for dinner my whole family comes over, about 25 of us. Lots of fun. Always a great day.
Woohoo one more day of work to go and then I fly home for Christmas!
I will either go to Christingle service or midnight service on Christmas eve. probably Christingle.
So, church Christmas eve, and then Christmas morning Mum and I will have breakfast, Once I've put the chicken in to roast we have coffee, mince pies and most importantly presents!! I'll cook dinner for my Mum, Grandpa, brother, sister and law and niece. We usually have roast chicken with apricot and pinenut stuffing, and new poatoes, fresh peas from the garden etc. Crazy as it seems, we have plum pudding for pudding in the summer heat.
Then we laze about in the afternoon. I discovered that cooking the christmas dinner means you don't have to do any cleaning up and I LOVE that!! About 5 o'clock Mum and I make salads and the infamous christmas snow dessert to take to dinner with my extended family. This is much more a southern hemisphere deal - cold meat, salad, and dessert even though we don't need any more food.
I miss my sister a lot at Christmas. Christmas day with her means chocolate and trashy tv - I had neither last year! She lives in the UK and spends Christmas in Paris, catsitting (and I am so jealous!!)
Boxing Day is my absolute favourite day of the year...none of the expectation of Christmas day. New books to read (usually) and
yummy leftovers. When my sister was at home it was always tradition for us to have left over trifle and christmas snow for breakfast. YUM
hmm I was just thinking
I miss some of the christmas traditions from when I was small...we always had a stocking...which usually had a quiet toy and an orange or red jonathan apple all the way from America in it (this pre the days of cold stores and year round apples!) When we decided it was time for Mum to get up, we'd all go into her room and sing "we wish you a merry christmas" - the figgy pudding verse was almost shouted and meant it was breakfast time. We'd go to church if we hadn't been to midnight service and then there would be that agonising wait while mum got lunch ready. We'd sit in the lounge eyeing up the tree and the presents. It always seemed to take forever for mum to finishe getting dinner ready and no amount of nagging could hurry her up (funny that!) Finally she would be ready and we could start the important business of present opening!!
Last year, it was my niece's first experience of a western Christmas (she's Chinese). Even though she is thirteen, she was so cute and it was lovely to have a young one about. She even played Mary in the Christingle nativity - which I thought was great, when I was small it was always the pretty blonde girls who got to play Mary and the angels - never brown haired me!!
Christmas over the past few years has been different for us. Our daughter moved across the country last year, so we didn't get to see her on her birthday (Dec. 10) and we won't see her on Christmas either. Our son is at a friends house today to go skiing, then coming up to see us tomorrow where we will take him shopping for his Christmas presents. He will be back at home with his girlfriend for Christmas day.
Christmas Eve, my husband & I will be at church for our candle-light Christmas Eve Service. It is at 7 PM, my former church did a family service at 7 and a Candlelight service at 11:00PM....but that is a past life. On Christmas morning, we will get up, attack the stockings, get some breakfast if there is time, we will open more gifts, but have Church service at 10. After church we will drive 2 1/2 hours to his parents home to celebrate with his family and have dinner. All of our kids are grown, so nothing real big and exciting there.
On Monday, we will leave my in-laws and travel about 6 hours south to my sister's in Delaware to celebrate with My parents, sister, her kids and 3 grand-kids.....much more exciting there. I plan to bring some bear skins for the 3 children to stuff themselves, should prove interesting, they range from 2 to 6 years old. We will spend 2 nights with my sister, then drive the almost 10 hours home so hubby can be at work on Thursday, and I can start making more critters.......
I enjoy reading about all the traditions you have from all over......Whatever your tradition, new or old, that you are doing this year.....enjoy your Christmas.
Ellen :hug: :hug: :hug: to all.....
