Christmas this year seemed to have come and gone very, very quickly. Too quickly! But not too quickly for good times to be had, and merry to be made. My favorite event, as always, is the big family get-together at my Uncle Tom’s house, which happened yesterday. It’s pretty much the only time when all of my Dad’s family gets together all in one place. It’s always so much fun because, as I mentioned in my post about the Christmas tree, Christmas for us is mainly about family.

Though everyone in my family is a bit whackadoo in some way or another, we all have amazingly different personalities that seem to somehow work together nicely. My Uncle Tom, for instance, is ludicrously smart, an excellent photographer, and the only one in the family who has ever been good with money (he could give Mish & I a few tips, eh?). My Uncle Bob is hilariously obnoxious and uncensored — some of the best stories come from him. My Aunt Kathy is quick-witted and good-natured (which was good since Stan somehow broke two of her serving spoons over Christmas dinner, which he will never live down), my Uncle Dave (who lives in California and couldn’t make it yesterday) is patient and thoughtful, and my Dad is a combination of all his bothers and his sister (minus Tom’s trait of financial savvy). I wish I could explain to you how awesome my family is to be around, but you just have to experience it. One day, I’ll video tape a day in the life of my family and you can see it first-hand! I may add some family photos into this post later, though, if I can steal some from Uncle Tom.

All in all, holiday ‘09 has been great. I gave and received some really great gifts. My favorites were some of the books I was given, including the entire Harry Potter collection in paperback from the most awesome boss in the world. Even though I have read all of them, I have been wanting the entire collection in paperback since the 7th came out! I will be reading them again and again… I’m currently reading the 7th to Stan, but I’ll be reading them to my children, my children’s children, and if I’m still alive, their children! I know, I’m a bit of a maniac. Mish got me “Cute Stuff” by Aranzi Aronzo, which shows you how to make all kinds of, well, cute stuff! Dad got me DIY: Design It Yourself by Ellen Lupton, which is a graphic design book that provides tips on designing your own t-shirts, business cards, blogs, and so so so much more. Stan got me Color Design Workshop by Terry Lee Stone and AdamsMorioka, the masters of color. Another amazing graphic design book, this one teaches you how to use color, and which colors are most effective in different scenarios.

I love everything and I can’t wait to start designing and making cute stuff!

{edit}: I can’t believe I forgot about the milk frother my Dad got me! I made my own chai tea lattés with frothy milk and they were delish! :D

If you read the header to the tune of “London Bridge is falling down” it makes much more sense.

Despite the fact that my family is not exactly religious (we do not attend any type of service or adhere to any specific dogma), we do celebrate Christmas. However, I expect this is more out of tradition and celebrating a time to be with family than it is celebrating a deity. In any case, we put up a tree every year, and it’s always an event that touches my heart.

Now, in my family, we try to do as much as we can by hand. My Dad, for instance, is a plumber, electrician, painter, woodworker, carpenter, technician, etc. It’s pretty amazing, actually. So, decorating the tree with ornaments is no different. Growing up, we would always make our own ornaments, usually out of wood or felt.  Since we’ve all grown up, we don’t do this much anymore, but we still have all of the ornaments we’ve made, plus others that have been handed down or gifted to us.

So, today was the day we decorated our tree. Before arriving to the house (I spent the day at my boyfriend’s), the tree had apparently fallen down once already, without all the ornaments on it. Stan and I had dinner with the family, ate some cookies for dessert, then my Dad decided it was time to put the decorations on. I don’t do as many now as I used to because I let my 7-year-old niece do most of it, but Stan and I did a few… and then before you know it, the tree toppled again.

The great thing about handmade wooden/felt ornaments? They don’t break as easily as the cheap, glass, store-bought ones.

Sigh. Welcome to my life.