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My family doesn't really celebrate Christmas per se. That is, my parents tried to celebrate Christmas because they thought they had to expose their kids to American culture to assimilate us to their new home in the United States. Somehow, they didn't get it quite right, though. They would put up a plastic Christmas tree and hang some decorations. They told us that they would get us presents. But they didn't really explain Santa Claus, or that is, they spoiled it very early on. So they would just bypass "Santa" and basically take us shopping and ask us directly what we wanted as gifts for Christmas. When I was little, sometimes I asked for toys. But very soon this simply became me shopping for sugary snacks and fancy food. Because what else are the holidays about besides getting together with family over a tasty meal?
So, what would really end up happening is we would eat a lot of Asian food. The perfect meal for a cold winter's night is a big boiling hot pot. It's easy to make because all you have to do is shop for and then chop up the ingredients. Then you cook the meal right at the table. Everyone gets what they want because you put in exactly what you want to cook. It's a great meal for a big group because you can do rounds and rounds of food. It's filling, and you add some noodles for a second meal. In fact, the meal the next day is always better than the first, because all the flavor from the food has been sitting in the broth. When I think of the holidays, of course there are holiday cookies and pies that I like to bake (and then eat!), but the most comforting food of all has to be a family's communal hot pot.
When the holidays come, my family always goes to the tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree but in recent years we put up an artificial tree because it’s easier. A few days before Christmas my mom would always make cookies, my favorite is the peanut butter blossom cookies. My family and I have always celebrated on Christmas Eve. It’s not a cultural thing though, we celebrate this way because this is how my grandparents celebrated and it’s now my family’s tradition. For Christmas Eve dinner my mom would usually order food from a restaurant and we would eat it while listening to Christmas music. After cleaning up all the dirty dishes we open up presents, even my dog gets a present because he gets a little jealous when he sees everyone else opening up gifts. On Christmas Day we open up presents and stockings from “Santa” and afterwards we go to church. That’s it for our Christmas festivities, Christmas is a special holiday to me because it’s a time to get together with my family and also it’s the day that marks the beginning of my current New Lead save file, this year it’s three years old! Several days after Christmas is my mom’s birthday, to celebrate we usually go to a fancy restaurant. Her favorite restaurant is a fancy steak place in the mall, we have gone there several times to celebrate her birthday and New Years. Her birthday is the day before New Years Eve so while watching the Times Square New Years party, we eat cake. I wait until 12 AM until the ball drops and then I go to sleep later that night.
For me, the holidays and the whole of december is definitely about christmas. Christmas has changed a lot for me in the recent years though, because of covid of course but also because of changes in health and family. We used to celebrate all three days of christmas (Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which is just called "Second Christmas Day" here). Now, we take it a lot slower.
On Christmas Eve there used to be a lot of events going on at either school or work, or I would spend the whole day baking cookies and other things to eat and give away on the christmas days. My health doesn't allow me to do that now most of the time, so Christmas Eve is usually just getting take-out with my close family and watching something that gets us in the holiday mood.
The christmas days here are the most important to many people I think, because usually you would gather with most of your family (maybe one side of the family on one day, the other on the next) and have a whole day filled with food and catching up. My family has changed now, and covid measures are in place here so this christmas I can only celebrate like that on Christmas Day, with just my parent and grandparents. That was today. My grandmother cooked a lot of food, and we had a lovely time together, even though things are so different. The photo I took to illustrate is the tree they put up this year. I really like how it turned out this year. I wanted to show something from this day because it's the most typical for christmas to me, but I didn't want to bother them with trying to take photos of the food and such, so I took this picture really quickly when we were putting stuff away.
Although for me, christmas is not just those days, it's also the whole month of December. Walking outside, seeing all the lights and decorations people and stores have put up... Even as an adult, that part is still pretty magical to me. I also used to go to local christmas markets with friends often in december. Sadly with covid I didn't get to see much of the christmas atmosphere in the last years. I'm glad a lot of people still make things feel like christmas online. I watched some christmas charity gaming livestreams over december, and people playing more seasonal games. And participating and seeing the responses to the holiday event here has been very enjoyable, so thank you all. Happy holidays
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sorry for the blurriness, it only wanted to focus on either the tree or the note
My submission will be about how me and my family rings in the new year!
For many years now, we’d obviously stay up late past midnight to celebrate the new year. My parents, who are represented by Sterling and Celia, would always cook lots of food hours in advance before midnight. The kinds of foods they make are Spaghetti, Pancit Bihon, Beef Caldereta, Chicken Afritada, and Baked Salmon with Potatoes. As for dessert, my parents would also make Sweet Macaroni Salad and Leche Flan, which is also known as Creme Caramel! I have very few DIY recipes so I’m not able to make an accurate representation in terms of dishes being shown.
While my parents are cooking up a storm, me and my sister would just relax and do whatever to pass the time. In my case, I end up playing video games until there is roughly an hour left until midnight. If I could put in more game systems, I would put in the Wii U, a Nintendo DS, a Wii, and a Playstation Console. I still remember the games I played during the past celebrations, which were Smash Bros. for Wii U, Gran Turismo 5, Mario Kart DS, The Legend Of Zelda - Twilight Princess, New Leaf, and obviously New Horizons. In the last couple years, however, I end up having to help out my parents cooking food, so I don’t have as much luxury as I did in my earlier days.
If you look closely, you’d notice that we all wear the same colour which is green. It’s more of a tradition that we made up ourselves for a long time now. Anyway, I’m not quite sure what colour me and my family will go for this year, but if I had to guess, it would be green. In the past, we also dressed up in yellow, orange, blue, red, pink, and other colours that I’m probably forgetting.
Once the clock ticks closer to midnight and all of the food is cooked, we’d all gather around the T.V and prepare the sparklers. We switch to the channel where the countdown is shown live in New York. Ever since I got New Leaf back in 2015, I’d always turn on the game and try to sync up the time right to the exact second in preparation for the countdown. I did the same thing when New Horizons was released, except the time was connected to the internet and I didn’t have to change it to the exact second. The clock strikes midnight and we ring in the new year. After that, we start eating, clean up after, and relax for a bit. Then I check my island and town to talk to my villagers to take photos and then going to sleep. As for the presents you see here, they get ripped open the next day which is something that we started doing in the last couple of years.
Apologies in advance if my submission text started to look weird. I'm cutting it pretty close with the word limit there lol.
We usually celebrate every year Xmas with the big family comprised of cousins, aunts and uncles where we would eat and chat before opening the presents. However, due to covid and the high increase in cases, this reunion has been cancelled yet again this year. I was hoping to be able to spend Xmas with a smaller gathering including my two aunts and one cousin from my mom's side at my new place but the past week's explosion in cases forced us to cancel that as well. I am content however to just spend a relaxing Xmas at my parents' place with my brother. All we did is watch together holiday themed movies on Netflix on Xmas eve and eat our "bûche de Noël", and the next morning open our presents beneath the Xmas tree. This tree holds an important presence in the house. To my brother who is autistic, it represents stability, tradition, holiday spirit and family bond. Every year for weeks in advance, he takes initiative in decorating it while asking us for help. Due to its symbol to the family and to the fact that our main Xmas activities this year have been happening around this tree, the single picture I chose is a photograph of it.
To put it in the nicest way possible, my family and I don't get along. There's no holiday traditions save for making bad memories. I attended university out of state so that I could be far away from "home." For my first winter break, I wanted to stay in the dorms. I couldn't do that, but I purposefully scheduled my train ride back for the 26th with the lie that, "All earlier tickets were sold out."
I wanted to celebrate Christmas alone for the first time.
Since the restaurants would be closed, and I had a mini fridge but no kitchen, the best I could do was buy food that could be eaten cold. I bought chocolates for my friends. On a whim, I grabbed a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider, basically just glorified apple juice. To make things festive, you see.
That was a mistake. I didn't have a bottle opener, so I spent twenty minutes struggling to open the blasted thing. I attacked the cap with my keys and my ID card and pried at it with my nails. I frantically Googled, "How to open a bottle without a bottle opener," and tried to wedge it open using the edges of my drab dorm room desk. To add insult to injury, I realized something important. I planned to unplug my fridge before leaving, which meant that I couldn't store it for later... which meant that I had to drink the entire thing in one day.
I had the entire building to myself. I couldn't decorate my room, so I spent the day playing Minecraft and decorating my mansion. When I got tired of eating the mediocre sandwiches I made and drinking my umpteenth mug of posh apple juice, I took walks outside despite the cold. My dinner was grocery-store sushi. It was the best Christmas I ever had.
I had to wake up early the next morning to catch my train. I didn't expect there to be many people, but nearly every seat was taken! Everyone was wearing suits and carrying suitcases that were undoubtedly holding very official documents. I was the odd one out. I walked to the end of the train and sat next to a fancy business woman. She spent the ride on her laptop doing Official Business Work or something else respectable. Meanwhile, I spent the entire time playing Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors on my blue 3DS and intermittently snacking on dried mango slices.
The train grew more and more empty as people departed at their stops, including the lady I sat next to. With only the sounds of the train speeding down the tracks, I watched the scenery as it passed by. For a final few moments before my arrival, I was left alone, though I didn't feel lonely, and that was just as well.
[For this year's Christmas mistake, I recreated my dorm in AC to perfection. This exercise gave me actual physical pain (not really), so I hope the dreary, stark white walls and tiles gives all current and former college students a visceral reaction. I took great care in adding details such as the exact shoes I wore, that cheap purple pink shower basket thing, and the electric kettle that maybe wasn't allowed due to fire hazard rules, but the rules weren't clear, and I liked my tea, and my roommate had actual literal candles which definitely weren't allowed, so whatever.]
[Credit to ロコ (MA-9946-1069-2352) for the Minecraft Custom Design. And while I do recommend Martinelli's Sparkling Cider because it's tasty, I don't recommend drinking an entire bottle by yourself in one day.]
I was a little unsure on the username proof required since I didn't see anyone else doing this for AC screenshots, but I did a secondary picture as proof like in other TBT events just in case since this is a late entry. Also Zucker is there because I stole his vacation house to do this.
This year was an odd and busy one for my family, but usually the Christmas season starts the weekend after Thanksgiving when we put up and decorate our tree! We like to make a party out of it by putting on Christmas music and eating delicious food.
Shopping for presents usually happens at some point in mid-December, although this year it was only this past Monday because of everyone's schedules. We go to several stores and have a nice lunch at one of many local restaurants. This time around we ate at a delicious mac n' cheese place near my college. We don't usually get home until very late!
Wrapping is a several-hour ordeal that happens a few days before Christmas. I personally love picking out paper I think each person will like and adding matching bows/tags. We play Christmas music and complain about losing scissors and tape every few minutes.
Christmas Eve is very special. My aunt and uncle bring my cousins over to spend the evening at our house. I help my mom prepare food and make organized platters to set out on the table. It's mostly finger foods and things to nibble on, which is perfect for taking into the living room to socialize. Late in the evening, we open gifts (just the ones for and from my aunt and uncle's family). When they go home, stockings are hung up and my little sisters leave cookies and milk for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer).
Christmas Day is the best part, as you'd probably expect. The stockings are filled and the living room is bursting with presents in the morning. We open stocking presents when everyone has come out from their rooms and my mom makes breakfast. After breakfast, the presents on the floor are sorted and handed out. We take turns opening one at a time and my mom and dad take pictures of us holding particularly special ones. Later, when everything is cleaned up, we eat a good dinner. It sounds kind of simple, but I like my Christmas traditions every year. c:
I gathered some specific Christmas presents I opened today! Not pictured: a second T-shirt that I'm currently wearing, a mini skillet, and a box of Band-Aids all in the same theme lmao
During the holidays, my family and I spend time together watching movies or shows (not necessarily holiday-themed movies/shows). It's one of the only times in the whole year that all five of us have time off of school and work (aside from the weekends), so I look forward to this time of year the most. We don't really have to worry about work or assignments, so we can spend hours watching whatever we want for hours. We actually spent all of yesterday binge-watching a show together since we all had time. We usually watch together on the couch, and our dogs sit in front of the TV while we do (though they usually sleep while we watch). I tried to model this in the screenshot above. Sadly, one of our dogs passed away recently but I'm sure he'll be with us this holiday season in spirit. My family is extremely important to me, so I'm happy that I get to spend a lot of time with them during the holidays. This year is a bit more special to me since I started dorming this school year and had to spend a lot of time away from them. So far I've been enjoying all the time I have this holiday season with them
I never celebrated Christmas, nor any other holiday in the winter. However, one thing my family and I always make sure to do is donate to our local food banks. Ever since I was a kid, we made it a tradition to buy multiple cans of food to donate. Every year, we’d go out a day or two before Christmas to quickly drop off the cans we had bought in the past few days.
Looking back now, I never really realized how important donations actually were. While Christmas is the season of giving, I never really took any time to think about the impact it has on others. While this wasn’t supposed to be a “Christmas/holiday” tradition, most food banks would begin accepting more than when it was just a normal day. While our family was never the warmest, or the kindest, especially during the holidays, we still always wanted to give back to the community so other people could have an enjoyable holiday season.
During present time, donating to food banks is something we always do. Whether we’re together or apart, we always take the time to head to our local grocery store, and purchase cans to give to those in need. Even if we’re not willing to go outside on that day, we always force ourselves to, because there will be people elsewhere, who’d make use of the things we buy.
This was actually the first time where I’ve been living somewhere without my parents by my side, so I wanted to take the time to continue the normal things we do, this time around!
Every Christmas, my whole family comes together to celebrate. As the oldest of all my cousins by 7+ years, though, I’m usually their entertainer/activity coordinator. Sometimes we’ll put together a movie that I’ll film and edit and we’ll show that to the rest of the family, we’ll go on a carpool karaoke joyride while eating soft-serve from DQ (as the driver, I finish mine while we’re parked ) in my aunts multi-row van, or I’ll put together something special for them.
Typically, the house we meet up at is in a fairly small town, where everybody knows everybody, and the locales are all iconic in their own subtle way. As the cousins have gotten older, they’ve enjoyed exploring the small town more and more, and all the ponds, light displays, and unique vistas it has to offer. In recent years, I’ve been putting their Amazing Race skills to the test, creating (and chaperoning) “Great Clue Hunts” that lead them all around the house, backyard, and city! How it works is I give them the first clue (they all usually rhyme), and that will lead them to the second one, and so on. I really enjoy making a whole plot out of it too! At some clues I get the group to be split up, or have one of the adults “kidnaps” one of the kids and then the adult sends the rest of them on their own sub-quest of clues to “free” them (this is usually done with the youngest ones who can’t be out and about in the evenings).
The photos and short clips we have of the clue hunts from years past are all incredibly bright-eyed moments of concentration and revelations. Some of my favourite clue-confusions include me alluding to something small that water goes around and around in, and one of the cousins *insisting* I was referring to a small toilet (I wasn’t). Other fun ones included, once we got to a nearby park, them needing to make it from one end of the playground to the other, without touching the floor (they got super creative with going over and under different sets of bars and structures), or finding a clue peeking out from under a rock at the bottom of one of the town’s (shallow*, it was an arm’s reach) fountains.
It’s become a thing where I busy all the younger cousins while the adults have their post-dinner naps, and it’s something I love doing! (Hopefully as much as the cousins love participating in).
Every year my family will fill up this box or a similar thing with small little gifts and everyone in the family will take turns opening the boxes. It's a lot of fun because the gifts have to be small enough to fit into the box but still it can be really surprising what we put in there. Sometimes it's little candies or even money. One time there was a rock that was painted to look like a coal. It was really funny when my brother opened that box! I really love this tradition because it makes me appreciate small surprises and my family has a lot of fun with it! My favorite thing that I've gotten from there was a small little necklace that had a charm on it, and I still have it and wear it sometimes. My least favorite thing I've got from there was when someone put slime. But it was still funny when I got it! There was one time where there were like miniature ornaments like a mini Santa for example, and one was a mini coffee cup. We told my nieces and nephews that elves fill up the little compartments so that's why everything is small. I love continuing this tradition every year and have lots of fun with it!
Christmas changed a lot over the years. When I was little, we used to visit my grandparents in the countryside, with all our relatives, in a very cramped and overheated house. According to our traditions, Christmas starts on the 24th evening. We always had a buffet with a lot of food, had fun playing games, we were exchanging our presents at midnight and then, partying all night. The adults were dancing and drinking and the children were playing outdoor, ice skating, and sledding in the middle of the night under the northern lights. We stayed up until the sun rose.
However, times changed, and now it’s just our little family staying at home and not doing much apart from eating cheese and cured salmon. I’m the only one who is still staying up all night, watching special music shows while eating panettone in the early Christmas morning, but there is one thing that has never changed; my mom turning into a ‘Christmaszilla’ every year. When I was little, it was literally hell, from the tree to the food, the gifts, the clothes, everything had to be perfect and from my memory, she was just stressing and screaming at us until we arrived at my grandparents' house. I thought that she would have changed over the years, now that she has less pressure, a whole month to decorate with an artificial tree, food prepared in advance, no more presents, and us staying in pajamas, but NO…. She’s still a ‘Christmaszilla’ stressing over everything and losing it if we touch one decoration, and I’m not even talking about the cats... So to annoy her make her smile, we started messing with the decorations. One year, we replaced the nativity scene with dinosaurs; another year, we put baby Yoda in place of baby Jesus; last year, I added Harvey’s house (my TBT’s ornament) in the village and this year, I decided to 'decorate' a wooden owl I found in the basement, that nobody knows where it came from, with discarded ornaments, especially the blue ones, that she dislikes. At first, she said nothing, she looked exasperated, and then: “Where did you plan to put that?” She didn’t let me keep it in the living room, but I could tell she was vaguely amused. (She even kept a photo).
I love the holiday season and being able to have a much needed break from school and work to spend time with both friends and family. I'm usually not able to see my friends often anymore, especially now that our work schedules don't really match up with each other. As the holidays get closer, we usually plan a small get-together to hang out and unwind. The mountains are also beautiful this time of year and we can drive up there for a day to have fun in the snow. The tiring drive to and from there is definitely worth it!
My family and I like to spend a lot of time together during the holiday season as well, going out shopping or finding holiday events nearby (especially ones that are decorated nicely). On Christmas Eve, we get most of the cooking done so we won't have to worry about it the next day. My mom makes her special Filipino spaghetti and delicious desserts. Usually, we would attend Christmas mass in the morning and then drop off presents to some relatives afterwards, but because of the pandemic we've been staying home. We take a few family pictures by the tree, trying to get the dogs in there and staying as still as possible... sometimes. We then hand out everyone's presents and start opening our own, including the dogs' treats that are wrapped in tissue paper so it's easy for them to rip through. After that, we eat lunch together and relax in the living room, putting on a movie. We also like to play games, whether they're board games or video games like Mario Party and Trivia. This year, we tried out the Animal Crossing Monopoly!
Christmas with my extended family has always been a bit weird for me. There's so many people, so many old grudges and a bit of meanness going around each time. The kind of polite bitterness only privileged people get to have. And they really thought we didn't notice that as kids...
Even trading gifts was awkward because growing up we always had less money than them and always struggled with getting something nice (read: expensive) for everybody. It was also hard to reminisce and enjoy being together because it felt like no one knew me or cared about knowing me... Except for, maybe, my Aunt Cecille.
This one memory I have of her is probably my most treasured Christmas memory, and it's how I've been remembering her by since she passed away earlier this year. She was probably the one person in those parties who really knew what Christmas is supposed to be about.
I must've been 18 or 19 at the time, I know this because I was far too old to be getting dolls at that point, so when Aunt Cecille came to me with a little Hello Kitty doll on her hand I didn't know what to say, I just smiled.
Then she said in her sweet, caring voice: "I saw this and thought it was so pretty, it reminded me of you."
I'm honestly only realizing now how much those words meant to me. That someone from my family thought of me someday, looking through stuff at a store or a mall or a street somewhere. That you could cross someone's mind like that, and that they would think of you with love and kindness.
I realize now too that that is probably the moment I developed my own taste for gift giving, which is something I love to do now, more than anything. I guess that, since then, putting in the effort and care into picking out gifts for the people you love, even if they're simple or a little odd, has become my favorite Christmas tradition.
I love this gesture of letting someone know that when they're not around you still think about them, and giving them something to keep and remember you by as well, just as I remember my Aunt Cecille every time I look at the Hello Kitty doll sitting on my shelf.
Hi river! Sounds like you put a lot of love into your gifts. Your photo appears to be missing your username on a physical name card. You’re welcome to adjust this so I may accept your entry.
Christmas has always been a nice holiday to celebrate, my family always tries to leave its troubles and disagreements behind in order to enjoy a cheery and festive spirit. While exchanging gifts is fun, I think my most anticipated tradition every year is the Christmas/New Year dinner. I love food, I like cooking and I adore helping out prepare everything.
On the past, the family reunited at the house of my grandparents. Two of them left to live on Spain, so it was usually my grandparents, my aunt/uncle and cousins from my mother's side of the family and my dad, mom and sister. My cousins, my sister and I would play games, mimic things for others to guess and other things while the adults cooked or played domino. Over the time, after my dad and both grandparents passed away, these annual reunions, as they were, stopped. However, my mom and my sister still hold the tradition to cook amazing food and although it's not the big family gathering it once was, the tradition is there and if I may say so, it's even closer to my heart.
My mom and I embark on an adventure each year to obtain the necessary ingredients from markets far from home,and it's always a blast to just enjoy the journey. Recent happenings have made going to one of these markets not very safe, so we have needed to look elsewhere. We carefully select all the ingredients in order to pick the freshest ones or go to our preferred stall where we have bought from more than 50 years. As I grew older, learning to know which things to pick or how to ask for the best quality has been a fascinating experience.
But, I haven't talked about the food we're cooking, right? It's mostly galician cuisine which means there's lot of meat and seafood involved. And it's so good. I consider the caldo gallego (Galician broth) and pan de naranja (orange bread) to be our main stars of the show, but shrimps, squid and empanada are also delicious and staples of the dinner. Everything is a bit pricey, but it's so worthy. We don't cook these kind of dishes throughout the year, so it's always a bliss to eat them. The entry includes a picture of some of these dishes, and although I know not everyone shares our taste, I hope the dishes manage to give off the love we put on all of them.
Preparing everything from the ground up (well, not everything, the chorizo and the like is bought like that haha) is special, my family is always chatting, telling jokes, listening to music... Each year, more and more treasured memories fill up my brain, these dear moments that call back to other times but also give me, and my family, tons of joy on the present. It's been years since it's only us three who cook and eat together, and I couldn't ask for more.
Hello! The food looks absolutely delicious. Your photo is missing your TBT name on a physical name card within it. You’re welcome to adjust your picture in your post so I’m able to accept it.
on a dark christmas morning before the sun rose, i was awoken by my cheery-eyed little brother, "parker! santa came!!!!" my eyes could barely open, but his youthful energy and excitement was enough to pull me out of bed. he danced around unable to control his feet and ran down the stairs making sure i was always close behind. he squealed with delight at the sight of all the colored wrappings, bows, and bags surrounding the giant lit christmas tree. the fire danced behind the overflowing stockings, they were so stuffed that they could no longer hang on the mantle and instead rested gracefully in front of the fire. to the right my parents sat in their cozy blankets and robes sipping their coffee and smiling warmly. it smelled like christmas. cinnamon and vanilla filled the air and wrapped you inside its warm, comforting embrace. my mom always prepared a sweet desert-like breakfast for us to enjoy between presents. nothing made her happier than to help make the holiday as magical as possible. "what do you think??" my mom and dad asked excited and expectantly. my brother squealed again with glee overwhelmed by the amount of gifts santa had delivered for him. his cheer was infectious. "parker is up! can we open presents now?!" he exclaimed still dancing around. "okay! go for it!" my dad replied with a smile so wide you could feel his joy. these moments are some of the best i remember. not the presents, not the lights, but the warm excitement and contentment shared by my family. in these moments we were truly happy to be together.
I may be missing it, but your TBT username appears to be missing on your drawing. You may adjust your current picture so I can accept this.
Should be all caught up now. Thank you for your patience, everyone! All entries have once again been reviewed and accepted unless you have a message from me. Please let me know if I’ve missed you!
My family doesn’t have a big and festive celebration for the holidays. It has mostly been just us four - my dad, mom, brother, and me. Our relatives live abroad, and we pretty much keep to ourselves.
When I was young, I envied my peers who had many gifts and extravagant holiday decorations in their homes. My parents were thrifty, so I often made my own holiday decorations and wrapping paper from arts and crafts supplies. As I grew older, I envied large family gatherings more, the reason being that I had visited my relatives abroad for the first time when I was 14, and I finally felt what it was like to eat, play, talk, and live together with my extended family during the holidays.
I think that the experience has made me thankful that I’m able to celebrate the holidays with my parents and my brother. We don’t have a big and festive celebration for the holidays, and we’re not big on gift giving. And I think that’s ok. My parents have always shown me love through food. My dad always buys roasted pork belly which we love. My mom usually cooks a few of our favorite dishes and the portion size is just like any other day. She gives us cut fruit, and we’ll converse and joke around just like any other day.
Hi river! Sounds like you put a lot of love into your gifts. Your photo appears to be missing your username on a physical name card. You’re welcome to adjust this so I may accept your entry.
Hello! The food looks absolutely delicious. Your photo is missing your TBT name on a physical name card within it. You’re welcome to adjust your picture in your post so I’m able to accept it.
I may be missing it, but your TBT username appears to be missing on your drawing. You may adjust your current picture so I can accept this.
Should be all caught up now. Thank you for your patience, everyone! All entries have once again been reviewed and accepted unless you have a message from me. Please let me know if I’ve missed you!
Christmas this year has been wonderfully hectic. This holiday season reminded me of all the good times we used to have as a family. Since the pandemic we’ve been keeping our holidays relatively simple and small. But this year was filled with more laughter and joy than I can remember. We had a potluck style dinner along with many fun games as well. We started off with plenty of pictures to capture these wonderful moments and shared our greetings with each other. As everyone was very hungry we lined up to fill our plates with the delicious food dishes all while catching up with each other. After we ate we decided to start our secret Santa. I was happy to get some gifts that were at the top of my wishlist. As the night went on with plenty of more games, the highlight of the night had to be the Saran Wrap ball. The ball was filled with many goodies such as Pokémon cards, gift cards, scratchers and many more knickknacks. With our large group cheering each time the Saran ball went around seeing the prizes falling out. What an amazing time. Before we knew it the night flew by and it was 2 in the morning. We then took our outdo video for memories and said our good byes. As a write this, it’s still so fresh in my memories. What an amazing time, I wish I could still spend time with them all. Merry Christmas everyone!
I can’t recall how it all started. Three... no, four years ago? Or should I start counting from when we first got our Christmas tree?
My parents first bought this Christmas tree when my oldest sister was younger. I was told that she kept staring out the window, looking at our neighbour’s holiday decorations. Seeing how envious she seemed, my grandmother told my parents to purchase a Christmas tree for her. From then on, they started putting up this artificial evergreen tree every year. Years went on and my other older sister was born, and it was my turn. Although we started with a few decorations, they grew over time, as we also handcrafted some during our school years. Despite not being the most aesthetically pleasant to the eye, I’ve religiously put up my Christmas sock and purple angel every holiday season... Or should I say almostreligiously?
We had stopped putting up our Christmas tree some time during our late teenage years. However, it all resumed ever since we first got our holiday-themed Pokémon plushes. My parents first got us Rockruff, Eevee and the holly Pikachu. We then went on to purchase the snowman Pikachu. We even added the older Pokémon plush even though they weren’t holiday-themed. I also brought back with me some limited-edition Pokémon plush during my first and second trip to Japan. Over the years, our Pokémon plush collection grew. As such, the holiday season is always something I look forward to!
Hello! The food looks absolutely delicious. Your photo is missing your TBT name on a physical name card within it. You’re welcome to adjust your picture in your post so I’m able to accept it.
Hi! The paper is on the bottom right corner, between the charcuterie plate and the shrimps. It has "Rolling" and then "Antony" below. I even made a little drawing but that's indeed not very visible. Hope it's ok.
During the holidays my family and I keep our gatherings relatively small. Usually for Christmas my family and I would all get together and help cook a nice feast almost like thanksgiving. After eating we would play some games we have pre planned for prizes. I have a 5 other siblings so there are enough of us to always keep a game busy. My family gets pretty competitive especially when there are prizes involved. Another things we do for Christmas we all help decorate ornaments to hang on our family’s tree. This year I decided to make a cute little reindeer with a chocolate wrapped in red for its nose. I made one for each of my family members to add their own little twist for us to hang up. Later on during the night we gathered our gifts and opened them. For our parents my siblings and I all pitched in to get them a gifts that we wouldn’t be able to purchase on our own. They were very happy about the gifts they received as well as everyone else. When we’re done opening gifts we usually spend the rest of the night together playing more games until we sleep. I am very grateful for my family.
