Thanksgiving was fairly simple. My dad's step-sister put everyoneon notice last March or April that she wanted to do a big Thanksgiving at her house and all were invited. There were about 16 of us, grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, roommates, fiances, and friends. It was a great dinner with turkey and the usuals plus some scrumptious appetizers (my favs were the stuffed mushrooms and Mom's pumpkin dip).We came, we ate, we saw the beautiful house, and we all wanted a nap! Thomas and I went over to his parents' house for a little bit afterwards. His mom picked a girl movie to watch (Pretty Woman, I think) and since Thomas had no desire to watch it, he baked cookies instead! Best way to end a lovely holiday!
The Christmas holidays were a lot more hectic. We had about seven (or 8 depending on how you count) parties/family gatherings to attend in three days. Whew! It started off with the Dumpling Party. A high school friend of Thomas's brother and his family throw
a dumpling making party every year. We all come over, spend an hour or so making dumplings and then eat them! We made a ton, but they do not last long at all! Thomas and I had to leave early to go to Mark's small family party and start the gift giving off right! My brother got 2 out of three parts of a three piece suit,my aunt got a new Kindle, Mark got a new pot, Thomas and I got dance lessons, and we all laughed harder than we had in a long time!
Christmas Eve Day we went out to Tryon, NC for Mark's big Leatherman family Christmas party. This was the first time Thomas met by extend family on that side and finally got to join in one of our largest holiday traditions. He was in introduced to Aunt Frances's cookies and
had a few chats with the cousins before gifts were given out and names drawn for next year. Adding a new name to the hat is always a big deal, and proves there's no turning back now! We hopped back in the car and back on the road to the big Choiniere Christmas party. There were friends and food all over (and a few dumplings from the night before, though they were quickly snatched up!). The guys decided to play a practical joke on one of the family friends by dressing like him in sweater vests and bow ties. The joke was on them, however, when the guest strayed from his typical party attire and just wore a button down shirt this year! They had fun with it though!
Once the night wound down, Thomas and I headed home and to bed so Santa could come. We got up early and opened our stockings full of chocolates, Star Wars pancake molds, concert tickets, and a travel BattleShip game set (I know, I'm an awesome Santa). We had wonderful gifts from my father's side of the family to open as well, including an Xbox Kinect! We headed to my family's Christmas morning to open more stockings and gifts with my parents, brother, and grandmother; and to have my favorite breakfast of the year: Moravian Sugarloaf! Then it was off to Winston-Salem for the big Choiniere family gathering. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and desserts were present in massive amounts all of which made for a lovely afternoon (oh and the snow that was falling looked pretty but made the driving more of a pain). They have a white elephant gift exchange at the party which made for some pretty funny moments, some gifts were great, others - anyone would try to get rid of! As we headed off back to Charlotte, Thomas's grandmother gave me a special gift from herself and Thomas's grandfather. It made me feel so welcomed into there family! Once back in Charlotte, we had Thomas's immediate family Christmas (along with our favorite Chinese food for dinner) and watched a movie or two.
And after all that: we celebrated my mom's birthday!! We had a great lobster dinner and more family time before Thomas and I had to return to the adult working world for about a week! For New Year's Eve, Thomas and I had some friends over to celebrate (and show off the townhouse few have ever seen). We booted up the Xbox Kinect and it was a HUGE hit. We were hang-gliding, boxing, going on adventures, and dancing up a storm! People came and went to ours and other parties and at the end of the night we had a nice prosecco toast to ring in the new year! Here's to 2011 and all the great parties to come!!
Happy Holidays 2010 from the future Choinieres
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