Life On The Other Side

My hubby dubbed this year’s Christmas as the “H***** Family Christmas Experience.” This is the first year I celebrated Christmas with his family since I am now officially part of the “family.” Last year I had the ancillary Christmas experience as the fiance who was over 2,000 miles away and that was still a bit overwhelming with a number of things his parents got me.

I didn’t know what to expect when the hubby said his mom goes “all out” for Christmas. What he meant was that they (his parents) decorate a live Christmas tree which was absolutely beautiful. In addition, a train runs around the tree and there are little decorations throughout the house incluidng a village on a sideboard and a tiny ornament tree. The newest addition to the ornament tree were ornaments with the names of the hubby, myself, his brother and his brother’s wife. Yes, I am truly a part of the family. If the decorations weren’t enough, there were tons of presents waiting to be opened.

This is the classic American family Christmas, something that seems a bit foreign to me since I grew up in Hawaii. Though we didn’t have snow outside, it was chilly enough to appreciate winter and that Christmas is truly for staying inside warm and cozy. His parents even had stockings hung by the chimney with care and filled with fun little items. Then we adjourned to the Christmas tree where present after present was passed out and everyone took turns opening. Perhaps the highlight of the gift giving was seeing his mom’s face light up a thousand times when his dad gave her a pretty three-stone diamond ring. What a wonderful thing to see after 40-something years of marriage and truly inspirational! Some of our Christmas presents this year were some baby items such as a blanket, towel, wash clothes and onesies. These were our first baby gifts and somewhat of a reality fix that we will be parents next year. We both can’t wait!

Christmas day culminated with a lovely dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and some other fixings. After all was said and done, the hubby asked how I liked the “H***** Family Christmas Experience.” My response was that it wasn’t as overwhelming as I thought it would be and I enjoyed every single minute.