Christmas 2008: Connecticut

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Our Christmas gathering in Connecticut had 3 main sections: gifts on Christmas Eve, the gathering (meal and Yankee Swap) on Christmas Day, and the now annual Tasting.

We arrived Christmas Eve. We got to meet the latest member of the family, Bear. Bear is an English Mastiff. Reminds me a bit of my Newfoundland Charlemagne. *sigh*

Young woman playing with a large mastiff puppy in front of the fireplace and Christmas decorations

Mastiff puppy sitting on the kitchen floor looking up during the Christmas Eve gathering

Anyway, we all got together at Mom's house and started with a casual meal.

Family members seated around the kitchen table during a casual Christmas Eve meal

Four family members gathered in the wood-paneled room during the Christmas Eve celebration

Young man leaning over and hugging a seated man at the kitchen table

Mom (Grandma) keeps the house a bit chilly. (We always end up turning the heat up when there!)

Three family members seated on a floral couch opening Christmas gifts

Fallyn got a bunch of gifts at once. I know she is under there somewhere...

Family gathered around the couch where a stack of wrapped presents hides one of the people

Some pictures of the Grandchildren.

Three people seated together on a couch opening and examining Christmas gifts

Young woman seated in a recliner opening a large wrapped Christmas gift

Young man sitting on the floor holding a large container of caramel popcorn he has just opened

Young man examining a silver dragon figurine after opening a gift

Laura had me this year. Of course, I really like my holiday clothing. Laura found the perfect ornament for me.

Small green sweater ornament with a Santa design hanging against a gray background

Woman kneeling by the fireplace holding a snowman decoration labeled Noel

The saying on this t-shirt is very cute:

Woman smiling while holding up a red holiday shirt with a reindeer design

Woman laughing while holding up a red sweater with a snowman design

I had Debi this year, & made her two sets of reversible placemats (one side per season).

Woman seated beside the Christmas tree holding two reversible placemats with different seasonal patterns

Woman holding up another pair of reversible placemats with floral and harvest patterns

Debi gave Laura this coat; the color is perfect w/ her hair:

Woman seated in a chair holding a white gift box on her lap

Woman trying on a green coat she received as a Christmas gift

Paul had Mom. He gave her a 'Soda Stream' seltzer water maker. We have one, and just love it. So far, Mom is enjoying it as well. A wonderful thing about this little device is that it doesn't have to be plugged in.

Older woman holding a SodaStream box while a young man stands beside her

Tiffany had Paul this year. She gave him a cute Patriots Nutcracker ornament, but the picture I took was fuzzy. My other pictures came out OK, though. We have the utensil crock on our counter (I replaced a plain one I had been using with this horse one).

Man kneeling on the floor smiling and holding up a horse-themed utensil crock while others sit nearby

Man smiling and holding up a red long-sleeved shirt he received as a gift

Man holding up a black long-sleeved shirt while seated in the living room during gift opening

A couple more shots of Bear.

Close view of the mastiff puppy asleep on the carpet with its tongue slightly sticking out

Woman sitting on the floor holding the mastiff puppy in her lap

Have I mentioned that Mom keeps the place toooooo cold?

Two young adults sitting together under a striped blanket on the couch to stay warm

And our annual shot of Ron napping:

Man asleep in a recliner during the family Christmas gathering

On to Page 4 of the 2008 Christmas Report.

Updated March 2026