A Different Kind of Christmas

Christmas this year was very different than anything I've ever experienced. I was spending it with a different family, encountering different traditions, and eating different food (well, for the most part). I am also spending the longest continuous period of time with Mishka's family ever.

As I mentioned before, this was the first Christmas I have ever spent away from my family. I will not lie and say that it was a smooth and easy transition. I love Mishka's family dearly, but it was still hard to wave goodbye to my parents at the train station knowing that Christmas morning will not arrive with the call of my sisters' voices to wake up and the smile's of my parents from behind a video camera.

All in all though, my Christmas with the Mishkas was pretty successful. There was a lot of super competitive game playing and a blizzard which kept us from what promised to be a delicious brunch, but other than those small hitches it was a Christmas to remember.

Future sister-in-law Katerina and her new husband S were both in attendance, as well as Mishka's grandparents. It really was the whole family together for Christmas (all together for the first time since the wedding I believe). Since trying to explain the whole week I spent there to you all would be long and possibly boring, I'll just relate some of my favorite moments:

1. Going through old photo albums with Mishka's grandmother and hearing all of her stories about their family history.

2. Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner. There were more traditions on that table than I have seen in a long time.

3. That everyone enjoyed the cakes and cinnamon buns I brought as treats for everyone.

4. Getting cooking lessons from Mishka's grandmother. We made pirogies and she was very impressed with how quickly I picked it up.

5. Seeing the looks on everyone's faces when they opened my presents. I actually enjoy giving presents more than receiving and I think I really hit the mark this year :).

6. Discussing plans for the wedding with Mishka's mom and grandmother. Even though they both had a lot of strong opinions on what I should do (many dissimilar to what I was thinking) I could feel they were both full of support and excitement.

7. The blizzard! Over a foot of snow to play in! We built snowmen and made snow angels and had to shovel their car. And, though shoveling out the car doesn't sound like fun, doing it with Katerina and Mishka made it fun :).

There were many more great moments, but I don't think I could possibly list them all here. Christmas memories are for the heart and the head after all!

Merry belated Christmas to you all and Happy Holidays!