2009 Holiday Photos Thread!

[enterprikayak]

We're all gonna have pictures of us snuggling up to Uncle Waldo and eating too much turkey....so here's the place to display them! I'll start.

Here's one from last night's caroling at the in-laws. I'm holding Abby and Priso looks like he's had a few too many nips from the punch bowl, but actually he was the DD and this is what he looks like stone cold sober. Aureilia was having too much fun to be anything but a blur in all the pix.

[Linda]

I celebrate Winter Solstice in December as a Wiccan, and since some parts of the family are Christian, we celebrate Christmas with them. And I guess you could say I celebrate Hallowe'en though we call it Samhain which is Celtic New Year. We do celebrate the calendar New Year's Eve on December 31 with our New Year's Eve Sobriety Pow Wow consisting of a pot luck feast and dance as a free, non-alcoholic way to bring in the New Year. These holidays reflect both the Celtic and Native American heritage in our family.

Oops, forgot my photo flash drive which I usually have in my purse. I will put up photos later.

[Asso]

Absolutely lovely!
And I like very much your luminous look, EK.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

celebrate and celebrate, we're free (as in there are public holidays) for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (we call it Second Day Christmas), then New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Then there's Epiphany on January 6th.

No Thanksgiving or Halloween here. The Jewish community celebrate Chanukkah of course. But Kwanzaa!? No offense, but as far as I know it's an artficial, made-up holiday. It's not observed across the pond. If I didn't follow US media I wouldn't know about it either.

[Distracted]

Great photo! Yes, I can vouch for the fact that BOTH Priso and EK are marvelously and wildly entertaining even when stone cold sober.

Christmas Eve is big down here, with midnight mass and big family get togethers. Then we generally get up and do it all over again at Christmas.

[Aikiweezie]

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and Day for us!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. We spend Christmas Eve with Mike's family, having dinner at my father-in-laws club, it's a very fancy affair, very formal, and enjoy a casual Christmas Day with mine. No midnight Mass for us yet. Steven couldn't stay up that late yet!

We throw a big New Year's Eve party at our house, inviting 6 other couples and their children. It's crazy and fun. All the kids (all under 10 years old) begin to melt down around 1:00 a.m. Here's Mike at last year's bash.

My best friend from high school's family throws a big New Years Day part that we always attend..



Martial artists all over the world celebrate Kagami Biraki the second weekend in January with a vigorous training session that sets the tone for the new year followed by a nice dinner out. I probably should have added that to "other." This picture is last year.

[Aquarius]

No pics yet, unless someone posts them from our salon Christmas party on Facebook.

I do Halloween (both in the Wiccan sense and in the Trick or Treat sense), Thanksgiving, and the secular Christmas with my family because their beliefs are a little more, ah, mainstream.

I checked "other" for the solstice and Imbolic.

[Alelou]

celebrate and celebrate, we're free (as in there are public holidays) for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (we call it Second Day Christmas), then New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Then there's Epiphany on January 6th.

No Thanksgiving or Halloween here. The Jewish community celebrate Chanukkah of course. But Kwanzaa!? No offense, but as far as I know it's an artficial, made-up holiday. It's not observed across the pond. If I didn't follow US media I wouldn't know about it either.

It's not exactly huge here either. I don't think I've ever personally known a single black person who actually celebrates Kwanzaa. It seems to exist primarily for public service messages on TV and neat little grade school curriculum lessons celebrating diversity. Granted, most of the black people I have known are people I went to church with, so they might have other priorities, but no one at work ever mentioned it either (except as a joke).

And yes, it was invented in 1966 to celebrate African heritage. It's not religious.

[enterprikayak]

It's not exactly huge here either. I don't think I've ever personally known a single black person who actually celebrates Kwanzaa. It seems to exist primarily for public service messages on TV and neat little grade school curriculum lessons celebrating diversity.

seems that way here too. We are a shockingly "white" society in my small part of Canada....I'd actually appreciate a little more diversity around here, but no....little old white ladies as far as the eye can see.

[Elessar]

It's not exactly huge here either. I don't think I've ever personally known a single black person who actually celebrates Kwanzaa. It seems to exist primarily for public service messages on TV and neat little grade school curriculum lessons celebrating diversity.

seems that way here too. We are a shockingly "white" society in my small part of Canada....I'd actually appreciate a little more diversity around here, but no....little old white ladies as far as the eye can see.

Luminous is an understatement!! I LOVE your new hair color... I... I think the Great Plume of Agasoria comes to mind

[Ludmila]

I celebrate only New Year's Eve but I compensate such small number of holidays via celebrating it not only December 31, but and in February as Chinese New Year and January 13 (Russian Old New Year – the holiday according to the our old calendar changed 100 years ago, I think this tradition was kept because for our believers Christmas is January 7 and they keep the fast in December). Really they are only the occasion for celebrating New Year in the different companies.
I plan to celebrate this New Year very modestly and post my old pictures:

Last year celebrating at my work with me in the middle.

Celebrating of 2007 New Year at work:


My classmate and my friend from university (student of the same year) visited me at New 2005 Year's Eve. Our company is in my flat at 23-45 (11.45 pm) December 31 2004:

I am on the street in those days:



Kagami Biraki has very interesting way for celebrating. Thanks for info, Aikiweezie!

[Aikiweezie]

I LOVE your pictures, Ludmilla! Especially the one at your flat. I looks like you were having a really good time.
We will be busy from now until New Years with one party or outing after another. Family, Friends, school, etc.
Unlike Enterprikayak's area, ours is very diverse. In my little subdivision of about 30 homes we have families of Philippino, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, African-American (and no, none of them celebrate Kwanzaa) and European descent. The grocery stores and restaurants reflect that so we get to enjoy all kinds of great food because of that.

[Ludmila]

Yes, it was a great time. We all are scattered in the different places of our country and we seldom see each other.
By the way the girl who seems drunk a little drinks never.
Happy time for all during celebrating the winter holidays!

[Aquarius]

Great pictures, Ludmilla!

[Alelou]

It's so nice to put a face to the name, Ludmila! Looks like fun.