Christmas Day in a Nut Shell (roasted Chestnut??)

I hope you all had a really great Christmas, or whatever you celebrate at this time of year. My Christmas was very good. I left here around noon and drove the my sister's place, about 25 minute drive north of here. I was just in time for brunch, though everyone had already opened their gifts over at Mom's place. Brunch was pancakes with blackberry sauce/syrup (homemade) or strawberries, and topped with whipped cream. Bacon too.

After brunch and some clean up, we retired to the living room so I could open my gifts and they could open the ones I had for them. I gave:
Mom - a gift basket of eats and teas, a big box of lavender candles and holders of different shapes and sizes, a large poinsettia transplanted into a large white pot from the smaller green one where it was root bound when I bought it.
Marcy (my sister) - a large candle, some teas.
Marcy & Randy - an 8x10 photograph I took, matted but not framed.

Bernie (younger brother) & Karen - an 8x10 photograph I took, matted but not framed.

Bernie & Karen's kids: Hana, Jeremy, Jillian - a journal each. I wish I'd started journal writing when I was young.
Dan (friend) - A big candle, a box of dark chocolate Turtles, an After Eight chocolate bar.


A what did I get? Here's the list:
From Mom - 2 queen size feather pillows (I told her how much I wanted and needed them), $50 bill, $50 gift certificate for jewelry that my niece (Marcy's daughter Shannon) sells, and she bought a goat for a family in a third world country in my name.
From Marcy & Randy - a necklace from what her daughter Shannon sells, a $50 cash card for the Real Canadian Superstore (groceries and all sorts of other stuff, I shop there a lot). I liked the necklace she gave me, but there was another one that she had there that I liked and felt it suited me more, so I traded, lol.
From Bernie & his family - an Ombra Spa bath set (Lavender Extract Foambath, Body lotion for dry skin, with almond oil and vitamin C, and a net scrub ball or whatever you call those things).
From Anne (eldest sister who wasn't home for Christmas) - a bar of soap (warm vanilla sugar) and body lotion (tahiti, sweetie with monoi oil). I just put a bit of this lotion on the back of one hand and wow, it smells incredible!! (Price tags still on... $3.50 and $15.00, lol). If men like this fragrance as much as I do, I'll soon have several of them following me everywhere I go... hahaha
From Dan - a LinkSys wireless router!!

As the evening progressed, I looked at the Latasia catalogue (the jewelry mentioned above) and at the several pieces of jewelry that Shannon left with her mom, as well as the ones Marcy owns too. I picked out a necklace to use up the $50 gift certificate... and a necklace to use the $50 bill from Mom... and earrings for both necklaces which used up the bigger part of $50 of my own money. One set I got right away from what M had there... the other set Shannon will order and have sent to me. I guess I'll have to take some pics to show you what it's all like.

After opening the gifts Mom & I, as well as Hana & Jeremy, went to Mom's. I baked a bread pudding & lemon sauce to take to dinner, played Tri-Onimos with Mom & the kids, stuff like that. The evening was spent at M's. Wonderful turkey dinner, salad, yam casserole, corn & pepper casserole, carrots, homemade buns, etc... with bread pudding & lemon sauce as well as a great Tropical Pie that M made for desert. Then we played a game of Disney trivia. It was nearly 11pm when I left there to drive home, and as it had been snowing for some time at this point, the roads were not the best, but I made it home safely.

Now, a link to "my sponsor", lol. Stopzilla has a popup blocker they would like to tell you about. Go check it out if you have a moment to spare.