It is an interesting time of year that lets us compare traditions. In Aberdeen we had the chance to go with my family to pick out a tree (which is an annual tradition for us, although they are nowhere near the size of the tree in the Bean front room). Alyson rolls out the advent calendar that Eden gave her, it's probably her favourite decoration. In Edinburgh we just have a little artificial tree that I bought several years ago when I first moved down. Christmas in Aberdeen is a military affair - quite regimented, and yet very laid back at the same time. We wrap all of our presents (from Santa or otherwise). We open them in order of age though, until it gets to the last few or if we've been sat there opening for too long. This is obviously in contrast to the Bean Christmas where Santa's gifts are laid out in the living room, but family gifts are wrapped. The Christmas meal in Aberdeen also involves everyone contributing. This year we actually had a sign up sheet to decide who would cook which part (I did the roast potatoes). The rest of the day, and indeed the rest of the season, is very much a relaxing time though. Recently we've actually taken to doing the big meal for dinner on Christmas eve so that Christmas day itself can be less stressful. It actually works quite well I think. We still go with traditional turkey. I really enjoy having the prime rib in Kaysville though.Turkey - no matter how well it is cooked - is not my favourite meat.
I don't know how it is for others, but for my family half of the excitement of any holiday is purely the anticipation and the planning. We look forward to getting together, we enjoy talking together about the things we want to do. Mostly we enjoy talking together about the things we are going to eat! Food is a pretty central part of any family meeting...This year my mum had a clever plan to order her grocery shopping online and have it delivered. She gave everyone in the family the login details so we could add our own ingredients/purchases. Most of us had an assigned day to cook, so we would have to prepare for that, but it was also for things like choosing which kind of juice you fancied etc. One important thing for Alyson and I specifically though is trying not to get too sidetracked by our pending trip to the US while we are at my parents' house. Of course we look forward to visiting Alyson's family, but it wouldn't be fair to my own mother if the whole time we had set aside to being with her, and my family, was spent just talking about/looking forward to being elsewhere. That said, we had a great time in Aberdeen, and the timing (for us at least) worked out great. Although I did feel sorry for Nate who had to wait 3 days extra for Christmas.
We really enjoyed our trip to Utah this winter. I think we managed to get more out of this trip than we have previous ones. Probably through more planning and having a better idea of what we wanted to accomplish. That was also in no small part thanks to the Beans who really set aside time to do things with us, and had activities and time off already planned like the trip to Park City. It means a lot to us that we get to see a lot of the family while we're out there. I really enjoyed going skiing for the first time and didn't pick up any permanent injuries! I was also delighted to get my fill of chicken alfredo, Carl's Jr, etc.. It was also great to see friends from home. I have quite a few childhood friends who have moved to Utah, as well as a plethora of people we've come to know in Edinburgh who have moved back to Utah or still have family there.
Being back home we're still struggling a little with jet lag 10 days later. I have just started classes again properly and am back in the swing of applying for graduate positions. Alyson is back at work and back to planning various youth activities for her calling.
