the many meanings of christmas

Pumpkin pie and cornbread dressing.  National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  Reading The Night Before Christmas to my kids at bedtime.  Watching my children count down the days until Christmas on our advent calendar.  My son’s excitement as he gets to turn on the lights on the tree each day.  My wooden nativity set with the little baby Jesus that looks like an almond.  Singing along to holiday music as I wrap presents.  Setting out homemade cookies for Santa, along with a glass of milk in case he gets thirsty.  Seeing the wonderment and awe in my children’s eyes on Christmas morning as they see that Santa has visited in the middle of the night.  Gathering with our family on Christmas day.  The beauty of giving to others.  Joy.  Contentment.  Peace.  Gratitude.

I hope you have a Christmas filled with love and happiness. From my family to yours, merry Christmas!

    Pin It

16 Responses to “the many meanings of christmas”

  1. 1
    Avatar
    Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite — December 24, 2010 @ 9:42 am

    Merry Christmas MJ to you and your (gorgeous) family! Wishing you delicious food and happiness for the holidays! xoxo

  2. Pingback: Tweets that mention the many meanings of christmas | the merry gourmet -- Topsy.com

  3. 2
    Avatar
    Barbara @ Vino Luci Style — December 24, 2010 @ 10:36 am

    A lovely photo of your family but wondering if you all asked St. Nick for some socks or shoes? As I sit here shivering this Christmas Eve morning thousands of miles from the warmth of FL that’s the first thing I noticed!

    Merry Christmas to you and your lovely shoeless family. XOXO

    • 2.1
      mj (merry gourmet)
      mj (merry gourmet) — December 24, 2010 @ 3:53 pm

      Barb – We live in flip flops and bare feet around here. Just one of the many joys of Florida. Come visit!

  4. 3
    Avatar

    As someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but always wished he could, I love everything about this, especially Chevy Chase freaking out Christmas eve in a classic scene! Leave Santa an extra cookie for me please and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    • 3.1
      mj (merry gourmet)
      mj (merry gourmet) — December 24, 2010 @ 3:53 pm

      Thanks so much, Ethan!

  5. 4
    Avatar
    Cecelia — December 24, 2010 @ 11:07 am

    Great photo. Love the bare feet! I’m home in Gainesville for the holiday. Enjoying fresh fruit from the trees. And, bringing back avocados and stone crabs to North Carolina.

    • 4.1
      mj (merry gourmet)
      mj (merry gourmet) — December 24, 2010 @ 3:52 pm

      Cecelia – Welcome home!

  6. 5
    Avatar
    Jayne — December 24, 2010 @ 11:20 am

    A very merry Christmas to you and your family!

  7. 6
    Avatar
    Cathy (MrsWheelbarrow) — December 24, 2010 @ 7:42 pm

    Merry Christmas, MJ. So nice getting to know you this year. Your family just glows with happiness. Happy New Year!

  8. 7
    Avatar
    Jenmenke — December 25, 2010 @ 12:30 am

    Sweet! Merry Christmas merry Jen!

  9. 8
    Avatar
    Brian @ A Thought For Food — December 26, 2010 @ 12:20 am

    What an adorable family!!! Barefoot is the only way to be down here! I’m in Miami right now and I would not be happy if I had to put on real shoes.

    Hope you had a Merry Christmas and that you have a happy and healthy new year!

  10. 9
    Avatar
    Lindsey @ Gingerbread Bagels — December 26, 2010 @ 6:30 pm

    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! The photo of you and your family is so sweet, I just love it! 🙂

  11. 10
    Avatar
    Aggie — December 27, 2010 @ 9:02 am

    what a beautiful family photo!! Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

  12. 11
    Avatar
    Jason Phelps — December 28, 2010 @ 8:28 am

    Ahhh, a fun old fashioned family Christmas. We watch Christmas Vacation as many times as we can every year leading up to Christmas. This year we watched it during happy hour in our suite at the inn we stayed at. Right before Christmas dinner. My parents were laughing out loud and it gave us all a joyful bump for the day.

    We didn’t have snow until after Christmas but we still couldn’t go barefoot!

    Jason

  13. 12
    Avatar
    maria at Fresh Eats — December 30, 2010 @ 2:52 pm

    All the best to you and your lovely family for a wonderful 2011!

Leave a Comment