Christmas is and has pretty much always been a hectic and chaotic event in the Simpson house. My wife and I usually have only a few days to complete the full “Christmas rounds” (i.e. father’s, in-laws, extended family in-laws, mother’s, extended family, etc) 450 kilometres away and then head home to head back to work. Not this year!

My wife and I had just moved into a wonderful new house this past summer (no not this house, but that’s a story for another time) and invited our full “Christmas rounds” guests our way for the holidays.

We had originally planned to have everyone down at the same time, like a good old fashioned Griswold family Christmas, but it didn’t work out quite that way as some had to work, some had travel arrangement problems, and some were well, tired.

Never-the-less we ended up hosting and enjoying a very nice Christmas, and got to see much of our family in the comfort our own home, which is one of the best Christmas presents we could have received.