Large Family Christmas

From:  Tracey To:  Price Family E-Mail List Date:  November 23, 1998 Subject:  Large Family Christmas

Hi everyone, How are you? . . . A woman from an email list I'm on is writing an article on large family Christmases.  She asked for people from large families to email her and share some of their traditions.  I wrote to her about the Price family Christmas Eve and decided to send it along to all of you, too . . . Hope to see all of you soon.                       Love, Tracey

My mother is the baby of nine children.  There are 33 grandchildren (in my generation) and 56 great-grandchildren.  With spouses, our family numbers 137.  About 30-40 or so of us get together for lunch every Saturday at my uncle's milking-parlor-turned-meeting-place, but that's another tradition that has little to do with Christmas.

Several months before Christmas, those who wish to do so exchange names -- children 15 and younger in one bowl, older teens and adults in another.  Usually, about half of us (around 60 or so, I think) participate.  Many of our family members are skilled in wood crafts, painting, and other artsy-crafty things, so a good portion of the gifts are handmade.

On Christmas Eve, we gather at my uncle's farm (at the former milking parlor) for a night of fun, food, & fellowship.  Uncle Terry brings his guitar, my father his harmonicas & the rest of us our singing voices as we play & sing all of the Christmas carols in the booklet my cousin Karen typed & put together.  This year, a family friend donated a piano; Aunt Celia or one of our cousins will likely play along as we sing.  Karen & some of the kids, along with Dad & Uncle Terry, were already practicing some carols last Saturday.

The singing lasts until everyone has arrived.  We then enjoy a meal of chicken salad sandwiches, steamers, fresh vegetables, chips, cookies, Aunt Janice's popular fudge & a vareity of other finger food, topped off with traditional Price Punch.  A crackling fire in the large fireplace heats pots of coffee & hot water for tea.

When finished with their meal, the children begin to gather at the long table filled with presents, eager to find their gifts.  With help from the adults, packages are swiftly handed out.  Sometimes finding the recipient requires an extended hunt throughout the three long rooms.  Gifts are opened, oohs & aahs & thank-yous are exchanged, & toys are unboxed amidst a general but pleasant hubbub.

Throughout the evening, those who haven't seen each other in a long while have a chance to visit, smile & laugh together.  In the past, if it wasn't too cold or wet outside, we sometimes took a hayride.  Bundled up and seated in one of the two hay wagons, we'd take our carol-singing outdoors, down the winding country roads and through the fields.

Joy & humor abound, together with an unspoken, but very real, family love.  Sharing Christmas Eve with our family is a special, pleasant, heart-warming experience that we all look forward to every year.

*****  THE END *****

Tammy's note: For Christmas 1998, the most popular hand-made gifts were painted rocks.  Some of the aunts had taken up that project in the fall and really outdid themselves!  Those of us fortunate enough to receive a painted rock were tickled to have one.  I am pleased to display mine out in my flower bed.

Back to Zeigler Home Page Back to Grandma's House Back to Parlor Page