December 16, 2020

A Christmas Surprise! - Holiday Tales and Traditions

Welcome to my stop on the Holiday Tales and Traditions blog hop! Bernie, of Needle and Foot, has come up with a fun hop idea and I'm so happy to be a part of it 😊 I'm going to share the stories of two similar Christmas surprises, both of which are among my favourite Christmas memories, even if one is mostly the memory of all the times I've heard about it, lol.

The first is from the Christmas of '84 or '85, when I would have been 7 or 8 and my brother would have been 3 or 4. Nanny and Grampy were supposed to come visit for Christmas, but they called early on Christmas Eve to say they wouldn't be able to make it because Grampy had to work. When Mom hung up the phone, Dad said, "If you can be ready in an hour, we'll go." I can only imagine the whirlwind that next hour must have been! Just think about dropping everything and packing for a family with two young kids, including all the Christmas gifts, in an hour, all while making sure the Santa gifts stayed well hidden. Oh, and Mom told me that we were driving a Volkswagon Rabbit at the time, so there wasn't a whole lot of extra room for all that stuff.

I don't actually remember any of the preparation to go, or much of the visit itself. I do remember that when we arrived late on Christmas Eve (late to my young self, anyway), neither Nanny or Grampy were home. They were visiting across the road, so my uncle called to tell them to come home, while Dad hid our car in the garage. I remember clearly that Nanny cried when she saw us sitting in the living room.

My Mom thinks this picture of my brother, Grampy and me is from that Christmas.
Christmas morning | DevotedQuilter.com
Probably the funniest part of the whole story is that when Mom went to get dressed on Christmas Day, she discovered she hadn't packed a single shirt for herself. She had been wearing a jumpsuit the day before so she had none! I guess when you've only got an hour, it's hard to remember everything 😄

This is a younger picture of me, but I had to include it. This was also at Nanny and Grampy's for Christmas, but this visit was planned.
Christmas morning | DevotedQuilter.com
Fast forward now, to October of 2015, when my husband says to me, completely out of the blue, "Want to go to your parents' for Christmas?" We've always said that we wouldn't travel at Christmas, in good part because the weather is such a big factor, so when I said I would love that, he then said, "Don't tell them, though. That way if the weather is bad and we can't get there, they won't be disappointed." Our boys were 13, 11 and 7 at the time...not exactly prime secret-keeping ages, so we didn't tell them either until the day before we were to leave. Then we told them that if Grandma and Grampy called, they weren't to answer the phone so they wouldn't accidentally spill the beans.

I mentioned our plans to a friend a few days before we left and she asked if my mother would like it, saying she would never want anyone to surprise her like that. I laughed and said, "She did it once to her mother, so I think I'm okay!"

In true Newfoundland fashion, we did have a fair bit of snow the day we left town, but off we went anyway. Walking in their door the Saturday afternoon before Christmas was so much fun! Nobody cried, but Mom was good and flustered for at least an hour after we arrived 😊 One of the first things she said was, "Good think I bought two turkeys!"

That was the first time my brother and I were in the same place for Christmas since '98. Aiden and Zachary both have considerably less hair now than in this picture!
Christmas 2015 | DevotedQuilter.com
We had great weather for our visit, so there were walks and football games and plenty of fun.
Christmas 2015 | DevotedQuilter.com
If you look on the tree in this picture, you'll see Nathan's Batman ornament that I made for him for that year. There are plenty of other handmade ornaments on Mom's tree, too. 
Christmas 2015 | DevotedQuilter.com
Again in true Newfoundland fashion, our trip home involved the ferry being cancelled because of wind, which delayed us a day. Though the ferry was running the next day, it was anything but smooth sailing and that was the only time I've ever felt seasick (and it's a 6 hour ferry ride). Then there was a snowstorm happening when we got off the ferry in Newfoundland, so we had to stay overnight in Port aux Basques, finally getting home late in the afternoon on New Year's Eve. We haven't traveled at Christmas since!

Thanks, Bernie, for giving me a reason to walk down memory lane 😊

What are your favourite Christmas memories or traditions? I'd love to hear about them!

18 comments:

  1. Leanne thanks for sharing your stories. I can only imagine what I would have forgotten with a quick getaway. I can't imagine a ferry ride for 6 hours in bad weather, not fun. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and happy healthy 2021.

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  2. What wonderful memories! This year lots of memories will be remembered and shared. Happy Christmas however plans work out this year.

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  3. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories. Your stories make me want to visit Newfoundland but not in winter :-)

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  4. So many good memories you've shared, Leanne! Love the photos of you, especially the one in front of the tree in your jammies. A jumpsuit and no shirts - hahaha - I wonder what your mom did - borrow some shirts? Wear the jumpsuit all the days? Anyway, that can so easily happen when you pack fast for several people!

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  5. What mother wouldn't squeal with delight if her children just showed up for Christmas?!? That would be the best thing ever, even if it meant making pasta for dinner instead of the huge planned meal. Because family is the most important part, right? Of course your mother didn't pack anything for herself!! That doesn't seem hard to imagine!! Love all of the stories and pictures Leanne. Thank you so much for sharing them. PS - a 6 hour rough ferry ride sounds horrible. I understand why you don't want to travel at Christmas!

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  6. Thank you for sharing your memories, surprises can be such fun!

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  7. Ooh, feeling a bit green...I can relate to the seasickness. I can also relate to the surprise, though it wasn't at Christmas. My brother showed up one morning at my house when I was fairly pregnant with Dayna. I was teaching part-time, and somehow he'd timed it so that he arrived when I was home that morning. My sister called me out of the blue, so I was talking to her on the phone when the doorbell rang...I clearly remember that disbelief when your brain cannot process what your eyes are seeing. I just let go of the door and it slammed in his face! He teased me about that for many years. I love that you've done that kind of surprising twice, and I cannot imagine HOW your parents got you and everything ready in an hour! Great read this morning, thank you Leanne!

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  8. I think a lot of people in northern areas don't travel at Christmas. The weather is too difficult and unpredictable. Great stories, and great pictures! I'm pretty sure I would have forgotten my own clothes too! A blessed Christmas to you and yours!

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  9. Talk about your Christmas surprise?! We're not very fond on traveling during the holidays, either. (I'm not a big fan of having no warning that guests are arriving! DS1 was frequently guilty of dragging home friends for the weekend during college without asking or telling me first.)

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  10. Great stories - we traveled when the boys were babies but once they were older we stayed home and the grandmothers came to us (the grandfathers died far too young). It's fun to remember holidays past - thanks for sharing yours!

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  11. Such great memories. I don't think I could ever take the ferry to NF -- I get motion sick. LOL

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  12. I love this! It is funny that the traveling at holidays is so frought with weather mishaps. We had one with the ferry this week getting off the island! It is funny that you both surprised your mothers!

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  13. Great memories, new and older. Yes, travel can be difficult in bad weather. So glad you shared with us all.

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  14. We lived a few cities away from our grandparents and for many years we saw them infrequently. I remember that grandma would hug us and let out a string of blessings roughly translated into "my darling, my little doll etc." When she hugged her son (my dad) she would cry. I used to wonder - "Why is she crying? Why is she not happy?" Strangely I had forgotten about this memory. Reading about your memory of Nanny crying brought back mine and moistened my eyes. Of course I understand now. Thank you for sharing. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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  15. I love reading about your surprise Christmas visits! My family never did that at Christmas, but we did pull it off at other times during the year. I had one aunt who always told us to "come whenever" -- so we did, all ten or so extended family members -- one weekend. HA!

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  16. Thanks for a wonderful read sharing your stories.. The things we will do to get together with our families! Sadly the pandemic has kept me apart from mine for this year as they are so far away.
    Your memories really cheered me on a wet, grey, Liverpool (England) day.
    Happy Christmas
    "All you Need is Love", yeah, yeah, yeah!

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  17. Such nice remembrances! I don't have any "let's surprise them" stories. Travel at Christmas-time was always iffy in the Midwest US. And now, being 18 hours away, it doesn't happen at all. I do miss living near family. Merry Christmas, Leanne!

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  18. I have 2 really special Christmas memories - the first was the birth of my favourite (and only) son on Dec. 20th. I had had a c-section, so was still in hospital on Christmas day - and Jonathon arrived in my room that morning is a big Christmas stocking! We were allowed to take it home, so for the first 5 or 6 years after, we took a picture of him in it. (He turned 33 yesterday!) The second memory is of an epic trip to Florida. My FIL had died the previous fall, and my MIL decided to spend the winter in the warmth. We arranged to leave on Boxing day, but didn't tell the kids just in case the weather presented an obstacle. We got up on Dec. 26th, encouraged the kids to get dressed so we could go on an adventure. But first, we had to cross the USA / Canada border without giving away our plans. We told the border official that we were headed to St. Petersburg, and he waved us through. About 20 minutes later, a little voice from the back of the van questioned, "We're going to Russia?" (we didn't realize that there was an atlas in the back seat, but St. Pete's, Florida wasn't in the index..!)

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