@ Nana and Grampa's

Every year, around this time, the descendants of Nana Sandie and Grampa Ken come back home to prepare the family homestead for Christmas. So Mum and Dad packed up the girls and headed out to eastern Ontario (there's no town: it's in the middle of nowhere, which is great!). It was also uncle Pat's birthday, so we celebrated that, too.

Now preparing for Christmas at Nana and Grampa's involves the usual: you know, decorating, listening to Christmas music, eating lots of food... In the decorating realm, there are a few things that one must know to fully understand what it means to decorate Nana's house: there are a lot of decorations. They date back to before Nana and Grampa even met. Every year, there's one monologue that goes like this:

Grampa: See those decorations? I brought those from Toronto, from the place I shared with Marilyn (his sister). Those date back to... geez... 1972, 1973!

And there's also the decorations that Derek and his brothers made when they were little - paper snowmen, construction paper trees, a graham cracker house that we have to warn the kids not to eat... And they all have a special meaning. Last year, our little family added to the home-made decorations. Maïa made a paper ornament that has her little handprint on it. So there are many things that need to find a spot in the house, and we all help out (luckily, along with the accrued number of decorations over time, the family has also grown, so there's more help... I think it all evens out in the end).

There is one more part of the decorating that is a mainstay in the house: the Village. I imagine that at one point in time it was called the "Christmas village," but the name has had to change over the years. Now it's more of a snowy scene of bloody violence. I guess that comes naturally in a house of boys (ah, the special grace of God to have sent us two girls...). Since I have been around to help decorate, Derek's younger brothers have always set up the Village, so I just thought the violent tendencies were theirs alone. Turns out I was wrong. This year, Pat and Derek worked together on the Village, and it's just as gory as ever. In this incarnation, there's a three-way battle going on, the details of which I'm sure Derek could explain far more intricately than I could ever try to do (or really want to).

I must admit, though, that setting up dioramas is lots of fun. And I must also admit that the guys are really good at doing it, and I laughed more than once as I took a look at their work (and then again much more, as the two photographed their work with great care). So I've put some of the pics up here so that the faithful readers of this blog could get a little insight into Derek and his brothers... and to chuckle along with all of us who witnessed the Village first-hand.

I think that we will add in a Christmas village into our own tradition. I look forward to seeing how it evolves over the years as the girls add in their own touches.

P.S. Happy Advent