Monday, December 26, 2011

Home for the Holidays (+ Family Jeopardy)

My family and I headed to  Southern California for Christmas to spend time with our extended families.  My brother (above) lives in the house he inherited from our parents, where we all grew up.  We had a wonderful time visiting with each other, eating and exchanging presents.  Our dog Gypsy even got to play with her dog-cousin Patches.
The game of "Family Jeopardy," which I put together using this tutorial from Carrie and a fantastic template from the very generous Deb (thanks Deb!), was a definite highlight of Christmas Day. Our  categories included "Pete or Carmen" (those were my parents); zodiac signs; May birthdays (there are six in our family); college/university (places we attended); high school days (significant events that happened during H.S.); significant years; the next generation  (questions about the grandchildren generation); pets (that was a popular one); this and that; and favorite sports teams.  I had people draw numbers, and they played in teams of two. This worked out well for us.  And the winners were my sister-in-law and my niece:
We also fit in a movie outing (Mission Impossible), a trip to play Lazer Tag (surprisingly fun and perfect for a big group), and a shopping trip to spend gift cards.  All-in-all, it was a very full and fun visit "home." 
I put "Home" in quotes because, although I spent the first 17 years of my life in this house and all my brothers and sisters live nearby, at some point, I really began to think of the house where we live now as our "home."  Perhaps because we've lived in our house for about 20 years and have raised our family there. Or because we have set down roots in the community and really feel like it's where we belong. I'm sure my kids consider it (and not my parents' old house) their "home." 
But I wonder, 25 years from now, will they still consider it "home?" Or will they have created a new "home" someplace else?

8 comments:

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Oh how fun! So glad you had a great time with the family jeopardy. It makes me smile just thinking of how much fun we had with Carrie's so I can imagine the fun you had! xo

Anonymous said...

Your definition of home resonates with me. For a few years, I called both my father's house and our house "home." You had to figure out from context what I was referring to. Once our kids got a little older, this definitely became home, and New Paltz became "Grandpa's house."

Irene said...

So glad you made it "Home" safely. I also had to adjust
to calling the house I grew up in by different names. First it was my/our house, then it was mom's house, then it was Momo's house and now it is Roy's house. But no matter who's house it is I always feel welcomed going back and still have fond and loving memories. Roy and his wife Sofie have done a good job of making the house their own.

scrappyjacky said...

Looks like you had a fun christmas,Rinda....as did we.

debs14 said...

Pleased to hear you had a great Christmas - it's so nice to get the family all together isn't it?
It took me ages to not call the house where I grew up 'home' but where we live now really became 'home' once we had our children.

laurie said...

that jeopardy game looks like a lot of fun! i moved around so much as a kid, and then as an adult, that i don't really have a "home". it sounds like you have two!

Unknown said...

Glad to see that Family Jeopardy was a success! :) Looks like you had a great Christmas! :)

Alison said...

Looks like you had a fun time Rinda...we saw Mission Impossible too, and all enjoyed it
Alison xx