This Christmas, I spent a week at my dads and his girlfriends house out in Slave Lake, AB. I have been there a few times before, but only spent a day or so each time, and didn't get a chance to really get to know my dads girlfriend or her kids. I'm a shy person, so it takes me a while to really feel comfortable around new people, but I actually had a good time visiting there, even with people I didn't really know. Maybe it was because I had a few days to get used to the household before the majority of the kids showed up, or the fact that my younger brother was there too, but I felt pretty at ease most of the time.
At my moms place we rarely eat meals together, and when we do, it doesn't quite feel the same as a big family meal all around a table. Of course, that could be due to the fact that we all work different hours, and that we don't have a kitchen table since our house is too small, so we use wooden dinner trays and sit at the couch. But it was nice to sit around a table with everyone talking, and laughing, and then all sitting around for a few minutes afterwards and just relaxing before cleaning up.