As for the Christmas thing...make a plan to do something fun and exciting for you. They are being jerks! Shame on them....what's THAT about anyway? Do tell.
Her family has this tradition of doing this chaotic version of the white elephant gift exchange. You know the one where everyone brings a piece of crap (or something desirable too!) that's wrapped, and they share. The family variation is to use 2 cups with a pair of dice Yahtzee style, roll them, and if you get a pair of doubles you get to pick an unopened gift or steal one from someone you want (swap your crap for the stuff they have). It's a riot, we do it for like 3 rounds of 5 minutes each, and it becomes a battle for the iTunes gift card where everyone wants to get rid of the ceramic rooster. :-)
