Home for the Holidays

For our family the phrase ”Home for the Holidays" starts out with Thanks Giving.  A day of the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  A day of making sure I prepare all the favorite dishes.  Our sons favorites are wild rice dressing, sweet potatoes, pecan pie and a huge turkey for leftovers.  Thanks Giving is also the weekend we like to head out to one of the tree farms and hunt for a tree to cut down and haul home.  I look forward to the fresh pine smell that fills the house.  My husband Mark cuts the bottom branches from the tree so I can decorate the front porch wicker and wire baskets.  I place white twinkle lights in the arrangements, gather natures red sticks, pinecones, and then add snowflake ornaments in each container.  Such a joy for me to see all winter long.  Our love for the northwoods vintage decorations of antique crossed skis and snow shoes hang above the pinecone garland front door and our mail box.  It's always been Mark's job each year to hang the lights on the tree, while I get out the ornaments.

           Our grandchildren travel 7 hours with their parents to get to our house, with a ton of "are we almost there yet".  We are blessed with wonderful daughter-in-laws who don't mind the trip.  It’s always such a joy for Mark and I to see the little ones faces when they see the tree and lights.

          A great deal of our holiday is spent outdoors on the frozen lake.  Papa Mark spends many hours plowing and making a skating rink on the lake each year.  He also sets up a metal fire pit with wood benches around it for the grandkids to warm up, roast hot dogs, and enjoy hot cocoa by the fire.  We all try to get in a little ice fishing, which is fun just watching the kids pulling and pulling on that line to finally see what they have caught.  Our sons bring their 4-wheelers up and we tie toboggans behind them and give rides around the lake.  One of my favorite parts of the holiday is rounding up anyone who wants to go snowshoeing at night when there is a full moon and cold.  The sound of the crunch in the crisp snow as you step and the light of the moon is awesome as we head across the lake.  If the weather permits we have a snowman contest right on the ice.  I have a box of vintage winter clothes, hats, scarfs, and glasses to dress the snowmen in.  No one really wins, but we all have a good time in the snow.

       When Chad and Brad were younger we always made popcorn balls about a day or two before Christmas.  On Christmas Eve our tradition for dinner was to Fondue.  Mark whips up a beer batter that we then dip cheese cubes, vegetables, cubed steak, and shrimp into.  We have several pots going at a time.  One more pot has chocolate in it for the strawberries.  We enjoy a long meal with lots of conversation.  Then we would open gifts.  Christmas day is spending the day together outdoors and sharing a huge meal of seafood and steak. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my Christmas memories and traditions.

Every day is a blessing
Seasons Greetings
Debbie