Christmas is far and away my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, from the event that inspired it, hoping for a white one, to wrapping presents. But mostly I love having family and friends gathered, and sharing traditions. ~ Ellen Hopkins
As I think about this holiday season, I fondly remember all of the warm memories from growing up. My family would always attend Christmas Eve services and remember the reason for the season. We would come home and have tuna noddle casserole, and then my Mom would play the organ and we would sing Christmas carols. That is probably one of my fondest memories of my Mom. None of us were musically inclined, but to this day I still love Christmas carols more than any other music.
My other favorite holiday memory was baking with my Mom. We always made roll-out sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, peanut clusters, and peanut brittle. I loved to bake with my Mom, and it is something that I have tried to pass down to my children.
As Rick and I started our family, we blended some of our holiday traditions. His parents would give a small gift from Santa and it wasn’t wrapped. My Mom would give a Christmas ornament from Santa, and our Santa gifts were always wrapped in special paper that had a Santa Claus on it, and our Santa gift was our big gift. Our new combined tradition is a small gift from Santa wrapped in special paper and an ornament from Santa. I look forward to see which of our family traditions our children pass on.
Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; teach us to be patient and always to be kind. – Helen Steiner Rice
