Tradition

I love tradition. I especially love Christmas traditions. Growing up I think I was more excited for the Christmas season and all the traditions surrounding it than I was for Christmas day itself. A few of my favorite childhood Christmas traditions were: 1) a candy making day with my mom. We made fudge and divinity and peanut brittle. It was a great bonding time. 2) Fondue on Christmas Eve. 3) Christmas caroling to our neighbors. As a young child we did this with Nadine Smith who taught us some very obsure carols that I don't hear sung anymore (like "Must be Santa.") 4) The neighbor Christmas party. This was a big undertaking for my mom. So big, in fact, that we did this tradition every other year. 5) This was my favorite....the Christmas Eve family talent show. Each child brought a talent to share. It could be a game or a song or a piano number. Gayle usually did a puppet show to a not-well-known Christmas song. My favorite will always be "The Lonesome Christmas Tree." I still to this day can sing the song and fondly remember the hand made drawing of the sad Christmas tree glued to a popsicle stick.

As we all grew older and got married we tried to hold on to some of the traditions but some fell by the wayside. When my mom died a lot (but not all) of the tradition died with her and Christmas lost a lot of its "spark" for me. I remember the Christmas Eve in 1999, my 3rd Christmas without my mom. Todd and I had been married for 2 years and in those years it seemed every Christmas was "tradition-less." I sat alone in our family room with only the Christmas tree lights on. I longed for some kind of Christmas tradition. I stared at the tree and sobbed. Todd eventually came in and saw me crying and questioned why. I completely unloaded about how we lacked tradition and how I needed it to make Christmas feel like Christmas. He was agreeable to starting some of our own traditions. We re-implemented the "Family Talent Show." We did it once with Todd's family and several times with my sisters. We added a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. I started a Christmas baking day with my sisters. After a few years we had a nice little collections of traditions. Just as I got comfortable and Christmas was feeling like Christmas again life threw a curve ball and we moved to Florida.

Christmas in Florida really didn't feel like Christmas. We were hundreds of miles away from family. There was no snow....not even a chill in the air. In fact, our 1st Christmas in Florida was so warm we ran the air conditioner that day. So here I was again with that empty feeling. I knew I needed to adjust and make "new" traditions in our new home. I also realized it was going to take some time. Those first 3 Christmases came with some tears and a little heartache from being so far from "home" but I felt in my gut it was temporary. I am happy to report that this Christmas I finally felt in the Christmas "groove." So I would like to share a few of our traditions this year.

The Christmas Puzzle
This tradition was first implemented in 1999. We had to put it on the shelf in 2004 when we had Maiya. This year we brought it back.

We buy a Christmas-themed puzzle around Thanksgiving time and start putting it together on Thanksgiving day. It is usually a 1000 piece puzzle. It takes us a couple of weeks to put it together and it's always a challenge between Todd and me to see who gets to put in the last piece (however this year we gave this priviledge to Maiya). It is just nice time each evening with the Christmas music playing and us talking over the puzzle. Once it is finished we glue it together and then glue it to a piece of poster board. We all sign it and the girls put thier age. We hang it on the wall for the rest of the Christmas season and again next year until the new puzzle is completed (then it replaces the previous years.) Here is a picture of this years puzzle.

Frizzle
This is our "Elf on the Shelf" tradition. He actually started last year. Frizzle the Elf comes to our house on Thanksgiving day and stays with us until Christmas night. He observes the children and flies back to the North Pole each night to give a report to Santa. When he comes back he lands in a new place and the girls get the search the house each morning to find him. Maiya and Hailey adore Frizzle and this year it was so fun to hear little Hailey sing through the house each morning "Ooooohhhhh Frizzzzllllllle. Where are yooooooou?"

Christmas Lights and Snow....Disney style
I really miss the temple light at Christmas time. There really is no "replacement" for the beauty and the Spirit you feel at Temple Square. But we've settled for the "Osbourne Family Lights" at Disney's Hollywood Studios the past two years. The lights are awesome and set to music. Plus, it snows....Disney style (this means some type of special bubble-like substance falls from the sky and disappears immediately once it hits the ground.) But what makes it a fun tradition is who we go with. This year is the 2nd year we've gone with the Palfreyman family. It's fun to be there with friends.

Christmas Baking
This year I decided it was time to bake again, even though it meant doing it alone. I figured I better keep doing it so in a few years when Maiya is old enough to help me I will remember how. This year I made fudge (mint, plain and walnut). I also made "Buckeyes", divinity, peanut brittle. homemade thin mint cookies, and white chocolate popcorn. I know....that is alot of sweets for just a small family of four. Don't worry...not much stayed in the house. This year's benefactors of all the baking and candy making were my co-workers. Every Tuesday and Thursday in December I brought in a different Christmas treat. I am glad I did this again. I could almost feel my mother by my side as I made her fudge recipe.

I am grateful for the Christmas season and the opportunity it gives us to reflect on the birth of Christ. I love the feeling Christmas brings and look forward to the next one with a hope of even more "tradition"