Traditions....Cookies

Well, the latest word is that Svetlana is handing our paperwork to the judge this week (hopefully it was today). Everything is in order and has been translated. YEAH! I can only hope that Colby's paperwork is in order as well and that the judge looks at it all quickly. Perhaps our late January court trip might happen, but I am still highly skeptical about that. We jsut need to wait and see I guess.

Ok, so my last post discussed traditions. I am not sure how I got on such a long post about Poppy. I guess I had been thinking about him lately. I had hoped that he would be here to see my first child. However, I am quite lucky that I still have Mamie and that Colby will see her. So, more Christmas traditions....

The tradition that stands out the most with me when I think of Christmas revolves around my mom. Every Christmas we would make Christmas cookies together while we listened to Christmas music. It was a day long activity. We would make at least 3 different batches of what we call Spritz cookies. They are similar to a sugar cookie but after you mix the batter you put it is a cookie "gun" and shoot it out in different shapes. The gun has different designs and the cookies can be in the shape of trees, bells, ornaments, and pointsettas. Then we would decorate them with sprinkles and red hots for the holly and the star on the tree. We had a lot of fun coloring, flavoring, and decorating those cookies. But mostly I remember spending the time with my mom and just talking and laughing. Mom and I have a very special, close relationship. She is my best friend and spening time with her was always a lot of fun.

Well, we might have lost sight of our special tradition when I went away to college and then got married but we still spend time together. I am very lucky to live not too far from her so we can see eachother a lot. This Christmas I had my mom and my Aunt Lorna (Aunt Doone to me) come over to my house and make those Christmas cookies. We made 2 different batches of Spritz cookies, mint trees and raspberrry pointsettas. We also made holly cookies out of corn flakes and marshmallows, candy cane cookies (which you need to roll the dough into red and white ropes and twist them into candy canes), and we made my Italian cookies. In college I was given a recipe for Italian cookies with Anise flavoring and I now make them every Christmas. My family loves them. The three of us had a great day making the cookies, talking, and laughing. So, although the tradition may have changed a little, it still holds strong. I am so lucky to have a family that I am close too. I love them so much.