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.

Traditions....Poppy

Christmas has always been a very special time of year for my family. Coming from a big family, celebrating Christmas meant spending time with a lot of people. I can't remember a Christmas that I have ever spent with less than 20 people. And today is no different. In the number sense anyway.

We always went to my grnadparents house for Christmas. Mamie and Poppy. They are my mom's parents. My mom is one of 5 children and my grandparents now have 19 grandchildren (about half of whom are married) and 12 great-grandchildren. Needless to say, it creates a huge family gathering. And we love it. Everyone brings a side dish or dessert. My Aunt Linda always makes the apple pie and Christmas tree bread. Poppy always made the ham or turkey with mashed potatoes and stuffing. We eat dinner and enjoy eachother's company then it is time for presents. Lots of presents. Music and laughter abounded through out the house. This tradition hasn't changed, much I guess. However, I feel a major part of it is missing. Poppy. We lost Poppy 2 years ago at THanksgiving to cancer. When we did, we lost a huge part of our family. We lost our Santa Clause.

Poppy IS Christmas. He IS Santa Clause. Poppy is the most caring, giving person I have ever met, or ever will meet. For many years, Poppy organized a Christmas party for underpriviledged children and their families. He oped up his home to these families, gave them a Christmas dinner and presents. He would hitch up his horses and give sleigh rides. One year we even had reindeer. And of course, Santa Clause always came to hand out the presents. What more could there be to the true meaning of Christmas?

We no longer have those parties, but luckily our big family is still together. Of course there have been difficult times and we might not always get along but we are family. We belong together. And what better way to celebrate Christmas and the memory of Poppy than to celebrate our holidays together, as family?