Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was a blend of old and new traditions.

We gathered at Sister's with the Mabry's on Christmas Eve for David's tenderloin (recipe blogged March 24, 2011), Sister's Layered Salad (recipe April 21, 2011) and lots of other goodies. After dinner we had a surprise visit from Simba which I thought was just a much fun as a surprise visit from Santa. We laughed remembering Christmases past with Quinn and the Roach kids and then Jay and the Mabry girls re-enacted the game that the children used to play at Christmas - steamroller. Simba didn't quite understand the game but the rest of did and it was fun to remember good times.

Quinn, the Roaches and David IV weren't there to Steamroll this year because times change and they have new locations, new jobs, new babies and new lives of their own to manage. I loved and appreciated how David IV analyzed the situation. He said, "At first it bothered me that I had to work Christmas Eve and then I realized that I have been really lucky to spend 23 wonderful Christmas Eves with our family."

As much as we want things to stay the same we have no power over that, but we do have the power over how we respond to change. I was really proud of David's response and it also helped me to be at peace with our new reality.

A good airline crew and a jet were better than Santa's sleigh and eight tiny reindeer to get David IV home on Christmas morning. Driving into the ARRIVALS terminal to see him in his cowboy boots and black overcoat brought on that same happy excitement that I used to feel as a child when I would run down the steps on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought.

David was running on about 4 hours of sleep and had texted before boarding that he sure would love a snack for the ride to Lattimore. This was a Christmas wish that I could deliver.

I packed up Mama Crowder's Tea Cakes (recipe Feb 13, 2011), Sister's Cheese Wafers (recipe June 13, 2010) and Mama's Homemade Biscuits that I had cut into heart shapes and stuffed with Honeybaked Ham (biscuit recipe May 23, 2010).

We arrived in Shelby in time to pull some ribs off the cooker, head out to Lattimore for Christmas Brunch and then to play the present game.

We have exchanged gifts in a variety of ways over the years and most recently have played the present game. It reduces the stress and the cost of exchanging gifts in a family as big as ours while preserving the fun of selecting and opening presents.

The present game is also called Dirty Santa, Yankee Exchange and a ton of other names and it can be pretty competitive and funny at times. As we started to play Jim Martin said, "I think we better discuss the rules before we start." Jim has always had a lot of common sense.

So we all started talking at once about the rules and then Dad commanded, "The HOUSE will be in ORDER!" Dad presided as Rules Chairman of the NC House for several years and he knew how to bring the chaos under control.

After much discussion, we established this year's rules and let the game begin. With 28 people it can take some time but it's interesting to watch the coalitions and strategies evolve and there is also some salesmanship going on to keep things interesting.

Over the last several years when the present game is done, Daddy introduces his counting game. Daddy loves to count. He also loves to play games. One year the game was to guess how many red birds were in Mama's house. Another year it was to guess how many cabinet knobs were in the kitchen. Daddy has always pre counted these things and knows the answer before we start. I'm sure that keeps him occupied for many an hour on long December days.

This year the game was to guess how many pennies were in a Quart sized Mason Jar. Lattimore is an interesting place. I have seen a lot of things in Mason Jars like Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Cherry Bounce, but I did not have a clue how many pennies would fit in there. Everybody guessed and Heidi came out the winner of the 2011 Christmas guessing game in Lattimore.

Still making up our own fun after all these years. The more things change the more they stay the same. Merry Christmas to All!