Holiday Meme

I found this fun meme done by Stace from Exceedingly Mundane. Since this week is the start of the Holiday Season with Thanksgiving on Thursday, let me wish you all the best. I hope you experience peace and joy and love. Oh, and good food!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate with a little whip cream on top, please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Each child has a spot on the sofa or chair that has her name and a sock. Santa used to just leave all the presents in those spots unwrapped. Several years ago he started sending a few to 'the Mom' asking for her assistance in wrapping them and putting them under the tree before Christmas.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored lights both on the tree and along the eves of the house. A tree of two outside may be lighted all in white.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I have a fake ball of mistletoe that we hang. Sometimes we get going on that song, "Who'll stand under the mistletoe with me? Who, who will come hither? Who, who will it be?" Then someone answers, "Hey diddly die doe, hey diddly doo, I'll stand under the mistletoe with you."

5. When do you put your decorations up? We usually start the weekend after Thanksgiving, unless we are gathering at my mother's house to play games and eat leftovers. In that case we do it the first Sat. in Dec.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Wow, I love the whole Thanksgiving dinner, but since I need to be more specific, I'd say the turkey stuffing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I used to snoop through the closets and other hiding places before Christmas. One year I discovered that I was getting the very present I wanted. I was so excited I could hardly wait for Christmas. On Christmas morning, about 4 am, I ran down the stairs and to my place on the couch. My present wasn't there! I looked around and there it was at my sister's place. My heart sank. (For the life of me I can't remember what it was that I didn't get.)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember a specific point, somehow the knowledge just edged in bit by bit until I knew.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Growing up we could open one present on Christmas eve after the our family Christmas program. It was always a new pair of pajamas from Mom and Dad. I've carried the tradition on with my children. We still go to Mom's on Christmas eve and have a special program. Afterwards we open our presents from "Grandma" and she opens ours to her. We also do an exchange present with one of the siblings in the family and we open that while all the families are gathered on Christmas eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I love our trees. As a young married couple we decided to buy each child a new ornament each year. When they grew up and left home they could take all their ornaments with them to their new homes. My husband decided he wanted to carve wooden ornaments. He made the cutest angels, snowmen, santas, etc. etc. It was such a treat to unwrap each one from the tissue and let the girls hang them. Unfortunately, he became a UPS man and doesn't have time to carve ornaments anymore. Our 4th daughter doesn't have any hand carved ornaments. It's a sad thing. The other 3 girls have grown up and taken theirs with them. We still have all the stars that hubby carved for me each year during those carving years. I have also bought ornaments from the places we've visited. Also, add lots of little red hearts, or bows, or silver sleigh bells to fill in and unify the decorations.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I don't mind the snow. We don't seem to get as much as we used to and it doesn't hang around as long. I do like a beautiful foot of clean white snow. I'm just not really fond of below freezing temps.

12. Can you ice skate? I used to skate often as a girl, but haven't done so in years.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Wow, there have been so many that have been given with love. The one that I'll never forget is the rocking chair hubby bought me on our first Christmas together. We had been married about a year and were poor like most newly weds. He bought me a rocking chair because I was pregnant with our first daughter. I still have that chair 34 years later. I painted it a few summers ago.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family and being overwhelmed with the gift the Savior has provided. He humble himself to be born in a lowly fashion and come to the Earth with the sole purpose of facing Gethsemane where he suffered for our sins. Because of his love and sacrifice, we each have the blessing of forgiveness. I have tried to teach my children that the lights, the decorations, the festivity is to remind us of the light of the world. When I see all the lights on the homes, I think of Him and how his light chases away the darkness.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Again, there are so many yummy treats this time of year. Hands down, my favorite has to be the naimo bars.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Oh, my. Our holidays are steeped in traditions that add so much meaning and joy to the holidays. One is the Christmas eve gathering of family to read and act the nativity story. The meal we eat together before the program and the opening presents afterwards. During the holidays we try to have a who-gooly or two. That is not the proper way to say that or the proper spelling. I am of Danish descent and I wanted to incorporate something of Denmark in our celebrations. I ran across this idea of a who-gooly, which is a celebration of light and the chasing away of darkness. We will turn off all the lights in the house, gather in the living room and light lots and lots of candles and the Christmas tree lights. Then we will sing as we cuddle and enjoy the lights. We also do what we call traveling who-goolies when we drive around the valley and look at all the houses so beautifully decorated and chasing away the gloom in their own ways.

On Christmas morning, we wake each other up and go into the living room together. We squeal over the nice presents Santa has delivered. Then while 'the Dad' and the children enjoy those presents, I brown some sausage and scramble some eggs and throw together a breakfast casserole. While it bakes, we open the presents from under the tree. About the time the we finish and become aware that we are hungry, the buzzer rings and we enjoy a healthy breakfast with grapefruits, sausage/egg casserole, juice and toast. Sometime during the day we go to each family's house of our relatives and wish them Merry Christmas and see what they've been blessed with. Usually this visiting becomes a train sort of affair with families joining in and going to the next place. We end at Mom's for a wide variety of soups made by each family. For desert there's a birthday cake and we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

17. What tops your tree? A star of Judah that hubby carved.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Prefer?! Wow, it's a definite toss up. I thoroughly enjoy unwrapping presents and receiving gifts. I love acknowledging the thoughts of love from those who gave to me. I enjoy giving to those I know and love even more though. Equally wonderful is doing little acts of service or providing gifts for people I don't know. But I think it all comes out in a tie as to which I prefer. I wouldn't want one without the other.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? These are really hard questions! As a child my favorite was The First Noel, but now there are so many I love.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?? Yuck. Now if you'd asked about Hershey kisses that would have been a completely different thing all together.