I’ve been a bit absent again, but we’ve made it through a wonderful family Christmas, in spite of a few health challenges and “enjoying” a rare brown Christmas. What’s with us these days? If we have snow, there's a lot of whining about the cold days, the slippery roads, and the bulky coats we have to wear. When the weather is warm, and the snow melts, we are disappointed because the Christmas season doesn’t look like our Christmas cards… and it’s just not right! The real problem is that we have no control of the weather; that’s up to our Creator. He does what is part of His great plan.
In spite of what we think we would enjoy, the weather becomes a minor annoyance at best, when we start to get together with family and friends. Personally, we were overwhelmed by word that our daughter and family, who live in western Washington, were coming to spend almost a week with us. Because of our own situation, travel this past year was curtailed, and we haven’t seen the family for a bit over a year. Grandkids grow up so fast and our “American Princesses” are now teenagers. The family were expected to arrive around midnight of Christmas Day, but because of the delayed flight, no taxis available at the airport in the middle of the night, and waiting over an hour for our son to drive from his home to the airport, they arrived at our home just after 4 a.m. We heard them arrive but went back to sleep before being tempted to get up to greet them. We would do a better job after all of us had a good sleep. Christmas dinner was on Boxing Day, but it didn’t matter. We were all together.
There was a lot of snow in the mountains so our grandkids had a day of skiing and snowboarding, while some of our adults visited the town of Banff that was ‘teeming’ with local and international visitors. Our daughter’s favorite store in Banff was the Candy Store, still a must place to stock up on unusual sweets from all over the world. A lunch that included buffalo burgers and Greek food was enjoyed by some of us, and a tea break at the famous Banff Springs Hotel was the culmination of a wonderful day. To cap off the week, several of our American family were able to attend the National Hockey League game. They are huge Calgary Flames fans and follow the team on TV in Washington. It was a wonderful family time, and Nana and Papa were very happy and very tired.
Our belief that Christmas is always about the celebration of the gift of God’s Son, the giving and receiving of gifts are not always wrapped in fancy paper and ribbons, and traditions are not nearly as important as family and friends. Roast turkey and stuffing, Brussel sprouts (even though many don’t enjoy them), and mincemeat pie for dessert may have been ‘must’ items included in Christmas dinner in our younger days, along with pull crackers and funny hats were not missed. A simple meal with our entire family was the greatest gift.
Tags: Christmas Family Traditions
