35 degrees outside - 5:07 pm - cold, overcast winter evening...
We have not added an entry in a week. We have been a little busy, baking Christmas cookies, taking care of two sick kids, planning and preparing for the upcoming Christmas parties, planning for our son’s second birthday party which is shortly after Christmas, snow removal, all in addition to cutting, splitting and haul in firewood. Busy, busy, busy.
When I was little and still to this day, every December, a week before Christmas we would bring out sacks of flour, sugar, butter, oranges, and bottles of vanilla and almond flavorings. We would spend all day baking Molasses Cookies, Orange Juice Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, Old-Fashion Fudge, and the list goes on. We would fill numerous containers with cookies and wrap with ribbon to give as gifts to family and friends.
Handing down traditions is what keeps families connected through the generations. They may change slightly but the memories created are still there generation to generation.
We are extremely lucky that the majority of our families live within an hour drive from us. Everyone lives fairly close to each other; we are the ones who moved “away”. As the years go by, our family has gotten considerably larger. It is harder and harder to get everyone together and people are starting new family traditions.
This year, being our first Off-Grid Christmas, we have decided to create some of our own family traditions, like picking out and cutting down our own Christmas tree, which according to my husband must be a Noble Fir (thankfully we have plenty to choose from), making our own Christmas wreaths and ornaments for the tree in addition to baking Christmas cookies.
Family traditions are the glue that binds one generation to another. They give the children and parents something to look forward to, as well as something to count on during the hectic holiday season…and throughout the year.
