The Holidays...Sweet Memories

I think Fall is my favorite season. It used to be Winter, but then I wised up. I had an old car that wouldn't start in the Winter and I had to jump it all of the time. That got really old. Fall means crispy cold nights, snuggling under warm quilts, crunchy leaves that spin around in the street. Beautiful colors everywhere. And it means that all of the fun holidays are starting.
      
We usually make an annual trip to Ski Hi to get apples. They are probably cheaper to buy at Woodman's, and probably taste the same, but the drive to Baraboo is worth the gas you waste. The bluffs just burst with color if you hit the right week. 
      

The first holiday is Halloween. It's really fun to decorate the house. I heard it's second only to Christmas. It's really one of Dylan's favorites. He always has these hideous masks that scare everyone. I don't watch spooky movies because they scare me. So when people with scary masks come to the door like Freddy Kruger and Jason, it freaks me out!
      
Our dog Taffy, when he was alive, used to hate Halloween. Every time the doorbell rang, he would bark his brains out. I think he was hoarse by the time it was over. He would collapse on my lap in defeat when I shut the porchlight off. I think we were both glad it was over.
       
But after that exciting holiday comes one of my favorites, Thanksgiving. I have so many good memories. All of the women of our family would plan what each of us were going to make weeks ahead of time. My Aunt Karen would get up early and make a big turkey. My daughter Katie and I would fight over her stuffing. My mom would make the tasty mashed potatoes. When my Grandma Gladys was alive, she would make the fruit salad. It was so good. It was the whipped cream kind with cherries on top.
      
I would get the job of the pumpkin pies. The smell in our house was awesome. The pumpkin pies were my mom's favorite.
      
One year I had both pies in my hands and I knocked on the door with my foot. My sweet 10 year old nieces had arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's house ahead of me. I had just gotten my haircut short and they looked out the window and said that they didn't recognize me. Very funny!
      
My cousin Peggy would make a great Chocolate Pecan Pie and sometimes she would bring wild rice. She always tried to broaden our horizons with new and interesting things to try instead of the standard fare. Thank God!
      
My grandma would make turkey cutout cookies too. Those were the good times and we didn't even know it. Life goes by so fast. My grandma would also make date nut pinwheel. I wouldn't try them because I didn't like nuts and the dates looked like bugs. Now, I would give anything to try one of those.
     
The newsman just said that there are less than 100 days until Christmas. I just paid an invoice for Bethel Church this week to Hann's Christmas Tree Farm for the Youth fundraiser deposit for wreaths. ALREADY?

I wonder how this year will go being that I am on a tight budget? I wonder if my family likes homemade gifts? We will all have to get creative. One year when Dylan was 5 years old I gave him a twenty dollar budget and we went to the dollar store and he picked out one gift for each member of our family. They were so touched by the thought he put into each one of them. He really thought about what they liked. It really was the 'thought that counted' that year.
      
I was really sad when Dylan realized that Santa Claus doesn't exist. He started to recognize my ex-husband's handwriting. I accidently slipped too, and said that I got him something that he wanted. He said 'I thought Santa bought it'? Oops. Well, it's beneficial this year. No Kris Kringle gift. Bah Humbug! Tight budget!
      

Comments

[Sarah Peterson]

I agree! Fall is the best season!