What makes the Christmas season beautiful? For a child, the anticipation of Christmas morning and gifts from Santa might seem all encompassing. But the decorations, the holiday feast, the music, the lights, all serve to add to the magic of Christmas. Who makes the magic happen? Behind it all there is often a mother orchestrating the dance of Christmas. As I’ve been pondering family Christmas traditions, I’ve settled on the tradition of making the season beautiful. Looking at photos of Christmas past I’ve discovered that many of the things I do for my family I learned from my mother, who...
My mom started making cinnamon rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree for Christmas morning when I was about ten years old. She saw the idea at a homemaking meeting for Relief Society in the 1990s when we were living in Seattle. She later found a recipe in a Rhodes rolls recipe book and started making it for us once a year on Christmas morning. Here’s how she does it. On Christmas eve, she makes rolls with her mother’s roll dough recipe. Then she uses some of the roll dough to make the Christmas tree. Before baking it, she...
It’s been a great December so far. We’ve been doing fun Christmas activities every day to enjoy the season! I’m trying hard not to become too busy to enjoy each little moment. My four-year-old daughter is delighted with every part of the Christmas season. She has been helping me with every step of setting up the decorations, make Christmas crafts together, and reading Christmas books. I’ve been asking around about others’ Christmas traditions and adding in some new ones to our already established ones. I love how each family starts their own traditions. Some get carried on by their children...
I want to share our family’s tradition of making chocolate mousse pie at Thanksgiving. After being with the Dyer family for a few Thanksgiving holidays, I quickly learned that Aunt Susan’s Chocolate Pie was a treasured tradition! Not only is the pie delicious and fun to make, it reminds us of an incredible, strong, compassionate woman. My children have never met their great aunt Susan Dyer. She passed away of cancer at age 52 when my husband was on his mission. I met my husband after his mission, so I didn’t know his Aunt Susan, but from what I’ve learned, she...
Granddaddy’s Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box is a poignant, true story about a boy named Michael who went with his granddaddy to vote in the civil-rights era segregated south. It’s the kind of family story that gets told and retold because it is filled with joy, excitement, pain, and inspiration. This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase, we receive a small commission but it doesn’t change the price of the item. Michael lives on the farm with his grandparents, where he learns lessons about work and patience from doing chores and fishing...
St. Patrick’s Day is only a few days away! Here are some ways that we’ve been celebrating our Irish Heritage: Learn about your Irish Heritage Did you know that 3.7 million American residents claim Irish ancestry? According to this graphic, that’s more than 7X the population of Ireland. Between 1830 and 1940, nearly 4.5 million Irish immigrants arrived in the United States. Do you have any Irish immigrants in your family tree? If so, here’s an article about how to find more records about them from the FindMyPast blog: I know my ancestors are from Ireland, what do I do next? Decorate with...
