Christmas Music

A little Christmas music for you...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to Yours.

Christmas Meme

Mostly Cajun had this Christmas Meme up on his blog. So I decided to follow his lead and instead of sending it to 7 other people, just posting it here and if you want to add it to your own blog or copy it and paste your answers into a comment, then go right ahead and do so.

Here goes:

1. Wrapping or gift bags? Wrapping, with the color sunday funnies. I learned this from my Dad. Except that we don't get Sunday funnies anymore we get Saturday Funnies but so far no one has complained.

2. Real or artificial tree? I grew up choosing, cutting and bringing home real trees, but living here in the desert real trees are too far away to hunt yourself and when 9-10 ft tall Noble Fir trees started costing over $100 we went artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Martin Luther King weekend.

5. Do you like eggnog? YES!!! Especially with Kahlua. The kids get theirs straight.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hard to say, there were so many that they all kind of blur together. My mother made sure that each kid got so many gifts that none of them ever had a chance to stand out. Yes, I do have issues about that. However I'm getting a new car for this Christmas and that is got to be pretty high on the list.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Several

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Again there were so many that they don't stand out. But I do seem to remember at least once each year wondering "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail Mail. I like writing the Canned Family Christmas Letter each year.

10. Favorite Christmas movie? Holiday Inn or Christmas Vacation. I could so easily turn into Chevy Chase's character in that movie.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I see something that I think someone might like. I bought one of my dear wife's gifts in July this year.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Rosettes, krumkaka, Cherry Bonbon cookies, fruitcake, lefsa and fried turkey.

13. Clear lights or colored? Colored.

14. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night - I love Jim Nabors and Kate Smith's versions. But Mannheim Steamroller's version of Silent Night is a close second. All of Chicago's Christmas Album is great.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? We used to travel a lot since most of my family refuses to come here. But the last few years we have decided to stay home. I love being with family at Christmas but I also like being home.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Duncer, Panzer, Puncher, Victim, Coma, Stupid, Dumber and Blitzkrieg. And don't forget Rude Elf.

17. Angel or star on the top of your tree? Angel.

18. Open your presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas Eve. I grew up wondering why we opened gifts on Christmas Eve. None of the older family could tell me. They all just said "that is the way we have always done it." Several years ago while doing some genealogy research I discovered that opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve is an old Norwegian custom. Traditionally most celebrating was done on Christmas eve as Christmas Day was a quiet day with the family. Which is pretty much how we do things here. But at least I can tell my children why.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Idiots on the road who left their brains at home but are driving anyway.

20. What do you leave for Santa? Cookies and Eggnog.

21. Least favorite holiday song? Anything recorded in the last 5 years by anyone under that age of 30.

22. Do you decorate your tree with any specific theme or color? Bubble lights and home made decorations. We also have several strings of specialty lights. The tree has so much stuff on it that it is hard to see the tree.

23. Favorite ornament? Bubble Lights.

24. Family tradition? I'm an old fart so traditions are pretty important to me. I have written about our Christmas Traditions here and here and here.

25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services? Not lately. Midnight Christmas Eve services have been a part of our Christmas Tradition as long as I can remember. I love walking out of church a few minutes after midnight and knowing it was Christmas morning. However our local churches all wimped out a few years ago and they hold midnight church at 10 PM now. So we get out of church around 11 PM. I HATE THAT!!!

So if you want to share your Christmas stories feel free to copy this and post it.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Spirit

We had something happen at our house this afternoon that has never happened before.

We came home from picking up the new car and my wife noticed that the wreath that was hanging on the front of our mailbox, was missing.

Checking out the mailbox pedestal I found the wires that had held the wreath onto the mailbox were still attached to the pedestal. The ends that were attached to the wreath looked like the wreath had been ripped right off from them.

My dear wife surmises that someone just drove up, hopped out of their car, ripped the wreath off the wires, jumped back in their car and drove off. Which is pretty daring for the middle of the day, since I remember seeing the wreath there when we left the house earlier in the day.

The rest of the family is pretty upset by this. My youngest children can't seem to grasp the situation. They keep asking why someone would steal our wreath. The only thing my dear wife can tell them is that they are a lot of people out in the world who only think of themselves or who are just thoughtless, mean spirited, evil or just stupid. Who knows why people would do this.

I guess I am also slightly baffled also. It is not like the wreath has much intrinsic value. It was home made, and had spent the last couple years hanging outside in the sun. So if any of you hear someone bragging about driving around and stealing wreaths feel free to lay a little Christmas spirit upside their heads for us.

Holiday Movie Night

Three years ago we started a new family Christmas holiday tradition. We all gathered together along with a couple of my daughter’s friends and did nothing all day but watch movies. That first year we watched all three extended director’s cut Lord of the Rings movies. Last year we watched all seven Star Wars movies.

This year the family decided to have a Treasure Hunters movie marathon. We started with all three Indiana Jones movies. From there we moved on to The Mummy, Sahara and National Treasure. Valley of the Kings should be starting just about the time I post this. We will finish up with Stewart Granger’s version of King Solomon’s Mine, if everyone else can stay awake that long.

During the day I followed another family post-Christmas tradition – homemade turkey vegetable noodle soup. Several years ago my children and I discovered that the best part of having turkey is making soup with the carcass. So while we were watching movies, I boiled down the carcass of our Christmas turkey to make stock. Then I cleaned the remaining meat off the carcass, scooped all the bones out of the stock. Added a Wyler’s Chicken Noodle Soup Starter, some bullion cubes, a bag of mixed frozen vegetables, salt, pepper and dried onion flakes. Let the whole large cast iron pot full of fixins simmer for several hours until the smell was driving us nuts. Then added some egg noodles and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner of soup and a movie.

Christmas Ambush

I have wanted to occasionally include some videos on this site. For Christmas I got a copy of Adobe Premier video editing software so I can get the video from my camcorder to the computer. So for my first video I'm going to show you what happens when my son opens one of his Christmas presents and discovers the nerf rifle he had been wanting for months.



This was the moment that my son discovered that his old man wasn't dumb enough to arm one member of the family without giving the others a means of defending themselves.

Christmas Dinner

Fried Turkey
Hickory Smoked Ham
Oyster Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Grandma’s Christmas Jello Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Pumpkin Pie
Candy Cane Cheesecake

I discovered a new treat yesterday while cooking. I had the ham in the smoker and had just put the turkey in the fryer. I dumped what my kids had taken to calling the “icky innards” (gizzard, liver and heart) of the turkey into the smoker with the ham. It was about an hour later when I discovered that I like hickory smoked turkey heart much better than just baked turkey heart.

Christmas Dinner was a quiet affair for us this year. This was the first time in 17 years that Christmas dinner was just the five of us. We almost always have guests over. But this year it was just my dear wife, the three kids and I. We did discover one small benefit to having just the five of us for dinner. No one dressed up. We spent the day in sweats or jeans. It was nice lounging around and cooking in casual clothes, but I think I would trade that for having some family or friends around.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from David, my Dear Wife, Chaos, Noise and Destruction.



This picture is from my favorite artist, John C. Green, who is from my home town of Madison SD. I have five of his prints hanging in our family room. The one above, called family Christmas was a gift from my mother the year she discovered she had cancer. John has an online studio here. If you like scenes of South Dakota farm country, pheasants and hunting dogs, John is your guy.

Christmas Lights

After dinner this evening the whole family loaded into the van with our cups of hot chocolate to drive around town and look at the Christmas lights. There are a few neighborhoods that are standard places to visit for beautiful Christmas light displays. The rest of the evening we drive aimlessly around looking down streets displays of lights.

Our favorite spots are a collection of three houses on Kinnett St. These neighbors decorate together, the lights spread from one house to the other. There is a house on Alene Street, one on Vicki Court and one on Beth lane that we love to stop by. The house on Beth Lane is always a challenge. We are never sure where this short street is at. We rarely come upon it from the same direction two years in a row.

This year after finding Beth Lane and enjoying the yard full of animated Christmas figurines we were driving out of the neighborhood and I asked my dear wife to check the cross street names. She was unable to see the first street name, but as we drove along the block she pointed to a large building and said its right past the Jehovah’s Witnesses Temple. We were both making a mental note of that for next year when my son spoke up from the back seat asking “What are Jamocha’s?”

We both asked “What?” and he repeated “What are jamocha witnesses?” The whole van was rocking in laughter for several blocks after that. Finally we managed to calm ourselves down enough to explain what we had said and where his error had been. However I don’t think my dear wife and I will ever see the Jehovah’s walking the sidewalks again with their Watchtower magazines without thinking of Jamocha Shakes from Arby’s or Baskin Robbins’s Jamocha ice cream. I’m afraid that for our family they will forever from this night forth be Jamocha’s Witnesses.

We ended our evening with a stroll down Victoria Ct. Victoria court is a short cul-de-sac that most of the houses decorate with lights. All the houses string lights across the street from one roof top to the opposite house. Most people drive the cul-de-sac but we have always preferred to park and walk. We have so few neighborhoods in town that all the houses will decorate and driving through this short one makes the enjoyment pass to quickly.

SAC/PTG Christmas Party

Tonight we hosted a Christmas Party in our house for the members of the School Advisory Council and the PTG officers. When I took over as President of the School Advisory Council 5 years ago I started having the other members of the council over for a Christmas party and a kick off BBQ at the beginning of each school year. I just always find it easier to work with people or get through difficult times when we have gotten to know one another in an informal get together.

The party was pretty simple. Sandwiches and Christmas treats and desserts was our dinner fare. We spent a couple hours just visiting and talking about our lives, families and the school.

Our Christmas party has never gotten full attendance by all seven members of the council and the five PTG officers. Counting spouses and children we usually managed to get about twelve people to show up. It makes for a small intimate party. I would like to get everyone involved. But finding a day at this time of the year when everyone is available for a couple hours in the evening is difficult. I even had to miss the end of the party when I had to leave to pick my daughter up from her volleyball practice. When we got home, everyone else had left.

Sagebrush Shortline Christmas Ride

This evening the whole family went up the hill to take a ride on the Sagebrush Short Line Railroad. Over the last few years a Christmas train ride has become an unusual christmas tradition for our family.

This year the lines were really long. It was warmer than usual even though the wind was blowing. I think they had a pretty good out of town envolvement. There were a lot of trailers and motorhomes parked up there. There were several trains running. Most of them were gasoline powered. When we first got into line to wait for a turn to ride they had three coal fired steam powered locomotives running together. I was hoping to get a chance to ride on them, but by the time we got to the front of the line, they had taken them offline for maintenance.

We took our train ride and the family vetoed my suggestion of getting back into line for another ride. So we loaded up the van and drove around the south side of town looking at Christmas lights.

Christmas Day

Our Christmas Day always starts early. Too early. It doesn't seem to matter what time our children go to bed the night before, the get up early on Christmas Morning. Since no one is allowed into the family room where the Christmas Tree is set up, my dear wife and I usually awake to the sound of our children huddled in the hallway outside our room, hushing each other to be quiet so they don't wake us up.

Once their nefarious plan comes to fruition and we are awake they gather at the end of the hallway and anxious watch while I get our camera ready. The last few years we have followed the custom of the children anxiously watch me cross the family room to get the camera. Once I get the camera in hand I turn towards them, glance at the tree and then with a sigh of disappointment I tell them "we don't need the camera this morning. There is nothing under the tree." My children always respond with a resounding "Daddy!" Then they immediately start think of things their siblings may have done that cost them their Christmas presents.

Once I get the camera turned on I usually get time to take one quick blurry shot as the children rush into the room. Rounding the Christmas tree they quickly discover the gifts that Santa Claus has left. Santa is usually generous and leaves one large or expensive gift for each person. This year the twins each got new bicycles. My oldest daughter got a digital camera, my dear wife a new Palm TX PDA and I got a film scanner. Santa is a pretty smart guy. He always seems to know what we each want the most.

After exploring our new gifts for a while we all then rush into the living room to see if our stockings have coal in them or not.

So far no one has ever gotten coal in their stocking. Which is too bad, with the price of natural gas these days we could use a little coal. Our stocking usually contain a mixture of treats and essentials. We get things like toothbrushes, chapstick, shaving cream, etc. We also get candy, trinkets and chocolate.

After the morning discoveries we have breakfast. The last few years breakfast has been homemade carmel rolls. This tradition started several years ago at my sister's house when my nephew would make homemade carmel rolls every morning. We loved them. Since then we have homemade carmel rolls every Christmas morning. However, I do cheat a little. My nephew made his dough from scratch. I use frozen bread dough. But they are still good.

After breakfast our day depends on whether or not we are hosting Christmas Dinner at our house or going to someone else's house. If we are the dinner hosts we usually start dinner preparations. If we are going somewhere else our morning depends on what we are bringing to dinner. If we have preparations to make we do them. If not then we relax for a while and play with our new toys.

Christmas dinner has only a couple requirements. First off we must have family or friends there. We have never had a Christmas dinner with only the 5 of us. We hope we never do. The more family and friends around the better.

Our afternoons, preparing for Christmas dinner are a combination of dinner prep, family fellowship, and watching football on TV.

Christmas dinner fare has changed through the years and locations. As a child living in South Dakota Christmas dinner always included ham. It sometimes included goose, duck, or even pheasant, depending on how the hunting season went. Dessert was an assortment of pies - pumpkin, apple, blueberry, cherry, mincemeat and pecan. One year my great uncle Bud refused to make a choice. He just insisted that my Mother and Aunt surprise him. So they did, they gave him a slice of each covered with whipped cream.

Once we moved to Wyoming and bird hunting was as accessable the main Christmas dinner fare was ham and turkey. Our family Christmas dinner has a few essential elements. First as always - ham. We usually have turkey. If we are hosting dinner the turkey is fried, cajun style. I'm not cajun, but my dear wife's family is and she told me about fried turkey for years. I tried it for the first time about 5 years ago. We haven't gone back since. Fried is the only way to go.

Christmas dinner also includes my wife's dirty rice dressing. She always made pretty good rice dressing, but she always told me it was nothing like her cousin Frankie's. Then several years ago while at a family reunion in Louisiana I got to try her cousin Frankie's dressing. She wasn't kidding, it was great. Before we left she talked Frankie into telling her his secret. So now we get the really good dressing each year also.

The last regualar ingrediant for a proper Christmas dinner is my mother-in-law's Christmas salad. Her Christmas salad is a layered jellow salad that everyone loves. I don't know what all is in it. I don't care, I don't have to make it, I just help eat it.

After dinner, we sit around and let our dinner settle. We watch football if there is a game on. We play games with the kids. We talk, or we nap. Other than dinner preparations Christmas day is a day of family, relaxing, and just enjoying one another's company.

Our dinner menu has taken on a definate cajun flavor the last few years, it still contains the mainstay of Norwegian Christmas dinners - ham. Our Christmas Day also follows Norwegian traditions in that it is the frist day of our Christmas Holiday. We always take the week off work between Christmas and New Year. Starting with Christmas day is our holiday of relaxing, spending time together as a family, visiting with friends and mostly just having fun. We plan very little and pretty much just let each day happen.

More Family Holiday Traditions are written about here.

Merry Christmas!

My family and I wish for all of you a very Merry Christmas.

I would wish for all of you a time of peace, love and happiness.

To my Nephews and cousins who are seving in the Armed Forces of the United States, Thank you. We pray that you will be safe, be strong, and when your job is done that you return home to us again.

1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Mark 2:1-20 (KJV)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in our home is a day of contrasts. We start the day slowly. Everyone sleeps in. Meals are very ad hoc. No one wants to spend the day in the kitchen cooking, so we don't.

We attempt to have all our shopping done before Christmas Eve. We try and spend the day relaxing. We may do a little last minute gift wrapping. But Christmas Eve is a day of puttering around finalizing the last few Christmas details, visiting with family and friends, watching football or napping. This is a tradition that my wife and I have worked very hard to maintain. Growing up Christmas Eve was always very hectic. My Mom ran around all day in a total tizzy trying to make everything perfect. What she usually accomplished was stressing out herself and everyone around her. So we try to make Christmas Eve, a quiet, laid back day. If it isn't done by now, it's not going to get done. Christmas will happen regardless of the little things that we may have not gotten done. So we try not to stress the details. That is what December 23rd is for.

Once the day has passed and we get into the evening, the excitment level does start picking up. We usually have a casual dinner. Again no one wants to cook all day, so we either dine on heavy hors d'ourves and snacks or we order out. Pizza on Christmas Eve is becoming a family favorite. The pizza delivery guys seem to like the idea also. My wife believes that anyone who has to work on Christmas Eve should be tipped well for their efforts. Other meal options include, meatballs, BBQed little smokies, cheeze logs, spinich dip, chips, salsa, cookies, candy, etc.

If you haven't figured out yet, the word diet is not allowed in our house during Christmas.

After dinner we gather in the living room and open presents. This is the exciting part of the day for the kids. They have been watching the pile of gifts under thre tree grow for several days now. We crack down pretty hard on snooping. So there is a lot of standing around the tree discussing the size and shapes of the different packages. There is also a lot of shaking and weighing, but that is all done under the guise of rearranging to make room for other gifts. If you ask the kids, they can probably tell you exactly how many presents for each person there is under the tree. We don't allow them to dig around in the presents but they always seem to know anyway. I guess it's just part of the miracle of Christmas.

After we open gifts there is usually a couple hours to play with the new goodies. But eventually we all climb out from under our piles of Christmas wrapping paper and we load into the car and head for church.

Every Lutheran Church I have attended through the years always has two different services early in the day. These are the normal Christmas Eve services and if you want a seat you usually have to get there at least a half hour early. We have only gone to one of these services in my adult life time. The second year we had three kids we went to the 6 PM service. It was overcrowded, and a total zoo. The kids slept in our arms through it all. So we decided that if the kids were going to sleep anyway we may as well go back to midnight services.

Midnight Service is a misnomer. It doesn't start at midnight. It ends at midnight. I have always enjoyed going to church at 11 PM at night and when you leave church it is usually just a couple minutes after midnight. There is something special about being out and about in the wee minutes of Christmas Day.

I have been going to midnight services my entire life. Most of my oldest, fondest christmas memories are of sitting in church at 11:50 PM the church lights are dimmed and everyone is holding a lit candle. Slowly the congregation starts singing Silent Night. It is the one single moment that seems to really make Christmas special to me.

This year is going to be different. Midnight services have been moved to 10 PM instead of 11 PM. I'm not sure what it's going to be like. Getting home from church while it is still Christmas Eve. Unless of course the start time has been moved because Pastor has a 90 minute Homily planned. I'll let you know....

Update: The 10 PM midnight church service was pretty much the same as it always is. Just one hour earlier. The service itself was the same. But somehow, leaving the church at 11:15 PM instead of 12:15 AM felt wrong. On the plus side, the kids stayed away for most of the service. We lost the twins for a few minutes during the sermon but that is becoming their Christmas tradition. So we wouldn't want to stop it now.

Once we get home we usually get everyone off to bed as quickly as possible. Which isn't hard. Everyone has had a fun filled evening and are usually very tired. So the kids set out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa, a couple carrots for the reindeer and then we all head for bed.

My family pretty much follows the same Christmas Eve traditions that we grew up with. As I grew older and started looking into our traditions I discovered that our Christmas Eve traditions grew directly from the old Norwegian Christmas Eve traditons. According to Nytt fra Norge and her writings on Norwegian Christmas Traditions our traditions of a relaxed day visiting with family and friends and opening gifts after dinner are old Norwegian traditions. They must also be cajun traditions because that is the way my dear wife was raised also.

Check back tomorrow for a run down on Christmas Day.

More Family Holiday Traditions are here.

Family Christmas Traditions

A few days ago I posted several comments about Christmas vs. Happy Holidays. In that post I put forth the theory that the ways that we celebrate Christmas depends on our family traditions. Traditions that are handed down through the generations or slowly built though the years with your current family.

Since I made such a big fuss about family Christmas traditions I figure that I should write some more about my family christmas traditions. Since we finally have all the gifts bought, wrapped and mailed, our cards written and mailed, parties thrown and attended, I hope to have enough time to write about all our family Christmas traditions.

I'll keep this post as a collection point for links to all the other Christmas tradition posts.

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays
Santa's Art Shop
Ridgecrest Christmas Parade
Sagebrush Short Line Railroad
Knights of Columbus Christmas Party
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day

Knights of Columbus Christmas Party

Today was the Knights of Columbus Christmas Party. Every year a week or so before Christmas the Knights of Columbus have a Christmas Party for the children of their members. Being Lutheran I'm not a member of the Knights, but my father-in-law is. So every year he makes reservations for his grandchildren to attend the party.

The Knights Party is usually only two to three hours long. The kids do Christmas crafts, color pictures, decorate cookies. But mostly the kids wait for Santa Claus to show up.

This year Santa was running ahead of schedule. The party started at 1 PM and Santa showed up around 2. Usually he doesn't get there until around 2:30.

Once Santa arrives he takes his place at the special chair that is waiting for him. Then all the high school girls who have been recruited to help him start sorting out his gifts. Eventually all the kids get a chance to sit on Santa's lap and receive a gift.

We have been going to the Knights Christmas Party for 13 years now. It has become a family tradition. Unfortunately it may be a short lived tradition. Once a kid reaches 12 years old, Santa stops bringing them gifts at the party. So we only have 3 more years before the twins turn will be 12. There probably won't be much reason to go once the kids don't get to sit on Santa's lap any longer.

Sagebrush Short Line Railroad

This evening we took a ride on the local railroad.

Back in 1999 George Pruitt and several of his railroad friends started building their own little model railroad. This little model railroad of there is a 7.5 inch gage. Which is approximately 1/8 scale. They call this a large scale model train.

Well the same year they started building their railroad they opened up around Christmas to let their friends come ride on the trains. Over the last 6 years their little model train has grown into 4500 feet of track with 30 switches. They have decorated the yard with several home made Christmas decorations which include a full sized sleigh with 8 flying reindeer and a large castle guarded by several tin soldiers.

This year they hope to have trains from Whittier, Riverside, Apple Valley, Tehachapi and Weldon for their visitors to ride.

Each year my father-in-law gets the family an invitation to go ride the trains. We always have a blast. The yard is always decorated in lots of Christmas lights and displays. Santa Claus usually stops in and talks to the kids for awhile. The wait online is usually only about 15 minutes, often less. Each train pulls bench seat cars. You have to sit in a straight line one behind the other. Each ride usually lasts about 10 minutes.

This year it was rather chilly, and the lines were kind of long. So we only rode one train. We hadn’t had dinner yet and everyone was getting cold and hungry. So we didn’t stick around.

So we loaded back into the van and drove around checking out some of the Christmas lights in town. After a quick dinner at Carl’s Jr. we checked out a couple more lights and called it a night.

A ride on the Sagebrush Short Line Railroad is quickly becoming a Christmas tradition with us. It is one we hope to be able to keep doing for several more years.

Ridgecrest Christmas Parade

Yesterday was the Ridgecrest Christmas Parade.

The Parade started at 10 AM at the corner of Norma and Las Flores Streets. The city blocks off the entire half mile of Las Flores between Norma and Ridgecrest Blvds so the parade participants can set up.

We drove down to the area about 9:20 and parked in our chruch parking lot, which is right on the corner where the parade starts. Then while my dear wife and her parents walked a block down Norma to find a iece of sidewalk to set up on I walked the kids through the set up area to find where the Saint Ann School was supposed to set up.



We found our spot and hung out until the rest of their classmates, teachers and parents showed up. We hung some wreaths on the 1933 Ford truck that the school secretary was driving. Once there were enough adults around, I headed back to Norma St. to find the rest of my family.

The parade started on time and lasted about 1 hour. It was a fun time. The parade always starts off with the Navy Color Guard carrying the American flag, followed closely by the Burroughs High School Marching Band. After them is a very eclectic assortment of floats, cars, trucks, horses, wagons, motercycles, and people walking.



Almost every organization in town has some sort of involvement in the parade. All the private schools, charitable organizations, clubs, and many businesses will have some sort of display in the parade. The parade numbers around 65 different entries. Everything has a Christmas theme to it. The horses wear antlers and/or garland. The people and cars are all decorated in garland and lights.

This was the first year that Saint Ann School marched in the parade. I have been nagging for several years that we need to have a presence in the parade. This year several of the teachers and the secretary stepped up and organized a parade entry. They had a banner carried by several of the middle school students then the secretary's old truck with some decorations on it. Since the Diocese won't let our students ride on floats or open trucks we had just put a couple flags in the back of the truck. Following the truck were about 45 of our students who were all wearing red shirts and jeans. Some students were playing recorders and the rest were singing. It was a great first time parade entry.



At the end of the parade, my dear wife and in-laws all pack up the chairs and coffee and head back to the car while I head back down Las Flores to the end of the parade route to pick up the kids.

Once I find out kids we usually find a piece of curb and watch the end of the parade. This gives my dear wife and her mother time to wander into the fellowship hall at out church and check out the Crafts Festival that is going on there. This plan works out great for everyone except my father in law who sits inpatiently in the car and waits for everyone else to show up. We keep telling him to bring a book, but he never does.

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

There is an awful lot of rhetoric, hatred and anger flying around these days about the word Christmas. Every time I turn around someone is complaining about the use of the word Christmas. Christmas Trees are becoming Holiday Trees. Merry Christmas is being changed to Happy Holidays. Christmas itself seems to be changing into a Winter Festival. Some retail stores are telling employees not to wish people Merry Christmas because they might offend someone. Many people are taking offense when they are wished something other than Merry Christmas. Fundamentalist bible-thumping Christians are demanding that Christmas should be about the birth of Jesus and nothing else. Atheists are insisting that all religious connotations should be eliminated from their winter holiday. Then there are the rest of us, who are fed up with everyone else trying to tell us what to say, what to think, and how to celebrate Christmas.

So here's my soapbox speech about Christmas.

BOTH SIDES, SHUT THE HELL UP AND LEAVE MY HOLIDAY ALONE!!!!!!!

My family's Christmas traditions are not going to change not matter how much you yell, scream, protest, or legislate. Our Christmas traditions are just that - traditions. At the risk of sounding like Tevye the Milkman, Christmas is about traditions. Our traditions are a combination of the practices and beliefs that have been influenced by generations of parents trying to make Christmas special for their loved ones.

Our family Christmas starts on Thanksgiving night. After the food is eaten, the pie devoured, the guests departed and the dishes done then Thanksgiving is declared over and Christmas begins. Our Christmas traditions do not begin with a song, or a verse, or lights, or prayer. It begins when I haul all the Christmas decorations down out of the attic. Our Christmas holiday ends on Martin Luther King weekend, when all the decorations go back into the attic. For us, Christmas lasts around 8 weeks, give or take a day or so.

During Christmas we decorate our house, inside and out, with Nativity scenes, candles, Christmas trees, wreaths, holly, mistletoe, Santa Clauses, Father Christmases, St. Nicks, Angels, Wise men, babies, shepherds, bells, garland, snowmen and elves.

We decorate a pine tree to honor our German and Lutheran heritage. Legend has it that the Germans were the first ones to decorate pine trees for Christmas and Martin Luther was the first one to put lights (candles) on his tree. We also decorate a Christmas tree because that is what our parents and grandparents taught us to do. It is a tradition. We do not put a star on the top of our Christmas tree. We put an angel up there. Why? I have no idea, other than that is what my grandmother taught my mother to do.

I bake Krumkake and Rosettes to honor my Norwegian Heritage, and because we all like eating and sharing them. We also bake sugar cookies, ginger snaps and chocolate chip cookies. We make divinity, fudge, hard candy and lots of other treats because that is what our Cajun/Norwegian/Hillbilly/Irish/French/German grandparents and parents taught us to do.

We mail Christmas cards to dozens of people. Some of whom we haven't spoken to for years. It is our tradition. Exchanging cards with people who we haven't seen in years is our way of not losing touch with old friends and family who we just don't get to see as often as we would like to.

We open presents from family and friends on Christmas Eve because in old Norway gifts were exchanged on Christmas Eve. But mostly we do it because that is the way we learned to do it as children. It is our family tradition

We go to midnight church on Christmas Eve. It is a tradition. The most vivid memories I have of Christmas as a child are sitting in church at midnight on Christmas Eve, holding my candle and singing Silent Night. I want my children to have those same experiences, and I hope they leave such lasting memories.

On Christmas morning we get up to find that Santa Claus has visited our house during the night. The cookies and milk have been consumed, our stockings that were hung by the fireplace are filled with goodies and there is a gift from him for each of us under the Christmas tree. It has always happened this way, and as long as we are all good this year I'm confident it will keep happening.

We spend Christmas day with family and friends. It doesn't matter if they come to our house or we go to theirs. It is an Old Norwegian tradition to go visiting on Christmas Day. It is also a tradition in most cultures to feed those who come to your house to visit. So our friends and family come to our house for dinner or we go to theirs. The key is that we have Christmas dinner together, somewhere.

All too often our Christmas Holiday becomes a hectic, frantic time. We have so much we want to do, and often so little time to do it. We could simplify our lives by simplifying Christmas. But that wouldn't be keeping our Christmas traditions.

If we were to allow religion to be taken out of our Christmas then what would we have left? We would lose the entire holiday season. Even the word holiday is a derivation of the words “Holy Days”. Santa Claus got his start as Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra. Whether or not it is Christianity or a pagan winter solstice celebration, faith and religion have always been an important part of winter celebrations.

Almost as unthinkable to my family as removing religion from Christmas would be trying to eliminate the commercial parts of Christmas. Christmas without Santa Claus, reindeer, sweets, cookies, shopping, gifts and all the fun commercial stuff would be just one more church holiday with maybe a special sermon, a play by the children, some carols from the choir and a special dinner with your family. While that would be OK, it surely wouldn’t be as much fun.

I just don't understand the vocal minority who insist on trying to take Christ out of Christmas, or the fundamentalists who try to decommercialize Christmas. The Christmas Holiday has spent 1600 years blending both spiritual and commercial traditions to become the holiday we celebrate today. Yet each family celebrates in their own slightly different way. That is how it should be. We should all celebrate Christmas in our own way and not try to make everyone else conform to our own beliefs.

If you are one of those radical extremists from either side of the spectrum who hate what Christmas had grown into, I feel sorry for you. Your parents and grandparents obviously did a really lousy job of teaching you that whatever you are celebrating at this time of the year, it isn't about you. It's about your faith, your family, your friends and your traditions.

So don’t try and change my Christmas tree into a holiday tree. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t believe in Santa Claus. Don’t try and take away our heritage based Christmas traditions. My family has spent generations working the kinks out of these traditions. We make small changes each year, but for the most part, we like our Christmas holiday just the way it is. If you don’t like yours then change it. But don’t try and force the rest of us to change with you.