Well, it’s that time of year…
The debate of when Black Friday shopping should begin has finally settled down until next year. Christmas carols are being played in nearly every store and Christmas tree pictures are consuming Facebook.
Christmas isn’t any different in our house than yours. My Christmas trees are all set up and my farmer spent a Sunday afternoon after chores hanging our Christmas lights. And I have nearly all my presents wrapped and under the tree- or locked in the storage room.
But, in our house it seems we have debated the “best” way to do Christmas morning and the ongoing debate of whether or not it will blizzard on Christmas Day.
My first year as a new wife I spent sitting in a pickup watching gates while the guys moved piles and piles of snow from out of our feed yards. That night we cuddled on the couch with frozen pizza. Definitely not the way I grew up! I can think of only one time I missed a holiday celebration in my family, and it was Thanksgiving! So, this whole working all day on Christmas was a new thing for me. But when it comes to snow it’s best to stay on top of it. In South Dakota we can get enough snow and blowing of snow to completely cover an entire fence, which means that cattle could walk right over their own fences. And sometimes first we have to get the snow out of the feed bunks before we can even feed cattle for the day.
Moving snow takes time, lots and lots of time.
On holidays on our farm we try to rotate holiday chores, so that not all the guys are working on every single holiday. This year it’s our year for Christmas chores. But, if it snows a lot then it will be a more “hands on deck” approach.
Because it’s our holiday for chores we are still talking about the best way to do “Santa”. Especially since our three year old knows all about Santa and presents. But, I can promise you this that Santa will come to our house! And I am going to do my best to keep a very excited three year old away from presents until Daddy finally gets home.
On Christmas I pray for mild weather. A perfect dusting of snow to give us a white Christmas. Because no matter what the day looks like family doesn’t come first, cattle come first. And with just a light dusting of snow that means I get my farmer for just a little bit longer on Christmas Day!
Our Christmas looks a lot like yours, but our cattle come first. They get to eat before we do, which means the excitement of Christmas morning comes sometimes in early afternoon- or evening. We plan for a delicious meal that we may or may not get to cook. Sometimes we just push it off for another day, and instead pop some frozen pizza in the oven.
What matters to us is getting to be together as a family and attending church together as a family. And I think we will really enjoy seeing the sparkle of the day itself in our little girl’s eye.
Happy Holidays, from our family to yours! And because I don’t have holiday photos done quite yet. I do want to share the first holiday picture of our little Elliette. Elijah looks more and more like her everyday!
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