Can you believe Christmas has come and gone?! Seriously, it has blown past and here we are in a new year full of potential and promise. I get all giddy inside with the idea of a clean slate and new beginnings. But before I jump full swing into 2018, I want to take a moment to give 2017 a proper send off.
I had full intentions of using the holiday down time to get ahead on the space. I dreamed of a handful of stories and photos written and edited all ready and set to post. But there came a point that I realized I didn’t really want that. Or at least there was something else that I wanted more.
I love you guys and want to give you my time, but there are some people that I love even more and they are my family. I decided that more than anything I wanted to REALLY be present over the Christmas break to make memories. I had made a mental Holiday Bucket-List and was ready to give it my all to do them all. There were a few things that I didn’t get in, but I can’t complain because there was so much that we DID do.
My husband probably hates it, but I like to plan things out. When I say that I like to plan things out, that doesn’t mean that I have every minute planned, but I like to plan out what I want to do and a good idea of when. I get scared that if we fly by the seat of our pants too much we may miss out on opportunities of fun that we could have done had we been ready for it. Hence the reason I make a bucket-list.
What was on my bucket-list? I’m so glad that you asked! Sledding. I love to sled, especially with my kids so that was high on the list and, thankfully, we were blessed with enough snow to have a great time. In fact, it was so good we went out sledding a couple of times and managed to pull the sleds behind the 4-wheeler and do a little down-hill sledding.
Also high on the list was our Christmas movie and hot cocoa and donut party. The Montana Girl and I like to party… a lot… so we come up with whatever we can to have some sort of a gathering and our cozy Christmas night was just right. I may have been super sick with a head cold so I slept through a fair amount of the movie (that we didn’t even finish), but apparently the sickness and the medicine led to a magical night… at least that is how I remember it.
On the list is always some sort of Christmas production and for the first year in a long time I was actually about to cross this one off! I guess I could always consider my kids Christmas program for that one… hmm… I missed out on White Christmas so this one is going back on for next year!
Of course it isn’t the holidays without lots of baking. The hard thing about his item is that if I bake, then I eat them and that just causes its own problems. I found a solution to it this year- do the baking for our Church Christmas party! I baked about 17 dozen cookies and I loved every minute of it and I think they did too since there was only a handful of cookies left at the end of the night!
My mother-in-law started a new tradition years ago that always adds a splash of holiday cheer to our Christmas break- building gingerbread houses! I went for a graham cracker house this year and I have to admit that it may now be my favorite! It’s simple and small but when that’s all I had time for it was just PERFECT!
The Rancher’s favorite tradition I always try to include is a little skeet shooting. This year it was even more fun because I had my very own, brand new shot gun that The Rancher had given me for Christmas! He knows the way to this girl’s heart…
Of course it all wouldn’t be any fun without the people to spend it with. The family nights of games, movies, and yummy food are always my favorite. Nothing crazy or fancy, just all of us putting aside the things that are always demanding our attention and coming together to create memories. We are a pretty lucky family. Right now we all live close enough together that we have a lot of opportunities to get together and I love that!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, friends! I truly hope that you had a great time so slow down and take the time to love the ones that are close to you. There is no greater gift at the Holidays than the memories that will last a lifetime!
The Rancher’s Wife
PS- So I was all ready to post this when I realized that I forgot some pretty awesome stuff. Cowboy Pete had a terrific idea to take a day to go skiing and of course we jumped at that idea. Although… first ride up the mountain and The Ranch Princess says to me, “Too bad we can’t just ride the lift back down and not have to ski..” WHAT!!? She didn’t even last one run before she wanted to be done. She said that she loved skiing. Really, I think she just loved the lodge. Maybe next year.
Also… We hiked up the mountain and chopped down the lovliest trees over Thanksgiving in Montana. And they have dried up and lost ALL their needles! The saddest little Christmas tree I have ever seen. Haha… Can you say fire hazard?
