Snowy Christmas in MN

I was thankful to make it back to MN for Christmas this year. It was a very short trip, but a wonderful one. While the weather was very touch and go sometimes, I was able to see my extended family and travel safely through the Winter Wonderland.

Here's a little video from Christmas Day.

Christmas Memories - Colter

Last year was a very precious Christmas, as it was the first year that Colter was able to celebrate with us in MN. It is so amazing to celebrate Christmas with little kids! Granted, he was still a little young to understand everything, but that also made it fun for us adults.

Are you taking the time to appreciate celebrating Christmas with the little ones in your life?

Christmas Memories - Favorite Holiday Movies

My #1 favorite holiday movie is "White Christmas". Hands down. I have to watch it every Christmas. This year, I was able to sit down with two of my best friends here in Chicago, Janet and Mary, and watch the movie together. We're all big fans!

My #2 favorite holiday movie is "Christmas Vacation". Classic. Again, I have to watch this movie every year, and preferably with my immediate, and maybe extended, family in attendance. So many one-liners. I do think my brothers and I could quote the entire movie.

What's your favorite holiday movie?

Christmas Memories - Zumwalde Family

The lasting memory of the Zumwalde Family Christmas celebrations were my grandmother's date cookies. It is a family favorite.

We always seem to have some wacky celebrations with the Zumwalde clan, so many crazy antics, stories and stories, and laughter until our sides hurt. One particular Christmas, we decided to stuff my Aunt Linda into a shopping bag. Yes, she did fit. And yes, I do have pictures to prove it.

I also enjoy what each year's hostess will have us do at the celebration. Last year, Gary & Linda had us each say something that we were thankful for from that year. None of those things were material items, and it really reminded all of us the true meaning of a Christmas celebration with family.

Merry Christmas to my family!

Christmas Memories - Zenner Family

One of the earliest memories I have of Christmas celebrations with the Zenner Family is that my grandparents always threw a Christmas party at their home in Cold Spring. There would be extended family in attendance, as well as family friends. The food would be abundant, and for the adults, drinks galore!

My grandparents had a little electric santa that would hobble along and ring a bell. Even as a teenager, this was my favorite toy.

A more recent memory of the Zenner Family Christmas was my grandfather's last Christmas. He was dying of lung cancer, and we knew we had little time with him. We decided to have a celebration of life, by having a bonfire on their frozen lake and shooting off fireworks for that year's Christmas celebration. We were able to move my grandfather's hospital bed closer to the window in the living room, and he was able to watch the show. Of course, he tried to run the show, as a true Zenner does, but it is a moment that will always stay with me.

Merry Christmas to my family!

Christmas Memories - Over the river...

Another favorite memory that I have of my childhood Christmas' is visiting both the Zenner's and Zumwalde's on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. For those readers that don't know, my parents are high school sweethearts and grew up about 10 miles away from each other. For the majority of my childhood, my grandparents lived that close to each other. So the 5 of us would all pile into the car and spend some time with both families. Looking back now, I really was blessed to be surrounded by most of my extended family every year!

Christmas Memories - Dessert

Another one of my Christmas memories are all of the dessert goodies. We had a tradition of making sugar cookies together and then frosting them. My mom had the best sugar cookie recipe and we would make dozens and dozens of cookies. We would clear off the dining room table and throw flour on it, roll out the dough and cut out cookies. We had cut outs of reindeer, santa, stars, holly, ornaments...you name it. Shaun, Chris and I would make the cut outs and mom would throw them in the oven.
After the cookies had cooled, we would take store bought frosting and throw in some food coloring. We would lay out wax paper on the dining room table and also set out the containers of frosting and all of the sugar decorations to add to the cookies. Then we would all sit down again and frost the heck out of those dozens and dozens of cookies.

I usually had a stomach ache the day we made these cookies, because I could not stay away from the cookie dough, the baked cookies, and the frosting!

While the sugar cookies were my favorite, we also had peanut butter cups and rosettes. They were always a treat to have around!

Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

As I sit here trying to finish my holiday cards this year, I am also remembering the anticipation every year in receiving Christmas cards from family and friends. I loved running out to the mailbox to see it stuffed with envelopes.

Before the social networking explosion that has occurred, we all would pour over the Christmas letters that would arrive each day giving us "status updates."

The tradition that we had, was to tape up all of the cards on our door leading to the basement from our dining room. My mom would decorate the doorframe with garland, and it became such a festive looking door with all of the amazing designs of the Christmas cards we received.

That is one of the images I will always have of my childhood Christmas'.

Christmas Memories - Advent Calendar

Growing up, we always had an Advent Calendar that came out on December 1st. Before these Advent Calendars became all fancy and included candy, we had a standard Advent Calendar that had the Bethlehem manger scene and behind every flap told a snippet of the Christmas story.

I can remember my brothers and I impatiently trying to take turns opening the different days. Sadly, I do remember some fights over who was opening which day....especially once that calendar had been with us a few years and the flaps hardly closed.

But the waiting and anticipation was exactly the lesson we needed during the Advent season.

Happy St. Nick's Day!

BTW, today is St. Nicholas Day!
I hope you all had a chance to set out your shoes last night and found some goodies in them this morning!

That is definitely one of the fondest memories I have of Christmas growing up. St. Nicholas Day was always the "kick off" to our holiday season growing up. It was the first gift we received of the season and we always had our Christmas tree arrive on St. Nick's Day.

Christmas Memories - TV Shows

I'm feeling a little sappy this Christmas season, so I'm going to try and post more often in December with some of my favorite Christmas memories and traditions.

In my first trip down memory lane I'm going to write about my favorite Christmas shows when I was a little kid. Am not going to lie, they are still favorites, but they were the must watch shows around this time of year.
The top show is "Charlie Brown's Christmas". Linus talking (sometime annoying, but so sweet), the Charlie Brown Christmas tree (which I'm sure I'll have at one point in my life), and the crazy dancing of the Peanuts team.
The second show is "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Loved Yukon Cornelius, thought Rudolph's nose sounded a little like nails on a chalk board, and was scared of Bumble.
The final show is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I mean, it's a classic and it's Dr. Seuss. You can't go wrong with it.

I hope you get to watch some of your favorite Holiday TV shows this year and take some time to reflect on your family!