Thanksgiving for me is the kickoff to the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving, and this year was one for the books. I had help in the kitchen, my son-in-law stayed and helped me cook while the others went and played basketball. He was a huge help in the kitchen! We also had a house full of family and friends.

This year I have really thought about what I want Christmas to look like. All the kids are older, all but 1 is an adult. This is probably the last Christmas we will have all together for at least 3 years as I have 2 kids probably leaving on missions in the next couple months, and a third leaving next summer.

The older I get the more I think about the experience of Christmas more than the actual giving of gifts. I don’t mind giving gifts, but we’re all old enough that we buy the things we need when we need them, and at least for my husband and I, we really don’t need more stuff. The kids can all use more stuff as they’re still building their lives, but a lot of it they just save for throughout the year.

Consequently, I think about what experiences we could have throughout the holiday season that would create memories that we all could enjoy for years to come.

There are several things we’ve done ever since we established our home many years ago, some that both my husband and I did as children as well. The biggest one is the Christmas baking. We love baking cookies and making candy, then sharing what we’ve made with other families in our area. We will continue doing that.

My husband has always loved getting a real tree. We usually have 2 options, find one on our own property, or we have a friend with a private runway, and he likes us to cut one at the end of his runway to keep the trees from getting too tall. This year I found one I think I’d like, right out my kitchen window. Well, not right out the window, but I can see it from my window. We’ll have to see what everyone else thinks.

We also have a Christmas Eve party. It started out just family, but as families have moved into the area with no family in Alaska, we have increased the size. This is actually my favorite Christmas tradition, and plans are in the works for this years party already.

A new item, this won’t be a Christmas tradition, but I think it would be fun, is the Giving Machine. This is done by my Church, and these giving machines are placed at different locations all over America, Canada, and I think some places in Europe. Some locations every year, but this year Anchorage will have one (only this year) and I’d like to go and donate through the giving machine.

We have on a couple of different occasions stopped by the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage to view their massive gingerbread display as well. I don’t know if it’s still happening, but the day we go to the giving machines, we might just stop to look at that.

A couple other fun traditions we do, although not everyone participates in these, are the Messiah performance and the local Nativity display. My husband doesn’t really enjoy either of these, and my sons don’t always come, just depends on the year, but my daughters and I enjoy going to both of these events.

In years past I have often neglected the activities, or we only do them every few years, because I got busy with other aspects of the holidays. But the older I get, the more I just enjoy the time with my family. The car rides to any of these events are always conversation filled and fun. The treats that we inevitably stop and get somewhere along the way are always good, and the activities are usually well worth the time and gas to get to them. This year I hope to not neglect the time with family because I’m busy with things that don’t matter as much.