We had an early Thanksgiving this year. Real early!

My youngest son and his new bride were returning to their mission field in Mexico earlier this month, so the family decided we needed to plan something before they left. Yep, Thanksgiving came early…like, November 1st early. It had all the makings of our traditional feast and festivities. We had a wonderful time visiting, chowing down, and playing our annual game of Bingo!

An added plus was that it opened the door for the kids to spend time with other family members this Thanksgiving Day. No need to synchronize our clocks to fit in with other celebrations taking place. This year will be a quiet one for me and HB, but honestly, it sounds really romantic. I’ll still make “the” dinner, but just for two. Strangely, I’m totally okay with that.

That said, the problem with the earlier fesitivies…we all feel like we should be in Christmas mode! We feel as if Thanksgiving has already come and gone! Let’s put it this way…I’ve had my little Christmas tree up for almost a week now. It usually doesn’t go up until the day after Thanksgiving. And we’ve watched, at least, one Christmas movie. I suppose the nice twist to that is Christmas won’t feel rushed as it sometimes does. By getting a little head start, the season will feel like it lingered for a while – and I’m totally okay with that.

This has always been a magical time of year for me. Growing up as a 60’s and 70’s child, our home would take on a whole new life in November and December. My mom has always had a zest for fun and tradition. She would begin cooking up delicious seasonal meals. Did you hear that? My stomach just growled…no, seriously! Oh…and the baking…cookies, pie, popcorn balls, and my grandma’s fudge. Mmmm.
(My grandma always claimed she got ahold of Mrs. See’s recipe – and honestly, I wouldn’t have put it past her.)

Then there was my dad, an old romantic. There was just something about this time of year that put a dance in his step. He loved all sorts of music (and always had an awesome stereo system), so he’d fill our home with seasonal music…Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, oh…and Mahalia Jackson, singing “O Holy Night”…it still takes me back. Magical, spiritual…wonderful.

Can you feel it? Maybe it’s just me, but even talking about it takes me back. There was just a heartbeat in our home – and because of it all, they instilled tradition in me, especially at this time of the year.

So, I thought for the next month or so, I’d spend some time blogging about the holidays. Since we’re still a week ahead of Thanksgiving, I’ll definitely include that, but I’ll be directing most of my writing towards Christmas. As many of you know, HB and I are all about legacy, so we’ve kept many of our old traditions alive, but have added some new ones into the mix.

In keeping with my Simple Life Adventures (yes, I’m still working to achieve simplicity), from earlier this year, I’ll also share with you simple ways that we’ve brought the season into our home, without getting caught up in the commercialism that often comes along with the holiday. Blech!

The desire of my heart is for Thanksgiving and Christmas to always have deep meaning in my family. So, each year I start out by asking God to fill my heart with His perspective and to help me focus on family, friends, love, laughter  – and, of course, the true reason for this beautiful season…His Son, Jesus.

So travel along with me as we enjoy and embrace this Christmas season together, because it really is…The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

~CindyLu