HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to our 4 year old grandson, David Cornelsen.... party on!!

My Aunt Bonnie sent this poem to my 86 year old mother, Betty Marie Lyman Rasmussen Christmas 2010They are part of "the greatest generation" and have been sending hand written Christmas Cards since the 1940's.

"I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book.
And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look.
And that is when I realize that these names are a part
Not of the book they're written in, but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme.

And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim
I relly feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.
And while you may not be aware of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life, a lot more than you think.
For once I've met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list forgotten in between.
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It's because you are on the list of folks whom I'm indebted to.
Cause I am but the total of the many folks I've met
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.

And whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do.
So every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer is meeting folks like you!
And may the Spirit of Christmas that eternally endures,
Leave its richest blessings in the hearts of you and yours." ~ Dotty Abernathy

When I was a little girl, Christmas was the ONE holiday that my family celebrated. I have fond memories of my big brothers winding strings of bright Christmas light bulbs round and round freshly cut trees.  Only when the lights were on and tested were the rest of us allowed to help decorate the tree. Mother insisted that we separate the tinsel strands and put them on the tree one at a time.

There were seven of us - plus Dad & Mom - that made nine.  And yes, we squabbled a bit, like all children do. Still, we loved it...but it was more than the tree and the tinsel.  The real blessing was that decorating the Christmas Tree was something we all could do together... something that mattered to each of us... adults, teens and toddlers alike! 

Click in the comment section below and tell me one of your favorite Christmas Tree Traditions...