Merry Christmas Ya'll

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Twelve yellow roses
eleven blueblonnets
ten gallon hats
nine cowboy boots
eight enchiladas
seven jalapenos
six armadillos
five chili beans
four oil wells
three pickup trucks
two tumbleweeds
and a possum in an oak tree





Chrsitmas in Texas is, well.. *different* than the traditional Christmas's portrayed on cards, and in the movies. As a child, I imagined a traditional Christmas as sort of a *New England-ish* affair... Snow covered firs and blue spruces... piping hot mugs of spiced cider... A real Currier & Ives event.

But here in Texas, Christmas day is rarely cold, let alone snowy, we tend to decorate the cactus along with the dog house, and the B-B-Q grill, and many celebrate the day with homemade tamales along with the usual ham, turkey, and cranberry salad. Everyone knows someone's Mother or Grandmother who still makes tamales and sells them by the dozen. I never realized how unique a Texas Christmas was until I went to Ohio and experienced a more *Northern* holiday. It was pretty much everything I had ever dreamed of; snow, pines, caroling, ...very picturesque. But no tamales!

This Christmas the high in the Fort Worth area will be about 65 degrees. We have family coming from Ohio. I am excited to host them. I wonder how they will interpret the way we celebrate? Will they notice the chile-pepper lights on the Christmas tree? Will they even like tamales?

My husband grew up in Germany and he tells stories that are so nostalgic. I have a picture of him and his brother, when they were about 10 and 8, with a European Saint Nicholaus, in Stutggart, and it looks like something out of a fairy tale.

On one of my groups online, the girls are sharing Scottish, Irish, and English holiday cookie recipes. It is a sign to me that the concept of Christmas is relative to the country, or state, or island you live in or on. How fascinating to think of people all over the world reverencing the Son of God in different ways?

http://www.texassnowbook.com/images/kidsbook/kidsnow_story.gif

Here's a story of a South Texas Christmas... It's very cute, and gives one an idea of how different it can be.

One things for sure; I am thrilled to be celebrating the birth of our Savior. Traditions, as long as they reverence Christ, all come from the same source, with the same intent: To honor his birth.

Merry Christmas to Ya'll... and to Ya'll a Good Night...lol.