Holiday Happenings 2007

Welcome to Holiday Happenings 2007! I'm so glad you've decided to join us! I hope you enjoy reading about the traditions and memories from the holiday season that come from all over blogland. My prayer for you as 2007 comes to an end is that you feel the peace and contentment that comes from knowing Jesus. I also pray that God will pour out his richest blessings on you and your family in 2008.

So, let's get started!

There are so many things I love about this holiday season! It was hard for me to pick just one to share with you. So, after weighing my options, I settled for sharing the longest standing tradition, at least in my family. Pictures with Santa. I know it sounds a little shallow and insignificant at first. But this collection of pictures has become very special to me. They are a sort of compilation of my life. One snapshot of one moment of one year of my life that when put together, tells one special story.

My mom started this tradition my very first Christmas. She and Mema sat me and my cousin (who happens to be my age) on Santa's lap at the tender age of 7 months. And we haven't missed a year since. If you add up all those years, it comes out to . . . lots of pictures! And oh! the stories! Mom can tell when she looks through the pictures of the past.

At age 2 there was already a purse fetish. How do we know this? Because I just had to have my brand new yellow popcorn shaped purse in the picture.

By age 3, my younger brother had arrived.

We know the year that I finally had my tonsils removed because the Santa picture before the surgery was of a scrawny, sickly, sunken-eyed little girl. It was the only time in my life I ever wore slim sized jeans. The next year's picture featured a much healthier, vibrant, not so scrawny kid. By then I was more of a husky.

The pictures chronicle the bad hair year (5th grade), the big-bangs, the roll-your-eyes-I-refuse-to-dress-up-for-this-stupid-picture teenage years, and even my newly married years. We finally agreed that when my brother or I produced offspring that could take Santa pictures in our place that we could finally stop with the sitting in Santa's lap already. So the year I was pregnant with Bubba, Honey, my brother, and I all piled in Santa's lap and tried our best to show my bulging tummy. Then the story began a new chapter.

And I make sure to take my kids to see Santa every. single. year. It's a story that I plan to continue writing for a very long time.

If you'd like to share your favorite holiday tradition or memory with us, post about it on your blog and link to it below. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment below and share your stories. Happy reading!