Can you believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we’re in the full swing of the holiday season?

I remember one year at Christmas time, my Mom had re-married and something that she wanted us to do as a family (to help build a bond between my new step-dad and myself) was to decorate the yard together. If you didn’t know my Mom you don’t fully understand the depth of what ‘decorate the yard’ means, so I’ll elaborate a little.

My Mom was an artist and craftswoman and so she had me draw out my favorite images from a Christmas coloring book that we’d picked up at the store for ideas. I drew out the outlines of a group of Dicken’s looking Christmas carolers, Santa standing beside a chimney, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman, all life size illustrations on huge boards of plywood. After I’d finished drawing the pictures she and my step-dad cut them out with a saw and then we brought these enormous wooden cut-outs into the family room where we all painted them together.

For an entire week after school we’d spend all of the day light hours outside hanging strings of lights all over the house, wrapping the tree trunks with lights, and basically attaching strands of lights to anything that didn’t move. Our cut-outs were positioned throughout the yard and we had big flood lights that shone on each one so that they were illuminated during the darkness. It was a glorious sight to behold.

On nights that I didn’t have obligations with my school activities I’d take my karaoke machine outside and sing holiday songs as the passerbys slowed down to look at our family’s creation. It was such a great thing to do, all of us together. I still remember the fun of the whole process.

As we start to dive into all of the things that we do this time of year I wonder if you have any stand out memories from holidays past that you could share with your family and friends. It’s these special times that stay with us, more than the presents and parties. What are your favorite Holiday memories?