Country Christmas

 As ive mentioned before, I love holidays, and Christmas is one of the top. It was always a happy time in our family. On the farm the animals were home for the winter off the leaseland and the snow made it so we were home bound with the wood stove burning most days through the month of December. It was a time where family gathered at our home and still is a time where we throw the traditional Christmas dinner. Having a large family means there is a lot going on in the day and having a country chrismtas meant that we tried to bring the busyness of the world come to a quiet pause out at the farm in our log home. For décor I have always loved the more natural look so my mother and I gather in the fall pinecones and branches, then when Christmas nears we take the boughs from the tree we get and lay them out with candles and berries on top to add a rustic feel. We always get a real tree and some of the best memories are going out with neighbors to the forestry and having a weiner roast and sledding the hills before cutting down the perfect tree to carry out to the truck. For dinner dad always has a turkey he got specially from the hutterites weighing anywhere from 30-40 lbs and we have the entire family out for a good old fashioned meal. After dinner to break the ice a bit we usually play a family game such as Chinese gift giving or wrapped ball gift where everyone stands in a circle around the table, a large ball of suran wrapped is filled with all kinds of gifts and a couple dice are passed from person to person until someone rolls a double then that person gets to tear into the gift attempting to get as many gifts as possible until the next person rolls the double. 

Christmas on the farm makes for a simpler time and I love going outside to see the stars on the cold winter nights of December. Everything is crisp in the air and quiet over the snow covered fields. The rockies are magnificent as they are covered in white powder and look as though they will reach the sky. We love going to each of the small towns around for the light ups where the stores are open late with homemade markets and sleigh rides are happening with hot chorcolate being served by the open fires on the streets. 

We live half hour from the famous spruce meadows where they hold one of the most famous christmast markets in north America and have amazing history of horses I always think of it as the Canadian derby. Driving home in the Christmas season means seeing the fields that stretch as far as you can see with strands of the harvest stocks trying to seep through the blanket of snow now covering them. The sky is open and blue on a sunny day and white as fog when you know the snow is about to come again. I love listening to country Christmas old time songs from merle haggard to Jim reeves as we bring in the holiday season, listening to the crackling of the wood in the fire place. It is a truly magical time of year. We go to our Christmas service on Christmas Eve enjoying the worship with one another as we remember the birth of our savior, and peace fills us in this busy life even if its just for this season. I will always appreciate and strive to make my future christmas down home country Christmas times with family and friends as we step away from the things we want and focus on the things we have which is a warm home, food and family and friends around us.