As the holidays have quickly rolled around, like every year I reminisce on what holidays were like for my family and me both when my dad was living and after his death. Even though I miss him, I know he is proud of my family and the new family Michael and I have created.
My favorite part of the season is spending time with family and listening to Christmas music. I usually start playing it around about mid-November and I’m so excited that the oldest two kids are starting to adopt my holiday spirit. They love helping me decorate the house, the Christmas tree and especially making gingerbread houses. However, I think they look forward to Christmas presents the most, and this year, they have already started hinting at gift ideas!
Due to the football season, the holidays can be challenging since football is our focus but I still manage to ensure that things are special for my family and no matter where we are, things feel festive.
Thanksgiving is always a workday for Michael, so I prep all our favorite Thanksgiving food while he is at practice so that everything is ready by the time he gets home. My favorite dish to make AND eat is my famous macaroni and cheese. In normal times, I have more mouths to feed but this also means more hands to help. However, COVID prevented everyone from traveling and as much as I missed everyone, it was also nice to just be the five of us.
This year, I tried my best to keep our thanksgiving traditions as similar as possible, especially for the kids, but not having their Nana (my mom) present was a tradition I could not replace for them. Seeing her on FaceTime is not the same but I’m thankful that she is safe because so many people can’t say the same.
As we get closer to Christmas, I really hope we will be able to safely take our photos for Christmas cards and that we MIGHT be able to have our extended family for Christmas and the New Year.
Nonetheless, we are still looking forward to LA County’s drive-thru Winter Wonderland show and creating new memories for the kids. The pandemic has enabled us to spend more time as a small family but has limited the time we can spend with our Houston family. It has been a challenge for sure but as you can imagine, we would rather all of us safe and healthy. It is a blessing to have them and I pray that things are able to get back to some version of normal soon.
