Christmas at the Farm

This past weekend was my family Christmas.
I was so organized. I had my camera packed so I would be sure to get plenty of pictures for blogging.
However, my camera battery was dead! Sooo no pictures. Once again I will have to illustrate.

This year at the Fisher Christmas there were some changes. For the first time ever there were no grandchildren present. Three of the six are married. They are all out of college and have big boy/girl jobs so it is hard to get everyone together.

The last time we were all together was Thanksgiving 2008.
Since then our daughter-in-law Deb
and great grandson Beckham have joined the family.

As we drove in the yard I noticed another change. For the first time since they have lived there, Dad's Happy Holidays sign and his waving snowman were not in the yard, nor were there Christmas lights around ALL sides of the house. They had an ice storm Thanksgiving followed by the nasty blizzard that went through the mid-west. Not a good environment for two 82 year olds to be out hanging lights. It was bittersweet - the end of an era - yet I was glad Dad made the safe decision. (We do not need another broken leg!)
From here on the Fisher Christmas was pretty much as usual.

One of the big questions always is - which Christmas stockings will brother-in-law John be wearing?
Will it be his Santa ones?
His Reindeer ones?

This year he wore his Ho Ho Ho socks.



How many pounds of leftover ham will there be?
Mom had bought an 18 pound ham - for 8 of us.
She called me on Thursday to see if I thought

she should buy a turkey breast too.
No Mom, I don't think anybody will be eating

more than 2 pounds of ham apiece.
Mom always makes homemade buns for our evening ham sandwiches.
Believe it or not, we had enough leftover ham to make sandwiches.

This year she made the buns in the shape of a tree.
Next question - how many batches of cookies will Mom make?
More than I have made in my whole lifetime.
Mom always sends home a plate of cookies with everyone.


Aren't they pretty? And oh so yummy too.
Sadly, Mom did not pass her wonderful baking gene onto me.



Every year at Thanksgiving Mom makes ginger molasses turkey cookies.
Come Christmas time she makes reindeer.
We all love these cookies.
They are a very thin cookie so it is okay to eat more than one.
My niece Erin - who is a size 2- has determined
that three reindeer cookies equal one regular cookie.
So it is okay to eat a dozen or more of them.
After many years of eating reindeer cookies
we have discovered that some people eat their cookies different than others.




Our husbands all start with the head.

We three girls all start with the tail followed by the legs, saving the head for last.

Who will eat the most popcorn balls?
I usually win this one.

The very last thing we do at the Fisher Christmas is eat Mom's red velvet cake.
Yummy - just the perfect ratio of frosting to cake - half and half.

Wishing you all the best and the happiest of holidays.
Remember it's the holidays - also known in my book as the eat as much as you want and don't feel guilty holiday.

Eat, drink and be...guilt free.

From my heart,
Sandy