Gulf Coast Family

by Joy and Jerry Lancaster

Christmas—the favorite season of the year at our house! Although Grampy misses the white Christmases of his childhood, we have established other family traditions. When the children were younger, every couple of years, we would make the trek back to Ohio so they too could experience what their dad loved so much.

If any of you readers are in the cold north for the holidays—try this: ice lanterns. Our kids LOVED this! There must be several inches of snow on the ground though! You make several large water balloons and bury them in the snow all night long. Make a “cushion” in the snow so that the bottom of the balloon is flattened a little, and pack the snow tightly. Cover the balloons completely with snow. In the morning, they will be frozen except for the middle of the “ice ball” (hopefully). Puncture the balloon and gently chip the ice until the hole in the center is open. Pour out any water and add a small candle. These can be used as luminaries, and as the candle burns, the ice cracks, and they look pretty cool!

Even in Sunny Florida, it is important to establish family traditions. Some of ours? Inviting friends over and making a MESS in the kitchen while making Christmas cookies, then delivering the cookies to elderly friends; making a graham cracker/gingerbread house; baking a special cake and celebrating Jesus’ birthday; Grampy/Dad reading “The Night Before Christmas,” then JUST as the girls were falling asleep, they would hear sleigh bells and a LOUD “Ho, Ho, Ho” outside their window. It is fun for us to see our girls as they are continuing some of our traditions with their own families.

The Christmas I remember the most (other than the one when I got my engagement ring!) was the one when I was about 8 years old. My dad was a pastor and we adopted a family of missionaries who had just returned after living in the Amazon jungle for 4 years. There were 5 children in their family, and 5 in ours. Each of us Folsom children shopped for someone in the Taylor family. Instead of getting gifts ourselves, we chose gifts for one of their children. (We still got gifts from grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.!) I still remember the JOY of watching the other children as they opened our gifts. I think my parents were “on to something.” Christmas really is about giving and not just receiving. Of all my 59 Christmases, that is the one that stands out in my mind. May God bless each and every one of you as you celebrate the birth of His Son!