Holiday traditions have officially started

Yesterday we started two of our holiday traditions. We actually completed one.

The first tradition that we started was making Jello for Thanksgiving. Now you might think I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but it is complicated Jello. First off, my family loves Jello. That is really an understatement. If any of you read any Terry Pratchett novels he often talks about how Dwarfs love gold, and finally one dwarf says, "No, we just say that to get it into bed." I kind of think my family has the same approach to Jello. If you go to my folks house on a Sunday night, and you just happen to be the first person there, you can eat the leftover Jello. If you aren't first, then you can complain that someone else ate it all. Especially if there is fruit in it, and by fruit I mean raspberries.

Holiday Jello is different. Some years ago, my mother came across an idea that involved multiple layers of Jello-y goodness. You mix half a pack, and pour it in a 9 x 13 baking dish. You let it set up. You then mix the other half, but instead of cold water, you add some evaporated milk. This makes it a nice opaque color. You then add this layer, and let it set up in the fridge. You repeat this process until the dish is full. This is typically one of the first dishes to disappear on Thanksgiving. It is my turn to make the Jello, so I'll post some picks after it is completed.

Last night we did our second Holiday tradition, letters to Santa. We've been doing this for a long time. Every year, we use the family home evening before Thanksgiving to write our letters to Santa. Everyone takes a turn reading theirs aloud, allowing Mom and Dad to take some notes, and then we "send" them to Santa. The traditional way to send them to Santa mimics the movie Marry Poppins. They are delivered up the chimney via fire. You see, Santa has a kind of symbiotic relationship with fireplaces. This is the quickest and most sure fire way to get your holiday list to the big man up North. There is a lovely picture of us posting our letters below.

Well, as we start more traditions, I'll let you know. Have a great Thanksgiving week!