Let the Holidays begin . . .



As we finished the month of October with many fascinating Halloween characters, took down the ghosts hanging in our yard, we hung the Thanksgiving flag from the veranda and the wreath on the door and filled the cornucopia with small ears of colored corn and lots of funny-shaped gourds grown in our yard.

On the first of the month, my son & daughter went to see the reenactment of the First Thanksgiving at the Berkeley Plantation on the James River on Route 5 in Charles City County, VA.
In 1619, English settlers observed the first official Thanksgiving in America with Native Americans. Read more about it at: http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/first-thanksgiving.html

The next Sunday was Veteran’s Day, a solemn occasion of reverence, respect and regard for all those who served our country. My husband and son went to the Veteran’s Day Ceremony held at the Victory Arch in Newport News, Virginia. Songs, Anthems, speakers and tributes were performed, with the resounding cry from the lone trumpeter playing Taps. This is a good time to honor your family veteran by placing a remembrance to them in your Family Museum.

And if this isn’t enough, next weekend starts the holiday season off with a staggering display of holiday cheer and delight at Busch Gardens Christmas Towne. My son is a train conductor on the steam-powered locomotives taking park guest on a Railway train ride around the park. https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/events/christmas-town/

Then on Thanksgiving Day, not only is it a national holiday, it is also a special day for us for it will be our 49^th Wedding Anniversary. I guess we will be having turkey for dinner and of course, champagne to celebrate the occasion.

Once Thanksgiving is over, out comes the Christmas decorations. As this holiday season is longer, we take our time opening a plethora of boxes filled with Christmas lights, garlands, ornaments, and wreaths, decorating and truly enjoy the bright color lights and festive colors throughout the house.

 So let the festivities commence and save these memories in our Family Museum.                                                           Happy Holidays
 

I want to take this moment to write a few words about the devastating fires in California. In my previous post of Oct. 21: Lost Memories can be replaced,” I wrote how lives can by rebuilt by finding replacements for their lost heirlooms, giving them a sense of place and history again. Now more than ever it is important to consider creating a Family Museum to protect and proudly display ones' heritage. God Bless and carry on . . .

Where did all the time go . . .

It seems like just yesterday it was Halloween. About 110 amazing costumed ghosts & goblins, movie stars, princesses, warriors, even politicians came to our house. The next morning, we took down the decorations, left pumpkins & bale of hay for 

Thanksgiving. Then for the next eight days, we finished packing for our family holiday to Florida, leaving after Election Day. We wanted to be home to watch Mr. Trump win! The next morning, with a new spring to our step, bags loaded into the car, off the four of us went to FL, making our first stop in Macon, GA to see the

Hay House, a pre-civil war mansion restored & opened to the public. This house is truly a Family Museum, showcasing and displaying the family’s history through the years. Magnificent!
Next day we arrived in FL, staying in a condo on Treasure Island Beach on the Gulf of Mexico.
We stayed for a week having fun on the beach & enjoying the sunsets. My dear friend Donna came for a few days and had a
great time walking on the beach
and taking in the warm sunshine having left a frigid Chicago. Sadly, she had to return, so we took her to the airport, said our goodbyes, then off we went on our holiday for another week, visiting St. Augustine, Charleston, NC,

Cape Hatteras, traveling by ferry to the Outer Banks, spending our last night in Kitty Hawk where we celebrated our 47^th Wedding Anniversary. WOW! 

Arrived back home, the day before Thanksgiving. I was glad I bought the turkey before we went, so we had our Thanksgiving Holiday. The next day, out came the Christmas decorations, for we were hosting a Christmas Party with a sit-down dinner for 19 guests. So after putting up the decorations, setting up for the party, cleaning up after the party, in between trying to do some Christmas shopping, I was upset that I had not posted on my Family Museum Blog. But somehow I felt assured that there were many others who were just as busy if not more with jobs, school, family members, travel obligations, etc., allowing little time to read the blogs they enjoy.

So here are a few words to everyone who shares these dilemmas: hang in there! Christmas and all the special Holidays are almost here,
so please take the time to enjoy them, delight in them, and make lots of memories that need to go into your Family Museum, so you and your loved ones can remember and shared them for years to come.


  Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!
Epiphany!  Boxing Day,   Kwanzaa,
Omisoka & Yule!

and all the other multicultural holiday celebrations.
Then after the gifts have been opened, the feasts consumed, the decorations put away for another year, and all the pictures and videos organized, please remember to display as much as you can, because these memories are your visible genealogy, which I will explain further in the New Year.
So from my family to yours, Merry Christmas!