Advertisement
Seems like every year the Christmas cards I receive seem to follow a pattern. This year it is personalized photo cards. What a neat idea, especially if the cards also have the year on them, so you can save them, look back and remember. The newsy Christmas letters follow a close second and people are getting more and more creative as they design very professional looking letters complete with pictures and clip art. They really inspire a person to try out their talents to see if they can top it. And now, after ransacking my office I finally came up with my Christmas card addresses so I can finally work on getting my cards out.
The countdown is on and you can sure sense the panic by some people as they rush around trying to find the perfect gift. Our family is trying the experiment of just having one or two gifts under the tree this year — asking the question, what do we really need and want that we don’t have already. Monies earmarked for a ton of gifts is now being sent to a few charities. You would be surprised at the lower level of stress that is here with that decision made. We also decided to just plan a simple meal for Christmas day, and spend more time as a family and less time in the kitchen. Who knows, we may have just started a new family tradition.
I think Santa Claus was pretty darn impressed with the kids of Hixton after his visit here with his misses this year. A nice crowd of kids were waiting for him to arrive and he had lots of ideas as to what they wanted for Christmas. I had a chance to ask Mrs. Claus what her hubby’s favorite Christmas cookies were and she graciously supplied the information which follows in the recipe section of the column.
You heard it here first folks — the winners of the Santa bears this year are Hailley Sedelbauer and Adam Hentsch. Congrats to the lucky winners.
Cassidy Bunnell really knows how to celebrate a birthday party. This weekend seven of her closest friends piled into a motor home and were taken up to see “High School Musical 3” at Eau Claire. It sounded like they all had a blast and I told Shannon that next time I wanted to be invited along. Happy birthday, Cassidy.
Happy birthday wishes also go out to 8—year—old Layne Webb who celebrated his Dec. 19 birthday with a family party. Have a great birthday, Layne.
Brielle Lien was a double winner recently at the Game Show series, conducted by the Levis Riders Horse Club September through November. She received Reserve riding her horse Duster and third riding Sheza Royal Dee. Congratulations Brielle.
I also found out from proud grandma Kotty that Miss Brielle has also been named student of the month for November at Lincoln. Nice job, young lady.
It is so heartwarming to see all the area businesses and organizations that are donating to various good causes and some of Hixton area businesses included in the donating. Hixton Travel Plaza and Timber Valley Restaurant made a donation to Project Christmas and Candy’s Styling Salon contributed to Black River Memorial Hospital to be used for breast cancer awareness and education.
I join in with the rest of the people of Jackson County and beyond in offering sympathy and condolences to the family of Milt Lunda. I don’t think there are too many people in the area who haven’t been touched by the Lundas’ generosity over the years, both from the Lunda Foundation or their own personal endeavors. He lived a very long and colorful life until his passing on Dec. 11 and will be missed by so many.
I’ve Learned … just seeing that you have a Christmas card from an old and dear friend is enough to make your day — even before you open it.
Word of the Week: monophagous — eating only one kind of food. You know darn well that “ain’t” gonna happen around Christmas time.
Natural High: Budgeting twice the amount for a dearly wanted item on a Christmas list and finding it on sale for half the amount.
Thrifty Tip of the Week: Plan a cookie exchange with several friends to get a nice variety of goodies for the holidays. Decide on a number of people participating, and then each person participating makes their specialty. Decide on how many cookies to make per person, then the day of the exchange bring along tins or plates to carry home all the cookies that others have made and given you. Make signup sheets to avoid duplication and no fair donating store bought cookies either unless you dress them up a special way.
Santa’s favorite Christmas Tea Cookies
1 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar for decoration. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and flour
stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners’ sugar. Before serving, roll in the sugar a second time.
Quote of the Week: “If Christmas isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find it under the tree.”
A friend sent me this via e—mail and since it is the season I thought I would share it with you all and hope it gives you a smile.
Angels explained by children
I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold — Gregory, 5
Everybody’s got it all wrong. Angels don’t wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it. — Olive, 9
It’s not easy to become an angel. First, you die. Then you go to heaven and then there’s still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes. — Matthew, 9
Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else. — Mitchell, 7
My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science. —Henry, 8
Angels don’t eat, but they drink milk from holy cows. — Jack, 6
Angels talk all the way while they’re flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead. — Daniel, 9
When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to 10. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there’s a tornado. — Reagan, 10
Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go south for the winter. — Sara, 6
Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who’s a very good carpenter. — Jared, 8
All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn’t go for it. — Antonio, 9
My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth. — Ashley, 9
Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don’t make the animals get better, they help the child get over it. — Vicki, 8
What I don’t get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them. — Sarah, 7.
Advertisement 
