After the birthday trip to Disney and recovering from a terrible
flu it was time to plan for the holidays 8 hours away from our family. When we upgraded the fifth wheel we had two
options, save the money for a trip to Alabama for the holidays or enjoy a trip
to Disney for the day. We chose Disney and to stay at our ‘home’ for the
holidays.
I was initially
worried that it wouldn’t be the same without the family around at such a
special time of the year, but once again I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, we
did miss seeing everyone that we cherish and hold dear to our hearts, the ones
that know us best and we call family.
Then again we were working on our family and spending a stress free
holiday season at home and starting our own traditions to pass on to our lil
one.
The adopted
grandparents and neighbors we had grown to know at Pecan Park RV Park made it
feel just as if we were at home. The
Park hosted a pot luck dinner and one of the neighbors cooked a wonderful ham,
she worked her tail off on her part of the dinner. All I had to do was make
some of my famous sausage balls, but I couldn’t only cook those. I had to have
our own special Thanksgiving dinner for us at home, like I’ve done for all the
years since we moved away from our families.
After the sausage
balls were done and our turkey in the oven, it was time to get up to the
clubhouse and enjoy this blessed day to be with people we knew and some we hadn’t
met yet. Everyone made it feel just like being at home, as most of them were
away from their loved ones too. We walked in and had everything you would have
at your grandmother’s house on the table, it was a glorious sight to see all the
vittles to choose from and I didn’t even have to cook a ton myself. We filled
the lil one’s plate and ours with great tasting food made from recipes from all
over the nation.
When the potluck was over, I
had to get home and get my pies and dressing in the oven as my turkey cooked in
only 4hrs, never have I had one cook that quick, loving the smaller propane
stove now. We were stuffed to the gills
while I prepared all of our favorites to eat for dinner and enjoy all the
leftovers for the following week. It was just almost like we were in Bama for
Thanksgiving, just almost.
It was time to put up
the smallest Christmas tree I’d ever had up, but with the smaller living space
I had no choice but to use the 3 foot tree.
The lil one chose to decorate the tree, not with the seashells we had
collected for a beach themed tree, but with the red and green schlotzky looking
ornaments I had hung onto just for this reason. We had to set the tree on a box
to keep the dog from knocking off ornaments every single time he walked by, to
make it more festive the lil one and I wrapped it in extra Christmas paper.
Before long we were shopping
for gifts, with the size and weight always a concern for us; we chose the gifts
extra careful. The lil one wanted nothing but musical instruments, the main one
being a guitar and microphone. At Toys R Us they had just what we needed and a
few other small gifts that the lil one had eyed the week before. We chose the ones
that we actually thought would be played with for longer than a week or two,
being that has been the going theme; convince mom and dad to buy a toy and it
get discarded rather quickly considering what was spent on it.
The presents were
wrapped, early of course, to give the lil one something to look at every day
with anticipation. Being the mom that I am I just had to have some fun with
some of them; a set of pajamas I rolled up and stuffed into a roll of toilet
paper and wrapped the roll, others we placed into cereal boxes and some I just
mislabeled the name on it. For weeks we told the lil one that all anyone was
getting was things that we actually needed, food and essentials like toilet
paper. When the lil one started shaking and squeezing the presents the toilet
paper was guessed right off, I couldn’t wait until Christmas morning to see the
looks on the lil one’s face as they were unwrapped.
The big day came all
too soon as it does every year. The lil one awoke and started unwrapping the
prized presents. When a cereal box that held the Rapunzel wig was unwrapped,
the response was “At least it is my favorite cereal!” and never once did the
lil one think to open the cereal box, we let this one ride for a few. Next was
the toilet paper, the look on the lil one’s face was priceless when the actual
roll of toilet paper was uncovered, it didn’t take long before the pj’s were
discovered inside though. We got to the last and biggest one of all, the guitar
that was labeled as dear ol’ mom’s present, the lil one couldn’t understand why
the guitar wasn’t under the tree, and it was the main one wanted. After a bit
of confusion and trickery by her mean parents the lil one figured out that it
was a guitar and was mislabeled all along. What a joyful face we saw at that
moment!!
It wasn’t long before
the lil one had to run out and show all the neighbors what the presents held.
We had a concert to attend later in the day put on by none other than our lil
budding musician. Over all it ended up being a very pleasant Christmas morning
in the fifth wheel, having the two slides in the living area really helped with
the extra space needed to pull this off. I think I’ve gotten spoiled to all the
room and have decided that the next one will have to have the two slides and a
few extra feet in length to add a bunk room for the lil one.
I knew it was time to
start cooking as soon as the wrapping paper was cleaned up; we had our own
traditions to start after all. I have
learned how to make a magnificent meal in such a small space, aggravating at
times but the outcome is almost always worth it. We have started a tradition of
adding an ornament to the tree of where ever we may be during the holiday seasons;
one of the dear neighbors actually started it for us with their gift of a
Disney ornament to the lil one. I can’t wait to see where we will be come this
time next year, but I know as long as I have my little happy family surrounding
me it will be a wonderfully blessed and busy holiday season.
I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H
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