Weekly Update: 12.28.25
It was a full week of holiday fun on our homestead. The bunkhouse has been transformed into a veritable north pole outpost, with bits of festivity in almost every corner.
We enjoyed days of baking and candy making. Then, we indulged in days of feasting.
We enjoyed Christmas Eve Mass, followed by a parish cookie social.
After mass, we decorated our Christmas tree. We had harvested a little cedar from our property earlier in the day. It turned out so cute — and it feels so special coming from our homestead. I can’t imagine using a store-bought tree ever again.
The first day of Christmas dawned especially magical, as “Santa” had made a surprise appearance in the night. He had already brought Christmas pajamas for the kids on Saint Nicholas’ Day, so imagine my surprise when I woke up to see he had brought something for everyone in the house. I’m rarely surprised on Christmas, but that extra stack of presents quite took me aback. Santa hasn’t brought me anything in quite a number of years. It was a small mystery that brought back a bit of the childhood magic.
“Santa” knows me well, surprising me with a much-needed new thermos mug and a tea sampler. I put both to good use right away.
We are a family who love showering one another with gifts, so we all feel very blessed in the giving and the receiving. I’ve been especially enjoying the new coffee pot my folks purchased for the bunkhouse. We’ve been boiling water and using French presses — and this is SO much easier. It’s a Bunn for-home model with a hot water reservoir, which really helps with so large a family.
After weeks of waiting, we finally sampled the Christmas Pudding (Figgy Pudding) we made on Stir-Up Sunday. We served it in the traditional way — dousing it with flaming rum. We topped each slice with hard sauce (rum butter), and I have to say — I am a fan. It was so good — I’m already looking forward to making another next year.
It was a blessed first three days of Christmas. In our family, we try to keep the whole 12 days. As soon as the Christmas morning presents were cleared away, the tree was repopulated with gifts from my folks. More than a decade ago, my mom started the tradition of giving a family gift each of the 12 days of Christmas. There are nine more days to go — and I’m looking forward to them.
