Christmas in July...

My family has a long tradition of celebrating Christmas in July – you see, 4 of us are pastors. And, well, it has always been a bit tough to get time off for Christmas! We used to all bring gifts for the children. And the adults would draw a name and bring a gift for their designated person. Over the years we have enjoyed a miniature tree, a Ficus decorated with Christmas lights, a grilled turkey and battery powered snoring Santa! The first two babies in the group are parents now. The baby twins are a year from high school graduation. The Minnesota cousins… one is in college and the other is about to start. We have added family through marriage, and lost family through divorce and death. But still we gather and we do something that allows a taste of Christmas when we are together. The first place we ever stayed had the ugliest teapot I had ever seen. So ugly that we passed it from room to room, to get it out of the common area. So ugly that we may have moved it with us to the second place we ever stayed. A conch-shell teapot – complete with sea-earned barnacles. This year we decided to each bring a gift and as a number is drawn you can keep what you pick, or trade with someone. The gift I offer is a replication of the ugly teapot – found, of course on e-bay. The first gathering since my Papa died, I figured we needed to laugh. Stay tuned for a future blog revealing who received the coveted conch! The traditions change, but the need to be with family never does.