Celebrating Balmy and Snowy Christmases

Welcome to Mountain Brook Ink’s 2018 Holiday Blog Tour! We’re so excited you’ve decided to join us on this journey of family, friends, traditions, and memories over the next month. You as our reader have done so much to pour into our lives, and this season we want to give back to you with insights into our lives AND some giveaways. The more days you follow, share, comment, and engage with us, the more entries you’ll have toward a Kindle Fire Grand Prize or one of three Amazon Gift Cards!

Where to begin. Hmm. In the beginning, when I was not quite three months old, my mother bundled me up and walked through the blowing snow with a friend to celebrate Christmas in a small Methodist church in Cuba, Missouri, where I was born. I caught pneumonia and nearly died, but it was a memorable Christmas that was retold every year when we celebrated as a family. It reminds me of how God intervened through a wise pharmacist to save my life. I count that year as my first snowy Christmas.

Through the years, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing Christmas in states from Michigan to Texas and California to Florida. I’ve celebrated balmy and snowy Christmases.

Kentwood, Michigan – 2007. My husband Mike and I bought the tallest Christmas tree we’d ever owned. No snow outside yet, but we usually had a white Christmas. See the photo of me below at Meijer Botanical Gardens in Grand Rapids.

No matter where my family lived when I was a child, the real tree magically appeared and was decorated on Christmas Eve, along with the arrival of wrapped presents from Santa on Christmas morning. I never questioned why we didn’t put up the tree earlier, but as I grew out of the Santa years, I learned it was because Christmas trees were deeply discounted the night before, as were toys and other goodies. Our stockings were always Daddy’s white work socks filled with oranges, nuts, and Brach’s hard red-and-white ribbon candy.

One of my most memorable Christmases was spent in a poor neighborhood in Dallas, Texas when it was bitter cold outside. I was a nosy nine-year-old and could play possum with the best. I had begged for a bicycle for almost a year but was told a bike was too expensive.

That’s me at Meijer Botanical Gardens. Yes, it snows a LOT in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

When my parents thought I was asleep, I heard clinks and clanks in the yard. I peeked out the window and saw my dad and older brother putting together a blue girl’s bike for me as snowflakes sprinkled their bare heads and stuck to their wool coats. Momma and Daddy had made the sacrifice of attending a police auction to buy a used bike that needed some work. After that night, I never took my gifts for granted.

My husband Mike and I were married in Northern California and lived there and in Southern California off and on. His parents lived in north county San Diego, and my mother-in-law worked on crocheting or making Christmas ornaments during the whole year to give as gifts at Christmas. Christmas Eve could be mild where they lived, so during the afternoon, we usually had the doors open and sat on the patio eating all the goodies she would spend days making: cookies, fudge, peanut brittle, the best fruit cake ever, and even homemade summer sausage. We snacked most of the afternoon, then ate a huge ham dinner. Talk about stuffed!

Vista, California – Christmas abt. 2002. My mother-in-law Betty Scott holding her great-granddaughter and namesake Rebecca Scott with our son David looking on.

While all the kids were young, Mike’s dad dressed up in possibly the worst Santa costume I’ve ever seen to hand out presents. That lasted until the kids figured out Grandpa was never in the room when Santa showed up and finally guessed he was jolly St. Nick.

My favorite activity during the season was driving to the San Diego harbor to watch the Christmas parade of boats decorated with elaborate light displays. It was usually chilly enough for a sweatshirt or jacket at night so near the water, but we didn’t mind.

Now we’re living in Florida and get to spend our first Christmas here with our grandchildren, 5-year-old Matthew, and 16-year-old Rebecca, the baby in the picture above.

The first thing Matthew wanted to know after we moved into our new home was where we stored our Christmas tree. Finally, I had to show him we had one on the shelf above the washer along with Great-Grandma’s ornaments that would be used to decorate it.

From left to right: David, Rebecca, Matthew, Ari, and Emmanuel (Emma)

You know, it’s really not important whether you have a snowy Christmas or a balmy one. What’s important is family. This year the holiday will come with 70+ degree weather, green grass and palm trees, and colorful flowers. Houses will still be decorated with lights. I’m looking forward to this Christmas, the warmest we’ve ever spent, not only because we live in South Florida, but because we’ll spend it with our grandkids and the rest of the family to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

Barbara J. Scott is an inspirational author and editor with many years of publishing experience. Scott has written several novels and gift books with Thomas Nelson, Honor Books, Gilead Publishing, and now her first novel with Mountain Brook Ink, Dreams of My Heart. Barbara and her husband Mike live in the Nashville area. Visit her website at barbarajscott.com.

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Dreams of My Heart
(RELUCTANT BRIDES, #1):

Can A Reluctant Bride and Her New Husband Fall in Love Despite Their Wounded Hearts?

Plucky Irish immigrant Kate O’Brien struggles to hang on to her brother’s homestead after his death in a suspicious cattle stampede. If she’s unable to pay off the loan that paid for her ticket to America, she will be forced to marry the banker’s rogue son, Rafe Hamilton… [more]

Stop #1: October 28 – Kimberly Rose Johnson
Stop #2: October 29 – Christina Coryell
Stop #3: October 30 – Mary Davis
Stop #4: October 31 – Angela Ruth Strong
Stop #5: November 1 – Susan Page Davis
Stop #6: November 2 – Amy K. Rognlie
Stop #7: November 3 – Gayla K. Hiss
Stop #8: November 4 – Christa MacDonald
Stop #9: November 5 – Linda Hanna & Deborah Dulworth
Stop #10: November 6 – Richard Spillman
Stop #11: November 7 – Annette M. Irby
Stop #12: November 8 – Miralee Ferrell
Stop #13: November 9 – Jeanette-Marie Mirich
Stop #14: November 10 – Anna Zogg
Stop #15: November 11 – Teresa H. Morgan
Stop #16: November 12 – Kelsey Norman
Stop #17: November 13 – Barbara J. Scott
Stop #18: November 14 – Patricia Lee
Stop #19: November 15 – Linda Thompson
Stop #20: November 16 – Janalyn Voigt
Stop #21: November 17 – Cynthia Herron
Stop #22: November 18 – Trish Perry
Stop #23: November 19 – Heather L.L. Fitzgerald
Stop #24: November 20 – Sara Davison
Stop #25: November 21 – Taylor Bennett

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