A Holiday Tradition

It has been a long tradition in our family that we all (his, mine, and ours) get together during the Christmas holiday. For ten consecutive years it was a weekend event full of fun and laughter, culminating in a gift exchange…not an ordinary gift exchange, though. Each gift had to be handmade by the giver for a specific family member whose name was drawn the prior year. The crafters in the family loved the holiday gift exchange; it was just another opportunity to get creative. But, not all members of our family are keen on crafting and for them the annual gift exchange was a yearlong source of anxiety and dread. Often (always) they would wait until the last minute to make their gift taking time out to call me with their complaints (because it was my idea - and in a fit of honesty, I will admit that Verne and the girls could often be counted among that number). By the big event, however, everyone agreed that it was all worthwhile. Even Scott, the biggest of the procrastinators, said that our Christmas exchange party was worth the 364 days of agonizing over the "damn gift."

Gifts ranged from simple to extraordinary…one of my all-time-favorites was Lauren’s gift to Scott: she spent the summer learning to use a scroll saw, practicing by making Christmas ornaments. Once she’d mastered the use of the saw, she cut a map of the United States with the states individually cut out, placed it on a wood background, used a drill press to cut shallow holes the size of a quarter along the borders as well as on or near each state (depending on the state’s size), bought a set of the new state quarters and placed them in the respective holes, and then framed the entire piece. It was unbelievably beautiful. Mega kudos, Lauren, for the most extraordinary gift of the decade. Actually, that particular project just came to mind, but there were so many wonderful, creative projects: quilts and other fiber arts, paintings, woodworking and metal, scrapbooking, mosaics, and more. I think ultimately everyone enjoyed the opportunity to set aside the daily routine and craft. Sometimes we need a little push to leave our comfort zone and do something new.

Life brings change and our families are now spread across the country with Scott in Seattle, Jeff in Connecticut, Lauren in Portland, and the other three daughters in Southern California. Three of the kids have their own children making it difficult to travel and be away from their homes for the holidays. Our annual gift exchange came to an end a few years ago and now it’s just our memories and stories that keep it alive. However, we do still attempt to get together in December, typically in SoCal since half of the kids reside there. This year Jeff and his family were in town and Lauren flew down from Portland, so the group was almost complete.

This past Sunday evening we enjoyed our 2014 holiday dinner with the family at the Spaghetti Factory in Fullerton. We have been going to the Spaghetti Factory for thirty years now. It all started when I planned the first holiday party for McKenzie & Company. It was 1984 and I had a new business and a new baby, so I needed an affordable venue and one that was kid-friendly. Spaghetti Factory fit the bill and we’ve been going there ever since. The food and setting is familiar (they attempted to change the menu once in the last three decades and it was met with an uprising) and service is excellent. Over the years it has become the place of choice for most of our large-party celebrations (birthdays and the like). And, as a bonus, Portland (where we visit Lauren at least quarterly) is home of the first of the chain with the restaurant located south of downtown on the Willamette River and is by far the most beautiful of all we’ve seen, including the charming Spaghetti Factory in Victoria. Yes, they are even found in Canada, but beware: the food is shockingly different!

I won’t go into too much detail about our three-hour family event this past weekend, but to say it was perfect! It’s always so heartwarming to see our children as parents. Even as responsible adults, though, I can still see the child in each of them as they get silly and laugh together uncontrollably. Example: Jeff and his family and Lauren taking a selfie (one of about fifty)…

Here are a few more random pictures taken that night that will help memorialize the most recent of a Moser family tradition…