Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Dixon Christmas Party


Dixon Christmas Party- 2010
These are some of my brothers and sisters.
Linda Staker, Pat Welsh, Dick Dixon, Mary Kaye Dixon, Dave Dixon, and Kim Dixon
 
   As tradition has it,  every year my family, the Dixon's, have a huge Christmas party. Usually it is held in someones church, because we have way too many people to fit into a home. Over the years it has been played with, tweaked, down right changed, and some times openly grumbled about.  I came from a family of ten so there were always plenty of opinions about how, when and where the party would be held. One of the first changes that we made in the party was years ago when we finally quit giving gifts to each other, then there was the year that we finally talked my mother into giving up what she absolutely loved to do...give her grandchildren gifts. Mind you, she had 40 grandchildren by the time we talked some sense into her. It took her all year long and a good deal of their modest income to keep up that tradition.
   We have had years with Santa attending,  We have had some years with a talent show, for many years we all brought gifts for a sub for Santa family. A few years we tried to do an open house format, but that was fleeting, it's been in many different ward churches all along the Wasatch front, but a few things have remained  constant. We gather, we remember our roots, we know Christmas is a time for family, and a time to share with others.  This year at the Dixon Christmas party each family brought a wrapped gift. It was then auctioned off with the proceeds going to help Santa deliver Christmas to three little families in the Dixon fold who are struggling with the current economy. We try to take care of our own. I wish I could tell you more about all the wonderful things that went on this Christmas season, but I don't want to ruin the magic.
   When Mom and Dad both passed away, we thought, "well, the party really was for them, maybe we don't need it so much anymore", How wrong we were. Mom and Dad knew something we didn't . The Dixon Christmas party and all family parties everywhere, bring us that little bit of heaven, a little sneak preview of what it will be like, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, children, grandchildren. We do need the Dixon Christmas party! It's a time to rejoice and renew our belief  that Families are Forever.
    This year I didn't think I would be able to attend my families Christmas Party. WRONG ! I was there! From the dining room table in our house in Bosnia, Jim and I attended the party! How cool is that? We were seated at one end of the cultural hall and one at a time I got to visit with most of my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren and all those precious people we cherish and love. Just to hear their voices, see them and to be able to see all the people getting their food, wishing each other Merry Christmas, giving each other hugs. What better gift could I have? I love Skype, I love Jim for asking Russ to set it up in the church for me, and I love Russ for going to the effort to do it. And I love all the people who came and spent a few minutes of their evening talking to us. The only thing I missed was the boiled custard, pumpkin rolls and ham!

Boiled custard and pumkin rolls! Yummm....Anyone needs a lesson on how to make the boiled custard?
James is the go to man. Give him a call!

Good Food....good company


A big thanks to Sandy Dixon for taking the time to send me pictures! I would have posted a few more, but it was taking way to long to put each one on the blog. 
   We had a wonderful Christmas and I will try to blog again about our first Christmas in the mission field!

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