Home for the Holidays

"Home is where your heart is" You ever hear that saying? That quote is hard for me to answer. My heart is spread across the world. If someone asks where's home? I automatically answer "Zambia" but many times I have heard Home is where your Momma is. Well my momma is in Texas, Keith's mom is in Puerto Rico and Christmas with our moms and dads, are always a blast. But those holidays where we can't go see our mommas, hurt. The holidays that we are alone, away from "home" is really hard to do. Many times I find my attitude is like a roller coaster. I'm excited for the holidays, but I hate being by ourselves. It's a daily challenge to be excited about the holidays. But one thing my Mom told me once was "If you don't have family around for holidays, you can either let that drag you down, or you can create your own family with friends that need a home to go to."  She was right! She knew exactly what she was talking about. 27 years on the mission field without family around, she knew that feeling EVERY SINGLE HOLIDAY!! Of course, as a kid, I didn't know that because like I said before, Home is where your momma is.  I could easily get discouraged but I am daily reminded, I am now the momma. Do my kids like going to Oma's house for Christmas.... of Course, but they take their cues from their mom... ME! This year, that fact really hit me and I was determined to make it through the holidays, joyfully and with the Christmas Spirit. I had many moments that I just wanted to throw myself a pity party, then some small voice would ask me, "Mom, what fun thing are we going to do today?" Do I always want to be cheery and coming up with fun ideas for my kids to enjoy? No! Do I always love creating new traditions? NO! But I will because one day, I hope my kids will think Home is where my Momma is! I always want my house to be "the" home my kids want to go to. I want the traditions we make now to be the fun memories we pass down to grandkids, like some of the traditions my momma passed down to me.  So, I will not say I was cheery this whole season, but I feel I was more aware of those hurt feelings that would sneak in and I would try and jump out of the path of that pitiful train!

Christmas is special to me, If you know me, I decorate in October! This year Christmas was so much fun and it went by really fast for me, even with starting early. But I try to pack in as much Joy and fun and family time in as I can, which is probably the reason I am now thoroughly exhausted at the beginning of the New Year! But here are some of our Christmas activities  that we packed into this month.

We helped Keith get their office Christmas tree and then we helped decorate it! Then Later on in the month we had a wonderful Christmas party with the staff! I can not tell you how I love the staff at Moosehorn. They joke around and really have a good time together like a family.  When we had a gift exchange, these sweet people had my kids in mind for presents. There was a remote control card that Isaiah found and has played with daily, and Kaden found the bag Nerf balls and other toys. It made my heart cry that these men wanted to see the joy on my kids faces of finding those fun toys! We are blessed to be part of a great office crew and get to work with these wonderful people!

 Found the perfect tree!

 Decorated and lovely

 At the party The boys were full of excitement!

We later went to get our own real Christmas tree at Mingo's Tree farm. This was our first time to go to a tree farm but it was so nice to spend a afternoon out with my boys! We looked them all over (ok not ALL of them) and found a pretty one! It was a warmer day to be out in the snow and Mingo's had a lot of fun things for the kids to do.

 Found it!

 Writing a letter to Santa.... 

There was A LOT on his list and we were there a LONG time waiting for him to write it all down!

 My boys! These 4 make my heart skip a beat!

 As a family we love to be a part of the community as much as we can! We have learned in all the places that we have lived that the more you join with the community the more a place becomes your home. So any opportunity that we can join, we do!  Grand Lake Stream have a wreath making event every year. Last year we were busy the night they did it, but this year we were excited to join them. I have never made wreaths before moving to Maine and it was fun to participate. They ran out of Balsam Fur so I used the left over Pine. I think we all did a great job and had a fabulous time!

 Luke was coloring and making cookies while we made wreaths. This smile is Christmas Joy!

 Our family and our wreaths

 Every year I try to host a cookie exchange and this year was a Tacky T-Shirt Theme party.  I love these dear friends that make me laugh, don't mind my crazy ideas and I love meeting new friends. There was lots of laughs, lots of wonderful sweets and lots of Tacky!

 Not sure what we were saying here but it was apparently funny!

"The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear" ~ Buddy the Elf
One thing I love doing every year is Christmas Caroling. And I love that our church does this to spread cheer to some of those in our community that can not make it to church. We went to a few of the local assisted living homes and the hospital. I love spreading cheer!

We may not have family close but we have met friends that are close like family. Every 2 months the same group of friends get together for dinner.We rotate homes and each host gets to pick a different theme. ( Examples: Indian food, Finger food and PJs, Pirates...)December was my turn to host and These dear friends didn't even blink an eye when I came up A Victorian Christmas! And it turned out beautiful! I turned my living room into a Victorian Christmas, with china and silver and crystal included. Everyone got on board with the Victorian themed food, and everyone blew me away with their enthusiasm in dressing up for this party! Top hats, vest, coats, petticoats, bustles, hairdos, it all was fantastic! I didn't get to go home to Momma's house for Christmas but these sweet friends made my home, Christmas!

 I made Pineapple, Apple, Orange centerpieces that I saw in Colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia. 

With home made napkin rings, silver plates, china... I felt like I was taken back in time!

 It's a good thing Rebekah is from the south, because like any good southern woman, she had the whole china set, kit and caboodle.... ( I don't really know what a caboodle is but I'm sure she has one!)

 The Ladies

 The Gentlemen

 The group of adults.... the children were watching Muppet's Christmas Carol

 Sitting for dinner

 We even had delicious Figgy pudding!

 We had a few Christmas parties and one with a lot of laughs and fun was the Princeton Rod and Gun Club. It was a small gathering but we had a blast! Having fun and laughs was my goal this Christmas! I think we succeed in that! At the party there was a corner set up with a photo booth and we took FULL advantage of it! hahahaha

Ramos Family 2018

 Stealing a kiss under the mistletoe! 13 years ago we did the same at our wedding! =)

 Cool Dude!

One thing I tried to do was lots of family time together. I think we did quite well with that this year! As our last trip of the year, we spent the day in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada. It was a warm day and we enjoyed walking the decorated Kings park and getting some delicious food and enjoying the beautifully decorated Farmers Market. It was a wonderful day together!

 So many things to taste and see!

  We had a beautiful Candle Light service at church this year that always makes me think and refocus on what Christmas is all about. Jesus! It's all about Jesus! Thank you Matt for a beautiful service that reminds me of that holy night, the traditions behind so many things in our Christmas. There is nothing quite like a quiet, dark, candle lit church while every one sings Silent night. It is a favorite!

Christmas Eve we decided to Sleep under the Christmas tree. It was a tradition that my brother and I used to do in Zambia.... Not really because we wanted to, but mostly because that was the only space available to sleep, due to the great number of people at our house. (which we loved!) But it kind of became a "THING" we did.  Glowing lights, fresh tree smells. My mom probably heard us grumble a lot about it but It was something that I eventually looked forward to and I loved to do! I haven't ever done it with my kids, not really sure why not, probably because I am usually rushing around wrapping presents, madly before morning. But this year i was on top of things and everything was wrapped and ready before. After Church, we came home for a Delicious dinner of  pineapple/Maple glazed Ham, rice and beans and we watched a Christmas movie while eating. We read the Christmas Story, put all the kids to bed and Keith said he was tired and was going to bed early. That was when the idea came to me. So after moving bedding around we all ended up on the floor and couches...... A MIDNIGHT! Good thing nothing big was planned Christmas day! It was as interesting night as some kids were to excited to sleep and some woke EXTREMELY early. But it was fun, in my opinion! The boys may never want to do it again but OH WELL! We will see next year!

Christmas Day, Presents were opened and fun was had. It was a relaxing day of Pj's and food. We had friends, over for dinner. They were far from home too and it was as joy to have friends to hang out with. Plus they had lived in Texas before and totally appreciated the enchiladas and tamales for Christmas tradition! I didn't get any pictures of us but trust me, it was fun!

This year I learned more of the fact of "Home is where you make it", the friends you share with, the community that you join, the joy you share to those around you. A sweet elderly lady told me I was a breath of Fresh air. I pray that I become a breath of fresh air where ever I go, to who ever I meet! I know I will fail many times but that is my challenge. I pray I keep at it! I hope and pray your Christmas was full of love, laughs and lots of fun! I didn't send out Christmas cards this year for various reasons but I hope you know we love you all! Come see us in the New year! We love having visitors! Maine is Beautiful and we love living here! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Ramos Tribe!