Saturday Morning Coffee~Favorite Fridays

One of the Hefty Traditions, dating further back than I know, is gathering for Saturday Morning Coffee.  

Every Saturday morning, even in sub-zero temperatures, Jeff's parents, uncle and our family get together at one of our houses to chat over a few cups of coffee.  On special Saturdays we even might have other aunts and uncles join us! 

Pre-children, Saturday Morning Coffee was pretty much filled with discussing topics of importance in our lives:  work, homes, plans, politics, and headline news.  Once we had children to entertain, we incorporated some games like wii or eureka into the mix.  

The food at on Saturday mornings is always delicious.  I sometimes make scones from scratch, or there might be breads, muffins and rolls....but a really great treat is to have a yummy Kringle.  (Will they have those in Reno?  I don't think I'd even heard of a Kringle until moving to Wisconsin.)

Whatever we do, and whatever, we eat is not as important as the tradition and what it signifies.  

Saturday Morning Coffee is one of the things that makes moving to Reno a difficult decision.  Jeff and I wanted to live in one of our hometowns so we would have family nearby.  The close relationship that Evie has with both sets of her grandparents, and even her great-grandma, is evidence of that closeness in proximity.  

But there are a couple reasons that making this move is also important to us and to our growth as a family.

First, as amazing as both our families are, God is the ultimate priority in our hearts.  As much as I used to say we could never leave Madison because of the wonderful doctors, educators and our families, I realized when this opportunity presented itself that our faith must be bigger than our fears.  If we have the strong faith we say we do, then we need to show it by going where God sends us.  

Jesus asks that we take up our cross and follow him...and sometimes that means leaving the comfort that we have built around us.

Second, this will take our marriage, our family, to another level.  Jeff and I need to see what we, as parents, partners, and individuals can do for our family.  When Jeff's parents first wintered in Florida, I'll admit that we were a little scared to see how we could handle things without our built in "back up".  We would need to find a sitter for hockey Saturdays, and we'd need to figure out how to always pick Evie up from daycare on time.  That first winter, when we accomplished all of this, and when we saw that God provided all of the answers to those questions... I think we realized for the first time that we ARE good parents!  

We never knew what we were capable of because we never had to try anything different.

Saturday Morning Coffee is proof that family values still exist.  It's about coming together at a given time each week to catch each other up, and build each other up.  We are sure to FaceTime in whenever we can (although the 8 o'clock CST start time will be a challenge).  And we will always look forward to it when we are home for a visit.

Favorite Fridays~Summer Frolic

No doubt about it, one of my FAVORITIST things about Mt. Horeb is the Summer Frolic.

The first weekend of June (well, not last year, but that's not important), something magical happens in Mount Horeb.  First you see the banner go up over Main Street to serve as a reminder that the time has come~then up goes the banner that hangs on the Military Ridge Trail Bridge that passes over Springdale.  You start to hear names of bands that will be performing, and maybe you’re even start saving up some cash so you can play a card of BINGO or two.

It’s Summer Frolic.  The most wonderful time of the year…

Frolic takes place at Grundahl Park, and really, all over town.  There are parties at houses, games of croquet, parades, sales up town, and softball games in the ball diamonds.  I would ALWAYS overindulge on brats …but never so badly as the summer I was pregnant.  I think I actually went to the fairgrounds one morning to get one of the first brats served that day. 

  

Jeff and I got in the habit of throwing a Pre-Frolic party…usually as a good reason to bring our Hockey Section friends to Mount Horeb during a “warmer” month than we usually see during hockey season.  Even on the rainy years, we could always find a way to have fun~catching up with good friends has a way of making any weather endurable.

I’m not a huge carnival ride fan, but the Super Slide always proved a favorite for Evie, and the gal who runs the slide remembers her from year to year; which is charming considering the number of kids that poor gal must meet every day.  

Believe it or not, Frolic has even shown me some of the most encouraging sights of my life!  Last year, for example, right when we arrived at the midway, one of Evie’s dear friends from school joined us on the Ferris wheel, and after that, I was just ancillary!  Evie’s friends took her on ride after ride after ride.  They helped her on, and helped her off.  

Every ounce of me wanted to help, but every ounce of me knew I shouldn’t…she needed her friends, and her independence.

There are always GREAT bands to play in the music tent; every year~cover bands who would sing all of our favorites from the Beatles, to Poison, to Journey. 

There’s just something about dancing under the stars with a cool June wind blowing off the cornfields from the west while singing Sweet Child of Mine.  Nice.

Then there’s the Frolic Parade; the arduously long parade; the parade with every fire truck from every the city in Wisconsin.  Well, maybe not that many, but it feels pretty close!  Our house is a prime location for seating as we are just one house off of Main Street; however many times we’d sit by Jeff’s parent’s house with them as they lived closer to the Frolic grounds; and as Evie got older, we started sitting by her buddy Jack’s house too.  In other words, we’ve seen the Frolic Parade from all angles and at all points in time.  

And then it's over...we may decide to straggle on down to the fairgrounds for one last game of BINGO, or a spin on the Carousel, but Sunday marks the end of Frolic.  The carnies pack up their portable rides, the striped tents come down, and the whir of the generators that power it all quiets and finally fades into the humming of hungry flies and curious crickets.  Soon the excitement will rebuild just down the highway in Verona at Hometown Days~but for the time being, Mt. Horeb rests in the post~Frolic peacefulness of knowing that summer is well on it's way. 

I'm not sure if we'll make it to Frolic this year or not; but if last year was our last year, then it was certainly the best year...

 

My Favorite Christmas Traditions~Forgetting, Remembering and Celebrating

Wow, Christmas is only a week away.  I still have to mail a gift to England, and I'm just now printing my envelopes for our Christmas cards.  Aside from running one step behind at all times, here are a few more of my Christmas Traditions:

• Forgetting to use the Advent Calendar or Countdown Calendar:  Our beautiful countdown calendar is always forgotten, but still looks adorable.  Right now it's telling me there are 12 days until Christmas...WRONG!

Four Generations 2011

• Forgetting to wish my aunt a Happy Birthday:  Her birthday is December 2nd.  I get behind on turning my calendars after Thanksgiving and will typically get her birthday card to her mid to late December.  Thankfully, she loves me anyway. 

• Watching A Christmas Story:  Jeff and I like to pick a line each year and then try to turn to TBS to watch AT LEAST that part of the movie as many times as we can during their 24 hour marathon.  However, this is our first year without cable.  I guess we'll put the DVD on repeat.  Our favorite lines of the past are: 

• Flick, Flick who?
• But the bell rang!
• Bumpasses!
• Frag-eel-ay!  It must be Italian!
• Hey, smart ass. I asked my old man about sticking your tongue to a flagpole in the winter, and he says that it'll freeze right to the pole, just like I told ya.
• Naddafinga!
• Honors and benefits already at the age of nine!

• Baking Cookies:  They have to be exactly like my mom made them, a substitution will not suffice; Russian Tea Cakes, Ginger Snaps, and Swedish Sugar Cookies

• My favorite CDs:  Statler Brothers Christmas Card, Kenny and Dolly Once Upon a Christmas, Bing Crosby A Crosby Christmas.  There have been no CDs in recent history that can create such a feeling of Christmas inside me.





A White Elephant Gift

• Hockey Christmas Party:  A recent addition to our traditions...this is the night that our friends who have Badger Hockey season tickets in our section all get together before the game, have a white elephant gift exchange, and indulge in delicious snacks and drinks.  One of my favorite Christmas traditions for sure.

Of course I can't forget the endless get-togethers with all sides of our families.  I love Christmas.  It's magical. 

Evie had cancer during Christmas in 2005.  However, we knew that God is bigger than financial problems, bigger than depression, and bigger than cancer.  He has ruled over death and asks nothing from us other than our acceptance of his love and forgiveness, and our desire to praise him.  How much more magical can you get?  Nothing can separate us from God's love.

A favorite line of mine from the Statler Brothers' Christmas Card album is from the song Who Do you Think?  "They all knew men went to heaven, but now God had come to earth..."  I still get chills at that part of the song.


What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?  Has there been a Christmas when you or a loved one were suffering?  How did you overcome that?