The Many Days and Many Ways of Christmas 2024

Let's start at the very beginning - making Ushki noodles for our Christmas Eve cream of mushroom soup. We made them at Sandy's this year, Jamie, Zoe, Sandy and I.  Anders and Kuba came for a little bit of it.  They look like little crowns or ears.  They are stuffed with mushrooms and are delicious.  

Next, we shuffled off to Buffalo and rented an Airbnb with Sandy, Jamie, Aj, and Zoe. Luckily, no snowstorm so the driving conditions were fine.  Our place was right near Paul's house in Lakeview, literally about four minutes away from him.  Our house had four bedrooms, a gas fireplace,  and it really was perfect for us.  We did not have a Christmas tree, so we went out and cut some greens.  We put them into a vase, added lights, popcorn, and candy canes, and whala, Christmas magic! This is the first time we've all been together as a family in years and the first time we've gathered without mom and dad.

 

We had lots of fun at the Airbnb, playing cards and games, and even doing little holiday crafts.

We celebrated Christmas eve at Tim's.  There were 26 of us in all!  It was a traditional meal of Mushroom soup with ushki noodles, pierogi, fried fish, and coleslaw.  

  

  

  

There were many children of the next generation!  

Anders, Kuba, and Adalyn, Zoe, Brianna, and Manny were the youngest of all.   

 

 

After dinner we had a Pavlova that Sandy made for dessert....among many other cookies and sweets! 

We had a Yankee swap between the adults and it was a mob scene of gifts and people. 

Christmas morning we woke up early to a giant pile of gifts.  
We opened gifts and then had a delicious breakfast made by Sandy, Aj, and Anna.  

Uncle Paul joined us.
 

After breakfast we played more games like pinocle, and the new Ransom Notes, and Alien game.

 

On Christmas day we went to Mark and Sharon's for a delicious dinner. Once again, there were 26 of us, yet we managed to fit in the house. We ate, and then we played games, went caroling around the neighborhood, and did the oplatek. We also did a photo shoot with all the kids, trying to recreate an image of Jess, Kaitlyn and Jamie from 20 years ago.  The whole Christmas day was pretty spectacular.  The food, the family, the merriment and goodwill. 

  

  

   

 

 

 

Oplatek - My Favorite Polish Tradition

In my Polish Catholic family our Christmas holiday is steeped in tradition. There is one part in particular that is my favorite - the sharing of the Christmas wafer called oplatek.

Oplatek is a thin wafer - sort of like a communion wafer - that is made of wheat and water.  It is a rectangular shape and is embossed with a nativity scene. This gets broken into smaller pieces and put on a platter for all to take. Oplatek is flavorless really, and if it tastes like anything at all, I’d say it tastes like a piece of cardboard.  The flavor is irrelevant though, because its power is magnificent.  

Here’s the tradition: when the first star shines in the evening sky the celebration begins.  Wafer in hand, each member of the family pairs up with someone else. The pair exchanges both words and wafer.  It is a powerful moment of connection, the intention being to share a very personal wish for the new year.  As you share your wish with the other, they break off a piece of your wafer and eat it. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like ingesting your words. The words can be wishes, appreciations, confessions, and/or vulnerable moments of intimacy that can sometimes stop time and definitely bring the two of you closer.  There is laughter and tears and the silent sound of love as it floods the room. It is magnificent.  Once you are finished you move on and find another family member to exchange with.  This continues until every family member has shared with every other family member.  I have been a part of this family tradition for over sixty years. Knowing that the next generation is also experiencing this brings me so much hope.  

The Darkest Night of the Year

For the third year in a row, we've celebrated the Winter Solstice with friends. We hiked up to Lone Tree Hill, gathered with one another and sang carols.  It was cold but fabulous this year. Warm hot cocoa and cookies ended the celebration of the darkest night of the year.

 

Photography Game

                

We've played a photography game in our family where we all take our best photos somewhere in a certain time limit and then we choose our best to share.  We then see which we think is the best photo.  We were recently in Montreal and this is what we played in the Old Town one evening.  

It was super fun to see what we could see in thirty minutes!