John Sheda.

Wow! Here we are beginning the month of December. What a time of excitement as we start our journey towards Christmas. The Christmas lights are starting to appear throughout the town, the volunteers are ringing the bells for Salvation Army, the snow is falling & falling & falling and it’s actually beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Have you started your shopping yet? Remember, the very best deals are on December 24th, which is when I start.

When our kids were little, one of our traditions was to pack everyone in the “station wagon” (remember those), and drive through town looking at all the homes decorated for the holiday season. And of course, Deb just had to make a competition out of it, so we had two teams of Shedas, one being everyone on the driver’s side (my side), and the rest on the passenger side, (Deb). We’d drive around and each side counted how many houses on each side had Christmas decorations up and which one was the best. Several claimed the driver purposely drove in such a way to have the most houses with decorations. Can you believe it? Sore losers.

Today we have several annual traditions we keep each year starting with our annual trip to the Amana’s for dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn and then everyone going off in every direction for (yawn) shopping. Deb & I usually hit these three places, the popcorn & bread store, The chocolate stores and the meat store. Everyone has a good time and when the money is gone, we head home….tired & broke. We’re heading there this Saturday. We have dinner reservations at 1 pm. Come, join us. It’s your turn to pay!!!

Several other annual Christmasy things we have going on is the annual Christmas Scavenger Hunt, (which we started about 5 years ago). The group divides into several teams and within the city limits, the teams look for such items as a nativity scene, inflatables, (Grinch, snowman, Santa Claus,etc) and other such outdoor items. We also have a “baking day,” (of which I’m the only guy baking), and then we divide all the goodies. I love the rice krispie and caramel treats, the frosted cookies and so many others. I love baking day.

And finally as we close in on Christmas Eve, we also have a “Gingerbread Making” contest with every team given the same decorative items to make the most original, beautiful and unique house as we all have to use the same items in any way the team seems best. We then put photos of the gingerbread houses on Facebook and the one that generates the most favorable hits is the winner. “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!”

By this time, it’s now Christmas Eve and after we attend church, we are now quite ready for Christmas to begin. Throughout the season, we all try to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” We hope you do too. Let me know some of your annual traditions at johndebsheda@gmail.com or give me a call at 319.327.4640.