Gracious Rain

Loving the holidays like we do, it’s always been hard to buckle down and put the Christmas stuff away. We just never felt quite ready to let it go. Then, a few years back, a good friend began this wonderful tradition of throwing a party that she called Twelfth Night. I had no idea what it was suppose to mean, but hey…I’m not so complicated that I over-think the purpose of a party. As an added benefit, this turned out to be a great incentive to let the decorations slip back into the tubs without the usual resistance because we still had a great event to look forward to…until…

…this friend moved away…far away.

Oh, we still hear from her now and then, which is wonderful. Even so, it left the “party junkies” at a negative – 1 in the celebration department.

Not acceptable.

So, with no other choice but to do the event ourselves, we felt that perhaps a tad more research was in order.

Turns out that Twelfth Night, also called Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, is a festival marking the biblical arrival of the Magi to worship baby Jesus. Typically recognized on either the 5th or 6th of January, many people celebrate by drinking, feasting, gift giving and general “merrymaking.” I really like the word merrymaking.

That, I get.

So, since people all over the world celebrate this day in dozens of ways, there seems to be a bit of latitude here. I like that too.

Our approach is to use the evening of January 6th to:

1- Celebrate the closing of the holiday season. That is suppose to mean putting away all the Christmas stuff and setting up January decorations. We’re working on it.

2- Make and share *character goals–You know, the kind that help you be a better person, like–being more positive, or being less judgmental of others—that sort of thing.

3- Open Party Crackers–which you can buy at party stores or online, but that are also incredibly fun and easy to make. I’ll show you how in the post below. They are full of candy, games, toys and always…always a tissue paper crown. Very important element. We made our own.

4- Drink a gallon of  Wassail. No explanation needed.

5- Eat “King’s Cake.” Traditionally, this was more of a sweet bread with filling, but of course, it can actually be whatever you want it to be. More in the post below. Ours is a Glazed Holiday Eggnog Cake from Lehi Roller Mills.

6- Play games until it’s time to put somebody to bed—usually…me.

After all this, believe me–we are ready to take on the New Year, and the world…

or sleep for a week…

:]

*New Year’s Goal #2   “Character”

I will take my own advice and “be nice or be quiet” while mingling with the other drivers on the road. No matter how amazingly everyone else drives, I will keep my mouth shut and not say, “The nuts are loose!” Not even once.