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1. What’s something about Christmas that most people like, but you don’t? Elaborate.
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Yearly Santa Photos. As a child I wasn’t raised with the notion that Santa was real. When we had kids we talked about Santa as a fun participant but we didn’t make them think he was real. We don’t have one photo of our kids with Santa through their growing up years. We do call the gifts in the stockings as being from Santa…again for the fun idea of it not reality.
My parents were Russian immigrants arriving in the USA shortly after WWII from Iran. Their families escaped out of Russia in the early 30’s into Persia. Russians have Dzed Moroz instead of Santa Claus.
Ded Moroz or Father Frost, the Slavic version of Santa Claus, long ago became the symbol of Russian winter, New Year’s and presents. He is usually accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka riding with an evergreen tree in a traditional Russian troika, a sleigh drawn by three horses abreast.
All that being said, we have some fun vintage Santa Christmas decor from Dear’s mother Verna.
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2. Tell us about one cherished tradition from your childhood and if you’ll make it happen this year?
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Cherished tradition from my childhood is going to my maternal babushka’s apartment for Christmas breakfast before church. We were in church every Christmas morning. Our little babushka lived in an apartment building a few doors away from our Russian Baptist church. Babushka has the yellow apron on next to our mom. Of course that can’t happen because those days are gone.
We added a cherished tradition in our home that we all count on for Christmas morning after stockings. Dear makes his Swedish Pancakes for all of us to enjoy with little smokies on the side. We’ve had to change this up as our “Coast” kids travel to us on Christmas Day so we have Swedish pancakes on Boxing day now.
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3. In 1941 FDR declared December 15th Bill of Rights Day. Citizens were encouraged to fly the flag and gather for prayers and other ceremonies as appropriate. Did you know this?
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I didn’t know this.
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Will you fly a flag?
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No we aren’t flying a flag today. Our flag pole is put away for this snowy season we are in.
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Can you name all the rights and protections guaranteed in the first ten amendments of the US Constitution?
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No I cannot.
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Of the ten, which two do you value most? If you need a list you’ll find one here.
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The first and second amendments are the two I value most. In the first amendment I value freedom of religion which we are putting to the test during these times. The right to bear arms is important to us.
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4. Do you know someone named Bill?
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We had a cousin Bill on our Pop’s side of the family.
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Tell us something about him?
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Our cousin Bill was a troubled young man and died young from injuries in a bar fight. If any of my siblings read this and remember something different correct me.
Is there a famous ‘Bill’ you’d like to meet?
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I’ll meet him in heaven but it would have been nice to have a fireside chat with Billy Graham. He played a role in the salvation of our Pop.
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5. A step in the right direction, on the right track, bragging rights, be in the right place at the right time, get off on the right foot, right as rain, right side up, give your right arm for, have one’s heart in the right place…choose a ‘right’ that applies to your life in some way in recent days and tell us how it’s so.
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I’m going to say a step in the right direction. At the beginning of 2020 Intermittent Fasting became a new eating lifestyle and I’m happy to say that it works for me. I’ve dropped some pounds and my face is not as puffy as it used to be. It’s something that I can do forever and even when I can’t adhere to the plan during a period of time it’s easy to jump right back in.
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
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We had a few inches of snow fall on Tuesday. Time will tell if we are in for a white Christmas.
Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions each week.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Merry Christmas!
We didn’t talk much about Santa either when the kids were younger. My youngest called him “the Christmas man” because he didn’t remember his name! 🤣 But they heard the story from Christmas shows and eventually we started playing along.
Sandi, smiling here about that Christmas man! 🙂
Hello, Ellen
Cute decorations, your snowy yard looks beautiful.. Take care, have a happy day!
…I love your snowy scene, the forecast doesn’t look good for a white Christmas here.
It’s snowing here now, but then it is supposed to melt by the end of the week. Hmmm, I’ll have to check if we are going to have a white Christmas.
Your decorations are always lovely! Love those stockings hung by the the fireplace.
Wow, I loved reading about your family’s history! When I hear babushka I think of one of my favorite children’s books author, Patricia Palocco. She often wrote about her babushka in her books. I was raised with Santa but my husband and I decided we wouldn’t do it with our children. We treat Santa like a storybook character but never pretended he was real. We focused more on it being Jesus’ birthday. Also I didn’t want my children to felt lied to when they found out Santa is make believe. Just my feelings on it 🙂
We had some of those same feelings, Theresa. I’m pretty sure I’ve read that book and I might even have it on a bookshelf in the playroom. I’ll have to go check.
Oh yes, it would have been nice to meet Billy Graham, but I’m looking forward to meeting him some day in heaven. I enjoyed reading about the Russian tradition. That last snowing picture is beautiful.
I enjoy reading about your heritage, Ellen. It’s quite remarkable. It sure looks like Christmas around you with that lovely snow. We missed the window for snow today and ended up getting a lot of rain mixed with sleet.
Always so interesting to read about your Russian heritage and your answers to the hodgepodge questions. Your Swedish pancake tradition sounds like a great one too! I should learn more about your fasting regime – it sounds like a good one! The snow looks beautiful – we’re in for some again later this week I think.
I like Father Frost all in blue. Love all the plaid stockings hanging in a row.
It’s interesting to read about the different Christmas traditions around the world. I didn’t think of Billy Graham but we’ll meet him one day. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Very interesting read, thanks Ellen 🙂 Loved all the photos!