Episode 18

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Published on:

13th Dec 2023

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room (Part 2): Our Favorite Traditions to Solve Holiday Dilemmas

How does a mom ever sit down when she's cooking, shopping, wrapping, and decorating? What traditions are worth committing to? How do you get all of your children in the same place to celebrate when they're grown and have moved away? Does it matter that everything is just right, homemade, and picture-perfect? All of these questions Christian moms have are answered in this light-hearted, fun conversation with Betsy, Jen, Emily, and Stephanie! Listen in to hear some creative solutions!

Transcript
Stephanie:

They're the joyful agains our children shout on the swings, the

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exhausting agains of cooking and laundry,

and the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Thanks for joining us for another

episode of the again, podcast.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox.

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And this is brought to you

by entrusted ministries.

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I'm bringing you another section of.

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Are fun and helpful practical.

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At times even humbling.

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Coversation that?

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Betsy Corning.

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Emily DEO and Jen Frackman

and I had recently about our

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favorite Christmas traditions.

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In this section, we're talking

about our favorite recipes.

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Discerning which traditions

you should commit to.

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And my favorite new family

tradition that actually helps me

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relax and slow down with my kids.

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And Betsy is going to share

about her new family tradition

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called the week of a weeks.

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That might be your family's new solution.

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To avoiding all of the

scheduling conflicts.

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If you have older children

And children that are married.

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There's something for

moms of young children.

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And grown children.

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We hope this.

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brings some wisdom and fun to your day.

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Betsy: I just wanted to mention a

sweet, very simple way to have a

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devotion, and we've done a variety of

things, but this year, my husband talked

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about songs that he's been listening

to recently, worship songs, and he

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read the words of about six of them

and it was Worshipful and peaceful.

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And then, he actually teared up

because just the meaning of the words.

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And then we sang a couple of them.

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Obviously you can talk about

the meanings of the song.

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Now, a lot of people are doing that, but

if you don't even do that, just listening,

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to the words and what's really sweet.

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Jen: We do something similar

where we will put the,

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Sing along lyrics on the TV.

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So I'll search on my phone for a Christmas

song that has the sing along lyrics, and

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then we'll put it on the TV and we, sit by

the fire And the kids can read it, even if

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they don't know the lyrics to all of it.

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And we, we do the same thing.

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We talk about the lyrics and, that in

the morning, we do homeschool light most

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of December anyway, but so each of the

mornings before Christmas, we do that

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for our homeschool and the kids love it.

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In fact, they've been asking,

when do we get to do the hymn

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sing and the Christmas carols?

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And it's very sweet.

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It's a nice time.

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Emily: That's so sweet.

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Betsy: love

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it.

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Mm-Hmm.

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I love both of those ideas.

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I am such a proponent for dwelling on

the richness of the lyrics and also.

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Returning to what the saints

and the believers said over

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the years and over generations.

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We were actually watching something

right before this, I think it

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was called worship and the word.

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With a Shane and Shane

on right now, media.

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So often.

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Churches have a free subscription

to that, that they offer.

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And they were different segments that

talking about in scripture, the history

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of why Jesus came and then connecting

that to a, him with each segment.

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That was a sweet.

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Opportunity for younger children to watch.

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And Betsy re in the last few years, you've

started a new tradition with your family

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that I really want you to share because.

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I love how you don't give up on

making things really special as

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your children get older and that

you find a way to include the whole

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family and get them all together.

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Can you share what the Corning

crew does for Thanksgiving

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and Christmas celebrations?

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Betsy: I just had 20 people

at my house for 8 days.

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And Thanksgiving wasn't as hard as

all the other 3 meals a day because

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somebody in that group is always hungry.

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oh, it was really crazy, but...

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Since we've moved here and we're

sort of centrally located, we had six

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different people from six different

states coming, but we just started the

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tradition last year of having the entire

family in over the week of Thanksgiving.

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And you know, we're kind

of, on our own for Christmas.

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I mean, we'll, we'll make another plan.

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We'll go and visit, uh, somebody else

or, you know, or not, I don't know.

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But, uh, this has just turned out to

be what we call the week of all weeks.

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And, we go all out And, I will

do some shopping in advance.

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So I should warn you, We do

the Christmas and Thanksgiving

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together in that eight days.

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It's just crazy.

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And it's a wonderful, crazy.

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We love it.

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My husband has one rule that

he puts on the refrigerator.

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Grandpa's rule.

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If you open a drink, you must

finish it before you take

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another drink of something else.

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And we went through so

many, oh my goodness.

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But, I do a little bit of shopping,

maybe before Thanksgiving.

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You know, One or two of those days we're

going to go out as a group and we'll go

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out as different groups out of that 20.

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We don't go as one big mob.

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we'll break up and we'll go this

direction or we'll go this direction

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or the guys will stay home and

fish or play ball with the kids.

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And we just have so much fun because

we actually buy the presents with them.

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And.

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I just can't even explain it.

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It is, makes it so easy to get the

gifts and so helpful and you're

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getting exactly what they want.

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You're not having to return it.

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And I do take them home and wrap them.

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They don't necessarily

know that I'm buying that.

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I'll see that they like, you know,

a few things, but then, so this is

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different than the envelope years.

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That was younger years.

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Now it's crazy because we

have so many, many people.

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And, um, we really love it.

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So when they come in for that week

of Thanksgiving, I put a, um, master

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schedule up on the refrigerator.

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So they kind of know, Hey, we're going to

go to Zoolumination on this night, which.

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is unbelievable.

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we just went to it.

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It was absolutely breathtaking

in the Nashville area.

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WE just all walked around the zoo

for a couple of hours at night

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and The display was just beyond.

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It was just all this artwork done on these

sort of wire frames and then put beautiful

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colored fabrics all over them to create

just Anything you could possibly think of.

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just mean, it was just beyond.

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I looked at one little piece and thought

it would take me a whole year to make

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that and there's just thousands and

thousands oh, it's just unbelievable.

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And we did tournaments.

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So then they had sign up for tournaments.

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There were a signup sheet on the

refrigerator for about 12 different

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tournaments that if they wanted to

take part in, Did and we always play

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one gigantic game with everybody.

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We play Scattergories and we play another

trading little gift game thing that I

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come up with and we do that all together.

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But we do call it the Week of All

Weeks because it's absolutely the best.

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And, we're just going to

make that an annual thing.

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it's just turned out to be the answer.

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And you know, when you, when things

are difficult and you're like,

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how are we going to solve this?

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And this just seems to

be the solution for us.

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For a while we had, you know, our married

kids would spend a part of the day

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with us and then they'd go and they'd

spend it with their other relatives.

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Well, Now they can spend Thanksgiving

with us and Christmas with them.

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And we're not, they're not torn

apart in the middle of the day

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or to two Thanksgiving dinners.

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And it just solved a lot of things for us.

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And I think it's going to be

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going on for a long time.

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Emily: love this, Betsy.

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I was writing everything down that you

said because I want to, remember this.

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How did you arrive at this

decision as your children were

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older and they had families and

everybody was just kind of torn?

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was this your solution to fix that?

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Betsy: That's a good question.

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I, lived in Chicago for a long time and

all of our kids lived in the Chicago area

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with us, with all within a half an hour.

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Then my daughter moved to Wisconsin.

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One of my sons moved to Texas and

the other one moved to Tennessee.

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And then we had some of the kids

go to college out in Virginia.

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And, uh, my daughter in

law's parents lived in.

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Ohio, and they still lived in Illinois.

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So I knew that if I stayed in Illinois,

I it would be too, too difficult

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for my son's family from Texas to

get up there with three children.

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and it Was just so far.

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then Luke would have to come

from Tennessee and then I would

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have everybody at my house.

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But now since, one of my sons lives here,

we have two houses and we kind of can go

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back and forth between the two houses too

and divide the people, you know, so, uh, I

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don't have 20 people sleeping in my house.

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I have 11 and that helps

to have two houses here.

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But when I had the reality check of.

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Nobody will be coming for

Thanksgiving if I stay here.

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I just decided we're gonna move

centrally and since my daughter's kids

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were really college age, we decided

to go with the next group of grandkids

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you know, they're gonna grow up

really fast and then I don't know what

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might happen in a few years, but this

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just really worked out to be the great

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solution for us for this time.

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That sounds like such an

epic, epic experience.

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Definitely something that the

grandkids are never going to forget.

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I really love how you solved.

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The scheduling conflicts there and your

grandkids are ages six to 21 right now.

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Is that right?

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Betsy: Yes, Anna will

be 22 in about a week.

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Emily: Oh, what a great solution to all

of the, divide and conquer with time.

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And that's such a great solution.

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I've never, I've actually

never heard anybody do.

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this before.

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I love it.

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My wheels are

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spinning.

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Stephanie: Emily's already

thinking 20 years ahead.

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Betsy: think this is only the second year

that we've done it, but we're already

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getting traditions and they start out

early in the morning, so . They've

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been driving all day, so, we are all

out on the front yard, jumping up and

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down, waving them in when they come.

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And then we put, make a

big paper run through.

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for, um, their little boy to run through.

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it is so cute, but yeah, that's a

tradition that I had the hardest

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time putting that thing up this year.

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And I'm like, what am I doing?

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Am I going to be able

to do this every year?

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I don't know.

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Maybe, maybe this one won't be a

tradition, but cause I had to put it like

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not just over a door, but like a big door.

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You know, an open area,

coming into the house.

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So that was tricky.

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Jen: How did you hang

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Betsy: I taped it with

duct tape on the sides.

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not on the paint of the wall,

but on some trim on the sides.

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And welcome,

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you made it or something like that on it.

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And then

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He runs

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Emily: cute.

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Stephanie: Yeah, that's a

really, a sweet picture.

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Betsy: Well, we also

do our, family picture.

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It was always just impossible.

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But now, this is just a thing

that we schedule every year.

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We can do our family picture

because we are all together.

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And that is that is

another nice thing we get.

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Accomplished.

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But I do feel in some ways like

Thanksgiving is being squeezed out with

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all the commercialism that is starting

earlier and earlier and earlier.

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So we really do want to recognize, both.

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And, we just had so much fun this week

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together.

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Just being together.

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Staying up late and

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playing games and all that stuff.

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Reading bible stories to

my little bitty grands and

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all those things.

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Just

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sweet.

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Emily: lots of laughter, I'm sure, too.

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Betsy: And now lots of laundry.

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I'm finding things all

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over the house.

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I

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there was a movie that came out last year

and we went to see it, uh, called It's

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Christmas Again and it had some sweet

music in it It's interesting take

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about a guy who's maybe college age.

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Maybe it's high school age.

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And it's done with modern music.

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He, something happens and he goes back

in time and there's dancing with the

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shepherds and everything like that.

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So it's a modern twist on some things, but

really cute and the music is really nice.

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It's modern for the kids.

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We really enjoyed that.

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It's Christmas again.

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Good meaning behind it.

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And Mary sings a beautiful lullaby.

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Oh, I'll have to check that one out.

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I haven't seen it.

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One that I insist on watching.

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Christmas Eve, if

possible is the naitivity.

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And I think it was done.

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Maybe 10, 15 years ago, but there's

some really tender moments between

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Mary and Joseph, but I think they

displayed really beautifully.

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, so that one has to be in the mix for us.

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Jen: My kids Like the movie The Star.

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A good one for little ones.

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Betsy: hmm.

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Stephanie: And it's funny

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Jen: Yeah.

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Stephanie: Of course, It's a

Wonderful Life is, a timeless

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tradition, but it's funny you think.

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You just assume, oh, it's an old movie,

it's such a classic, it's totally safe

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for kids, and then you realize, oh, there

are a couple suggestions you might want

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to fast forward through, always surprises

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Emily: You view it very

differently when there's

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little eyes,

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Watching and just the whole idea of

that movie and it is a wonderful movie.

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Truly.

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All right.

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I think we should transition

to talking about our favorite

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tried and true Christmas recipes.

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What are the things that your family is

counting on you making this Christmas?

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Emily: We do have our cookies we make

every year, but I can't recommend them

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because they're not on a Pinterest board.

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They're just my grandma's recipe

that has been passed down, years.

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And so when I think Christmas,

I can even smell them right now

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because that's what she made.

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Every year among other things, but

the sugar cookies So I can't really

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recommend them because they're

not floating anywhere out there.

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Stephanie: Are really

soft or are they a little

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Emily: It's all in how you roll the dough

and it has to be just the right thickness

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so they don't get hard and you have to

bake them for eight minutes exactly.

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The icing is the hardest part though

because it was just, it was the powdered

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sugar, butter, and a little bit of

almond, And that consistency is so hard,

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to get it

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just right.

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So that's

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the hardest part.

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Betsy: kind of

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runny and then you, do you do the whole

outlining and then the filling in?

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Oh my goodness, that's a ton of work.

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And how do you outline?

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You have a piping thing,

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Emily: I do have a piping thing, but

I have to say some years I'm just

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not getting the consistency right.

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And some years I've just kind of,

dunked the first half in the icing and

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then pulled it up and it's like a glaze.

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But Evelyn is mastering the

piping down pretty beautifully.

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So, we're getting it.

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But that's the hardest part is the

icing, but the flavor's always there,

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they just might not always look

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beautiful.

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Laughter.

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Laughter.

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Betsy: bringing back so many memories.

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We make, and it's the simplest thing

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in the world, is peppermint bark.

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And, just you buy the guitared

white chocolate chips and buy

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some peppermint canes that you

crunch up, or you can buy it.

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already crunched even, and that's it.

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I just put in a tiny bit of...

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It doesn't even need vanilla, it's

already in there, but you can add vanilla.

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the consistency of the chocolate

to and then put it in the

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refrigerator and break it apart.

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It's the easiest thing.

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And so we make that a lot.

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You can put a layer of

chocolate on it if you

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want to underneath,

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But, and lots of cookies.

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I'm always fun,

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Stephanie: Mm my kids love to pipe we

don't do like a royal icing, we do more

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of a buttercream, but they love to pipe

with the piping bags otherwise it's

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exhausting to do the whole process by

yourself and, I love seeing how proud they

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are as they're frosting their own cookies

the birthday cake for Jesus is my number

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one, recipe that we just have to do that.

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A lot of times it's chocolate.

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I have a couple gluten free or paleo

chocolate cakes that we like a lot.

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And, sometimes I've even let them have

like scrambled eggs and birthday cake for

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Jesus as a Christmas morning breakfast.

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Betsy: Uh, uh, uh, uh, mm,

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Stephanie: I really like to make

a French toast casserole the night

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before and then put that in while

we're opening presents and that makes

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for such a peaceful Christmas morning

and I keep My son that's a little bit

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more introverted than my other three

and he's a little bit of a night owl

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he often helps me as I'll send the others

to bed and he'll help me make a French

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toast casserole and he does a great job.

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There's a creme brulee one I like and then

a berry sourdough one which it doesn't

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call for sourdough bread but I changed

it to sourdough and then I used oat milk

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and it turned out pretty great recently.

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Jen: We do a charcuterie tray and

I like it because I am not stuck

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to making one specific thing.

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They just know that there's

going to be a spread on it.

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And so I enjoy that because I can be

creative each year and be like what

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do I want to put in at this year?

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What is fun for this part?

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We do have, we make a

Christmas birthday cake.

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And we'll do, I do a French toast

bake, that type of thing as well.

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But throughout the day, we

just munch as the day goes on.

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And so then we'll have a.

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I sit down breakfast and then the rest of

the day we just munch and, but my favorite

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is just not having to feel the pressure as

much of Oh, it has to be this one thing.

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whatever is easy in that moment.

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I had a friend years ago tell me that she

was always careful to make a tradition.

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that she knew she could keep.

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And I was like, that's a wise word.

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If it's something that's going to

be just taking too much time and

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energy and drains you, then that's

not life giving for you either.

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And she had mentioned that.

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Her grandma always made special

blueberry muffins and so she tried to

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do that, but she's like, there were

some years where Costco blueberry

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muffins were put in the fold and

they were still blueberry muffins.

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And I just, I find that so

peaceful for me to remember yes.

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It's okay if it doesn't work out when

the baby is little and nursing, or it's a

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hectic year that it's the being together.

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But if the blueberry muffins was a special

thing, then let Costco make it that year.

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If it's too hard, you know, you still

have them, but Costco can do it.

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But I do, I aspire towards

that and I love that?

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if I'm feeling overwhelmed

to be like, okay.

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Can we do that?

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Still has the memory behind

it, but that might not be so

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hard on me.

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Emily: Yes.

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Stephanie: Jen, that's such a wise word.

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About counting the cost of the traditions

that we commit to, and one year, so

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embarrassing, I served my mother in

law frozen pizza, not even good frozen

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pizza but frozen pizza for our Christmas

dinner because And I don't like pizza.

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It's so weird, but you know, you're

planning for so many different things.

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And I had our Christmas and

our Christmas Eve planned.

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And then we were going to

have other family in town.

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and then she came early.

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we went shopping that day and

shopping took longer than we expected.

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And then I was maybe we can just

go to Costco and buy a pot pie.

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And we're standing in line with the pot

pie And realizing, oh my goodness, this

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takes forever to bake And, it's already

getting late and what are we going to do?

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And and it ended up being a frozen pizza.

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And so now we laugh about it as I'm

trying to make everything lovely,

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like, yeah, I remember that one year

you served me pizza for Christmas.

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Betsy: it takes a lot of planning

to have guests, not just for a meal,

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Stephanie: Mm hmm.

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Betsy: Several days.

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And I know that thinking ahead on this,

we probably all shop at Costco, but,

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You get that certificate

for, to spend at one point.

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And so I saved that up and I'm

like, this is our groceries for

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that week, because it would be

such a jolt to the shopping budget.

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And it really took David and I all day.

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Cause I'm making up this gigantic list and

thinking of all the different meals that

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I'm going to make, many different meals.

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And we did go out a couple of times,

but I mean, I, I was ready for them

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to stay about three more days, but

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Jen: Mm-Hmm.

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Betsy: It's like, you, you can't

even really completely plan for that.

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really can't go out.

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It's just it's, you're all in and

you have to be going, going, going.

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But it was.

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It's crazy fun and of

course, you know, they help,

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Jen: mm

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Emily: Absolutely.

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It's all worth it to be with family.

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The work And the hours that

you put in, it's all worth it.

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And it's worth it for our kids when we put

the extra effort in to make the memories.

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it looks different every year as they age.

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Um, Traditions change and it really makes

it all the sweeter because we just kind

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of flow with that, that need is that year.

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But really the important thing

is just being together and having

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just sweet memories made and time spent.

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Stephanie: We instituted

Yalobakaflod a couple years ago,

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do any of you do it?

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Betsy: no, we don't know

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what it is.

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Emily: don't

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Stephanie: And I, I am pretty sure

that's the correct pronunciation.

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I did look it up last year.

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Jalabakaflod.

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It is an Icelandic tradition

where on Christmas Eve, they

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exchange chocolate and books.

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And I have decided I, I just love

it because in all of the busyness of

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the traditions and making everything

special and feeding everyone, I

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feel like sometimes at the end

of it, did I just sit with them?

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Did I just enjoy it?

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You even when putting together

the Lego sets with them, it's

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like you're still doing something.

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I just want to relax with them.

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And so what we do, sometimes we do

it the night before Christmas Eve and

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sometimes on Christmas Eve, depending

on how our traveling schedule works out.

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But I buy a special book for each of

the kids and then give them chocolate.

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And, you know, maybe it's

their favorite chocolate bar.

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And sometimes I'll make chocolate

lava or homemade hot chocolate and

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Then, as they're getting older,

they'll read on their own for a while.

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I'll even read a book that I want

to read without being interrupted.

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And, it's just a sweet time, And

we'll be in our, Christmasy pajamas.

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And when they're younger, buying

like a treasury, like Madeline's

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the Treasury, the whole, all of the

books in one, or the Kevin Henkes

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books in one, It's been special.

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And so I would recommend to any moms

that feel like, where is the peace

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in all of this, in the busyness.

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And it is, it would be a hard thing

to do when your kids are really

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little and can't sit for too long.

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So I, I'm.

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Excited that I found out about it when

my kids were old enough to just rest

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on the couch for a while together.

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As you've been listening to

some of our favorite recipes.

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All the details about the week of

all weeks, the wisdom of making sure

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that you only commit to traditions

that you could keep up with.

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We hope that you've heard that sometimes

our flaws make the best memories and

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:

what your kids will remember most.

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Is you being with them?

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We know that it's busy to make

Christmas special with your

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children and for your family.

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And we want to remind you that the

Lord sees it, but we also hope that you

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can take the time to make it peaceful

and restful you're for yourself.

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And we're praying that the Lord would

give you the wisdom in your season.

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Remember to listen to the end because I

pray a blessing over you in each episode.

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If you've been blessed by the

ministry of entrusted, we ask that

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you would consider heading to our

website to contribute a year-end gift.

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We are mostly funded by donors, that

desire to see the word of God as the

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foundation for families across the globe.

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And we are grateful for every penny

that's contributed to this mission.

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If that's not something you're able to

do, please consider supporting us by

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leaving a review, sharing an episode,

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:

or telling your friends about us.

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Maybe you see a mama that

needs a little wisdom.

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And freedom.

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This Christmas, and you can tell her.

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How we desire to untangle

biblical motherhood together.

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We know you're busy, Mama, so

we are truly grateful you joined

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us for this episode of Again.

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If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

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EntrustedMinistries.

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com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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world, and we want it for you, too.

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Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

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We're rooting for you.

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To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

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calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good, and every work of faith by

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His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

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Him, according to the grace of our God.

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And the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Again
Biblical Motherhood Untangled
So much of what we do as mothers is on repeat. Join us to redeem this repetition and untangle from the confusion and overwhelm of parenting. We'll follow the Agains in the Bible to focus on the things that matter most. Let's look up together to embrace a motherhood full of freedom and joy! This podcast is sponsored by Entrusted Ministries.

About your host

Profile picture for Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.