christmas Archives - Stay N Alive

Christmas Traditions (Stay N Faithful)

This is a re-post from my more personal blog, Stay N Faithful. I thought due to the timeliness, it was worth sharing this bit of my life with you as well. Please enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

As I finish up the night, stockings all hung, presents wrapped and under the tree, I can’t help but reflect back on all the traditions my family has participated in over the years. Christmas, in my family, is about tradition, family, and loving one another as we reflect on all the years we have spent with each other.

In my childhood, we all had stockings, made from patterns from my grandmother that my Mom made. My Dad even had his own stocking, made by his grandmother that he would hang alongside ours. We didn’t have much money growing up, so we’d spend Christmas Eve usually as a family, some times going over to someone else’s Christmas party and others just enjoying time with each other. We’d always, as Christians, read Luke Chapter 2 and eventually our traditions wound up with us opening up one gift from a sibling that night. I’d then have a sleepless night pretending to sleep when I really couldn’t, wishing the night could go faster.

As I got older and even though I knew, in my heart, that Santa Claus wasn’t real, the Spirit of Santa Claus was still there, and I still secretly wanted him to be real. I’d imagine all night long, what if my parents themselves had just stopped believing in Santa but he really did come? Yet I still wasn’t quite sure how all the presents got there in the morning. I also enjoyed adding to the mystique and happiness, the story of Santa Claus brought onto my younger brothers and sisters faces and enjoyed keeping the story alive for them. Even today I enjoy playing Santa and keeping the story alive in my children’s lives, with “visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.” I think the Ballet, “The Nutcracker” sums up that fantasy well – it’s the essence of what being a child is all about, and again goes back to traditions, and remembering our childhoods as we grow old and how innocent we were.

As a child, on Christmas day we would wake up, usually way too early waiting for the designated time our parents set to wake them up and open up presents. By that time I usually had scoped out approximately what Santa had laid out for us at night and was eager to open the new presents. Our Mom would always make us eat a full breakfast so all the candy from Santa didn’t spoil our meals, and we’d get at least something healthy that morning (even if it was sugar cereal, as we usually enjoyed). For Christmas dinner, we would usually have a ham, some times turkey. After spending time with our new toys and presents, we’d often go see a movie or go do something special together as a family. For us, Christmas really was about family.

Now that I’m older, I find similar traditions permeating my own family into the lives of my wife and kids. Every year we visit my in-laws (my parents live all the way in Boston so we don’t see them as often as we would like). We open presents from the in-laws, have dinner, and spend time with my wife’s parents and siblings.

We then spend Christmas Eve as a family. Just as a child, we read Luke Chapter 2, and this year we even watched an amazing presentation of Luke Chapter 2 set in ancient Israel produced on the iPad (very few words – really amazing! Go check it out now!) by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think this itself will become a new tradition for our family.

We then finish the night with a piano recital by each of my kids (they are taught piano by my wife, who plays beautifully), a trumpet solo by me, and a beautiful piano solo from my wife. We end the performance with a couple songs we sing with each other and top it off with “Silent Night.” We have a family prayer and everyone rushes to bed, trying to beat NORAD’s Santa tracker on Google to when Santa is supposed to arrive.

Then begins the present wrapping and visit by Santa. As we’re wrapping presents, my wife and I enjoy watching traditional Christmas shows. Some times we watch “A Christmas Story”, with its own portrayal of tradition and youth from the view of a child. Other times we watch midnight mass, enjoying the ancient Catholic tradition that goes back to early days of Christianity and the spirit that is felt there.

Lately I find myself watching a production of my Grandpa’s, “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas”. This new tradition shows the view from an old, lonely man (played by Jimmy Stewart), and his own desire to get the most out of Christmas, despite his lonely circumstances. I like it because it makes me think about others that could be like him in the world, and those that may not have family with them to celebrate these traditions each year.

Even as I write this, I’m starting a new tradition. In the background I’m playing back-to-back episodes of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s “Music and the Spoken Word” Christmas specials. This has become near and dear to my heart lately as I’ve had a few opportunities to help out the choir in their social media efforts.

I think Mr. Krueger said it best when he said the purpose of Christmas was to love one another. As a Christian, our tradition is that Christ himself suggested the same. In fact, as I reflect on Christmas traditions and going back to my own childhood, I can’t help but remember Christ’s own direction, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Even Christ himself, who in our tradition is the Savior of mankind, came to the world as a child, and asked us all to reflect on that.

May you all remember your own childhood traditions as you go about this Christmas. My hope is that, believer or not, we can all take the Spirit of Christmas to heart, becoming as little children just as Jesus Christ did in Luke Chapter 2, as my own family reads every year. I believe there is much to be learned from each others’ traditions, and hope me sharing mine can help instill a little tradition into each of your own lives this Christmas.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year this season, and may you all experience wonderful traditions in your lives.  Hopefully the videos shared in this post give you more to think about this season of giving, and reflecting back on our own childhoods and traditions.

Christmas Recipes From My Daughter (Stay N Cooking)

The following was just posted on my daughter’s cooking blog – try it out and let me know what you think!:

Ho Ho Ho here is some awesome christmas recipes from santa!!!

Awsome frosting tip! frost a cookie ( for starters preferably a oreo) with white frosting and drop 1 drop of red food coloring in the center of the cookie and be carful and make swirls out of it on the cookie.

Want to Give me a Christmas Present? Please Like This.

Fighting the homeless is something near and dear to my heart, especially when it’s at home.  I have a non-profit idea I’ll share here later which I may pursue at some time and I think could completely (or closely) eradicate the problem of homelessness.  This Christmas I’m thinking a lot of those that are less privileged, and even if not homeless, hungry.  That’s why I’m supporting the Utah Food Bank this Christmas.

If you give me anything this Christmas season, will you please just click like on this page, supporting Salt Lake City’s food bank?  If we can get enough people to like it Salt Lake City’s food bank earns $1 million to distribute to the needy.  This year is of particular need for the Utah Food bank.  In a down economy, they are seeing increasing need for help, with a shortage in what they are able to provide.  They claim this year to have a 30 percent increase in the number of families coming for food.

Will you please give to me this Holiday season by giving to the homeless and clicking “like”?  This will be one of the greatest gifts you can give to me this season, and even great would be if you could blog about it and share it to your friends as well.  Again, here’s the link – just click “like” on the following page:

http://fightinghunger.walmart.com/city/Salt-Lake-City-UT

To help, here is a box you can use to like it (just click “like” here!):

http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Ffightinghunger.walmart.com%2Fcity%2FSalt-Lake-City-UT&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&colorscheme=light&height=80

 

Paying it Forward

Based on my last post I know you commenters and readers are out there.  My last post was all about me.  This post is, quite sincerely, about you and I hope I can see the same response from my commenters as I did that last article – I really mean that.  The Blogess recently wrote an incredibly heartfelt post that really inspired me.  If you haven’t read it yet, please go over there, read it, then read the comments for the article, which are the best part.  Because of one sincere offer by The Blogess to offer free gift cards to her readers, people are coming out of the woodwork, sharing such touching stories of poverty, need for this season, daughters who plea for their laid off fathers, wives who just want some groceries this season.  I admit I cried a little when I read it.  I realized I owe it to my readers to share, at least a little of what I have to those of you in need.  I’d love to see a Techmeme meme around other bloggers doing the same – we owe it to each other.  These are tough times.

I’m going to do the same thing as The Blogess.  I am definitely not wealthy, and I have a family of 6 (soon 7) to pay for this Christmas, but I want to give at least what I can of the good fortune I have.  I do feel really blessed, and a lot of that is because of you.  If you and your family are in difficult circumstances this Christmas, please let me know and I’ll give a $30 Amazon Gift Certificate to 3 of those who seem worst off in the comments.  If you don’t want to reveal your name, please use a fake one (I use Disqus, but you can create a fake Disqus profile – if anyone has difficulty with that please email me).  Just use your real email address, which no one but me sees, and I’ll email you the $30 Amazon Gift Certificate, no questions asked.

A lot of you are really in need this Christmas.  This is the best thing I think I can do at the moment – I know it’s not a lot, but I do feel like I need to pay it forward.  At the same time, if you, my readers would like to donate to any of those in the comments in need, please let me know in the comments (again, including your email), and I’ll arrange to have your gift sent to those who have needs.  Let’s help each other out this Christmas.  The economy is dismal at the moment.  I know many of you are struggling.  Please, let me, and my other readers help.

If you share any blog post of mine I beg you to share this one.  This, to me, is one of the most important posts I’ve ever written, and it’s my gift to you.  Please retweet it, share it on Facebook, Google Reader, or tip it on Techmeme. Please do it for those in need.

How will you give up your Christmas?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzjvE0ehnEI

Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s "Hallelujah Chorus"

This video, featuring Handel’s Messiah by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was put together in partnership with BYU TV just for Youtube.  I think it’s a beautiful piece.  Many people, Christian and not, can’t imagine the holidays without this amazing Choir.  I think back to “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas” (with Jimmy Stewart), something close to my family, which my Grandfather (and namesake) produced – perhaps one of the most famous cameos by the Choir.  Their weekly broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word”, recently won a Radio Hall of Fame entry for being the longest running Radio Show in America.  You’ve seen them singing around the world, in front of the Whitehouse, at the Olympics, and even comforting America after 9/11.  Ronald Reagan called them, “America’s Choir.”

It’s been an honor working with them recently, although I admit, working with them has been not anywhere near as effective as just letting their talent and beautiful voices speak for themselves.  Please enjoy this video and, if you like it, share it with someone else you think it might touch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4BWhvIlFVE

Are You Inspiring Others This Holiday Season?

When I was about 16 or 17 years old I liked to sing in the car. A lot.  One time I was driving somewhere with my parents and they had a song, of which one I can’t really remember, but I started to sing along with it.  It was probably one of many times I would sing along in the car with my parents, but this time my parents complimented me.  They said, “Jesse you’ve really got a nice voice.  Your singing is really good.”

That compliment really stuck with me.  I had never heard those words from them before about my singing.  I probably wasn’t really as good as they said I was, but the fact was they complimented me and gave me a sense of confidence I never had before.

I came upon the same type of opportunity today as I saw my son singing to some Christmas music we had on for the family (We reserve Monday nights for family in our home – a tradition held by many Mormons).  Truth be told, to my more experienced ears (to the extent you can call, “experienced”) it didn’t sound very good.  But I noticed he was trying.  I took this same opportunity to tell him, “Tom, you have a great voice – you should keep practicing what you’ve got going for you.”  I noticed a little gleam in his eye, a kick in his step as he sang louder.

I wonder if there are times in our lives when we could be complimenting and inspiring each other more, sharing opportunities of encouragement when they come.  I wonder if there are times when we could be lifting up each other, giving each other that little “kick in the step” they need to keep trying harder.

I have entrepreneurs that present new ideas to me all the time.  It always pains me to be honest with them when their idea, at least I feel, is not quite one that will succeed.  Instead, I often point out the positive points of their ideas.  I find areas of inspiration to give them to work harder, ways they can grow their idea and work harder.  Truth be told, they’re going to learn their mistakes on their own, and when they come asking for new ways to improve I’ll be there to help them along the way.  But at least this way I’m giving them the motivation, the encouragement and inspiration to improve.  I’m giving them that extra “kick in their step” to make them work harder, and they’re doing it on their own.

Some times the entrepreneurs I help are like my kids in many ways.  Even though what they’re doing may really be bad I can at least give them the confidence they need to keep trying.  Maybe we need more of this for this Holiday Season.  I’m vowing to try to be more inspiring, more encouraging as I post here, and as I help others in the future and throughout 2011.  It really doesn’t matter if your idea stinks.  What matters is that you feel okay to keep trying.

As I finish up I can hear my son humming the tune to the song we’re hearing now.  He’s trying, and I’m a proud Father.

P.S. – if you really want more inspiring articles like this I highly recommend you check out Brett Nordquist’s blog – his is chock full of these!

Picture of boy courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/290906712/in/photostream/

Kids and Christmas

We recently produced this at the Church (I am in charge of Social Media Strategy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  It’s a culmination of an amazing team that I think did a great job on this.  This is one of the cuter videos I think we’ve produced, and it has a great message.  Enjoy, and please share!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM8XoT7qnxY

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

In these hard economic times, we all need a little reboot on what’s really important.  Christian, Jew, Muslim, or none-of-the-above, this video produced by my church, while from a Christian’s perspective, really sets things straight – it’s the little things!:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXXwtFWpAI8&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you from me and my family.

Happy Mormon Christmas! (From a Mormon)

905450_merry_christmasThe Tonight Show did a hilarious remake of Orrin Hatch’s “8 Days of Hannukah“, just for Mormons (since Hatch is a Mormon).  I thought it was very tactfully done – I’ll be singing this all Christmas!

http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b27e7b168366b6e/4b27ab312ddcff38/6fb83533/-cpid/557aa948982e719d

To learn about what Mormons really believe, be sure to check out Mormon.org, or this site which has some great videos on what we believe.

Hosting a Virtual Gift Exchange with Albinophant

White Elephant Gift ExchangeAlmost everyone has participated in a “white elephant” gift exchange.  Some people call variations of it “Secret Santa”, or “Yankee Swap”, but the overall concept is the same.  Each person brings a gift, the gifts are placed in the middle or rotated in some fashion, and each person takes a turn picking the wrapped gift of their choice, not knowing what their gift could be.  However, in this era of virtuality where your close network of friends and family live all over the world, figuring out how to divy up the gifts or get everyone in one location for such an exchange can be difficult.  Perhaps your office all works from home, or you’re self employed.  A client of mine, Albinophant, has built the perfect application for the holidays which helps you create white elephant gift exchanges virtually via just your Facebook profile.

The premise behind Albinophant is simple.  All you need to do is create a party, invite your Facebook friends to attend the party, and schedule a date and time for the party to start.  Your friends and family will get a Facebook invite and when they accept the invite they’ll have the opportunity to RSVP for the event.  Once they RSVP they’ll be taken to a page of hundreds of gifts taken from Amazon.com, which they can select and purchase.  The host can specify a maximum price range, and only the gifts that fit within that price range will show up for that particular party.  This solves the problem of some people having that one really expensive gift that everyone wants.  After selecting their gift, the user selects a virtual gift wrapping for that gift (the gifts are real, but the gift wrapping is just for the game to disguise what the gift is), with which the gift will be identified during the game.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7abOLHNlS8&w=425&h=344]

Then, the party starts.  When the time for the party starts, an e-mail gets sent to the first person who RSVP’d for the gift exchange.  They click on a link, select one of the gift-wrapped gifts from the list of items, then their item is revealed, and both they and the rest of the participants are able to see what they selected.  Once each person’s turn is over, the next person in line is sent an e-mail telling them it’s their turn, and they get to select a gift.

Here’s the catch though – the “Yankee Swap”, as Michael Scott from The Office puts it.  Each player, on their turn, can “steal” a gift from any other player that has already unwrapped their gift.  You can do so on each turn until all the gifts have been unwrapped.  So even though you may think you have the coolest and most geeky gift, that gift could very well be stolen by any one of the other participants.  This is part of the fun of the Albinophant Gift Exchange.

Once the party is over, everyone sees the gifts they’ve won.  A message is also posted to Facebook notifying their friends of the gift they won so they can show it off and talk about it with all their Facebook friends.  It’s a fun occasion for both that close circle invited to the party, as well as those that haven’t attended that can see what you won.  In addition to winning virtually though, if the Host has opted, each participant will then be mailed the gift they selected (which someone else purchased), in real life.  The party goes from virtual to real, and the relationships have just strengthened a bit more.

As you’re gearing up for the Holidays, consider giving Albinophant a try in to get in the spirit with your online friends.  Go in and set up a party to try it out – use the offer code “1234” when creating a party and all the gifts your participants select will be virtual and free (meaning they won’t be sent a real gift but you can still have the party).  Albinophant’s a fun app you can use throughout the entire year to build Holiday spirit regardless of boundary.

You can sign up to host your own party here:

http://apps.facebook.com/albinophant/index.php?page=hostparty.php

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klwVaAa_8YA&w=425&h=344]

Albinophant/PartyWeDo is a client of Stay N’ Alive Productions, LLC, my social technologies consulting company. If you are a blogger and you would like a free demo, or would like to host your own please let me know and I can arrange a tour for you and your friends/family.