Christmas is love and happiness. God has blessed me with plenty of both every year of my life and I do mean EVERY year. Today is Christmas morning 2012 and a few memories have surfaced that bring a laugh and a big smile. I thought I had shared one particular memory with my Facebook friends or the followers of www.KarensDay.com, but as I went to find it to read it again I was very surprised that it was not to be found. So let me share it with you today.

Let’s back up to a happy healthy 2008 (maybe 2007). It is November and a little chilly, but not too bad. Karen wanted to go on a trail ride. We went to the barn and loaded up our horses into the horse trailer. We headed off down the road and when we get to our destination in the woods we realize it is deer hunting season. Neither of us have on the official “don’t shoot me” riding gear and didn’t actually have any at home, so we pull back out to the highway and head to Karen’s parents’ house. Ken and Madeline started looking around for some appropriate apparel. Ken gives Karen a new super bright orange sweatshirt to put on and then hands me a camouflage jacket to put on and offers to let me wear his white hat. While Karen’s outfit would help keep any over anxious hunters from mistaking her for a deer, it would seem that my outfit would just increase the chances for hunting mishap. Obviously Ken was just having a little fun at my expense. It was pretty funny really. He did manage to find me an orange shirt before we left. Remember the old saying, “You reap what you sow?” Now let’s jump ahead to Christmas.

Christmas gifts to or from Karen’s family were usually either a gag gift or something found on the “As seen on TV” shelves at Walgreens. This tradition just emphasizes the fun kind of family they are. I think we re-gifted to Laura something that she had given me the year before. She didn’t even notice! Ha ha. We needed something extra special for Ken, as the safe riding outfit was only a few weeks ago. It came to us rather easily. Karen liked to sew. We got some camouflage material and white fuzzy material and she made him a Santa hat out of it. No red material, just the camo and the white trim. That was pretty good but then we took it another step. We took a dark colored t-shirt and applied patches of the camo. This was shaping up to be a funny moment. I kept thinking about what they had said about the white hat and how a hunter watches for the white tail of a deer. The next thing you know, Karen had finished making a deer’s tail with the white stuff and sewn it onto the back of his shirt! Ken proudly wore them around the house all morning. The joy and happiness that we all were sharing that Christmas morning sticks with me today, along with lots of other memories of Christmases past.

Merry Christmas! I hope yours is a joyous one. God bless you all.