Category: Christmas

Great Book News: An Award & #1 in Three Categories!
Christmas · Christmas · Coronavirus · My Thoughts

Great Book News: An Award & #1 in Three Categories!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
News - Great Book News

I’ve had great book news recently. This week, two of my books have received critical acclaim. All my hard work pays off.

Great Book News #1

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? won the 2023 New Mexico/Arizona book award in the category of Self Help/Guide. This book was also a finalist in the health category. Last year, it also won the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona book award in the category of Body, Mind & Spirit (health/humor).

This blog became the foundation for that book—the inspiration because I wrote the core in this blog during the pandemic. It saved my sanity as I processed what I went through during the pandemic. I wrote in poetry and prose format. The reader has a choice: read it from cover-to-cover, or the chapters stand independently. Each chapter begins with a thought-provoking photo and quote. Then the chapter ends with a reflection question to ponder. Read, reflect and respond—so we can move on to better, not bitter.

For those interested in buying this award-winning book, choose of one the links below:

You can also buy it from me and get your own autographed copy. Contact me at Larada@LaradasBooks.com for the details.

More Book News

My newest book, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir, hit #1 on Amazon in three e-book categories:

  • Christmas (Kindle Store)
  • US Historical Biographies
  • Christian Inspiration

Again, some of my blog posts make up a foundational part of the book with many additional snippets of my Christmas memories.

I love Christmas and this seemed like the next nature book for me to write. The hard part—editing, revising and creating it in July! I put on Christmas music and enjoyed the season out of the season!

My E-book of Hair on Fire

Yes, I got the e-book published before we went to Germany and Austria—Bavaria (more about Germany starting next week). Being super-organized, I had to set up all the promotions before we left, so I had busy days ahead of that trip. 2916 readers from nine countries downloaded my new e-book from: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, Mexico, France, and Italy. Those numbers pushed it to #1 in the three categories.

My Paperback of Hair on Fire

So, while we were in Germany, I finally got the final cover, so I uploaded it one night. I proofed the book online, but there was an issue. It said that the trim size (size of the book) didn’t match something, so they adjusted it by resizing it. I knew the trim size of the interior of the book and the cover matched so it could have been an international issue. That night I order a “proof” copy and it arrived on Thursday, the day after we got home.

Oh, no! The text was like shrunk to the center of the page, leaving a large margin all the way around. I spent several hours proofreading it that day, and I realized the “proof” didn’t have the Table of Contents! Oh, no, again! In my rush before we left, I had not selected the Table of Contents to be printed in the print copy of my book. I fixed that easily.

But I had another issue—the cover fit a book of 230 pages. After adding the Table of Contents and fixing a layout problem, I had 224—fewer pages! Now, how did that happen? So, I spent several hours going through and enlarging pictures and doing what I could to rearrange parts! Finally, I ended up with 230 pages, so I uploaded the revision, ran it through the Previewer online and published it.

The print copies will be here on Tuesday, October 2, so I’m excited.

On Thursday, when I opened the package with the “proof” copy, I got all choked up! The first time I see my book in print seems surreal! My words, my stories, my poems! What an emotional experience.

So, I will spend the next two months promoting it before Christmas and I will have a book launch sometime soon. Listen for the details.

Finally,

My seventh book published! Great book news this week about two of my books! Life is good!

If you’re interested, catch the e-book at this discounted price of $1.99 for a limited time at:

You have a choice for the paperback: either buy an autographed copy from me at Larada@LaradasBooks.com

Or

Go to Amazon. The price is the same: $15.00.

Because this book would make a great Christmas gift for everyone in your family, keep tuned in. I’m going to have some great prices for the purchase of three books or five books. Buying five copies will be the best price!

Sample a Slice of my New Book!
Christmas · Christmas · family · Holidays · Memoirs · My Thoughts

Sample a Slice of my New Book!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Slice of pie & coffee - Sample

Sample, sample, sample! Here’s another chapter of my new book, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir.

Chapter 8: What Are Your Christmas Traditions?

Three Children Anticipating Christmas - Sample

In my country childhood, we had many Christmas traditions: the fun and adventure of cutting down a tree from our ranch, hilarious Christmas programs at the church and school, and fun-filled Christmas caroling around our small town. Our family dominated this holiday’s focus.

My dad’s parents lived just across town, so most of my childhood Christmas Eves were spent at their house.

Christmas at the Horners’

It was a big affair,
     especially when Granddad got all
     sixteen grandchildren together.
That meant a holiday house full.

Each year, my Christmas outfit was always special.
One year
     a white dress with a gathered skirt,
     trimmed in red,
     made by Mom.

Grandma, decked out in her festive apron,
      worried over the meal.
She made the best mashed potatoes,
     smothered in butter.
Granddad’s job came after dinner.

The table was set on the porch so
     we could all fit,
          a long line of smiles and laughter.

For those of us who knew the tradition,
     anticipation set in.
We tried to hurry the process,
     with no success.

Finally, after a leisurely cup of coffee and a cigarette,
     Granddad would disappear to the front door.

His shout rang through the whole house!
     It had begun.

“I just saw Santa Claus fly over. Come quick.”

Santa flying over the moon

We’d race to the front door,
     and
he would race to the back door.

“No, no, he’s out here now. Come this way.”

We’d race to the back door.
This would go on for
     what seemed like eternity,
     and I never did see Santa, a reindeer,
          or his sleigh.
               I was always a second too late!
But this also meant that it was time
     to open our gifts that had mysteriously spilled out from
          under the Christmas tree.

A traditional Christmas with the Horners meant
     cousins,
     aunts and uncles,
     sometimes great aunts
          from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
     good food,
     lots of laughter,
and
     traditions that filled my heart with joy and
          family connection!

Larada Horner-Miller, This Tumbleweed Landed (2014): 67-68.

What was your favorite Christmas tradition?

Sample and savor this precious memory of mine! What was a special childhood tradition you enjoyed at Christmas? Tell me about it!

Buy your copy and some for gifts on Amazon!

Sneak Peek: My New Book!
Christmas · Christmas · Memoirs

Sneak Peek: My New Book!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Sneak peek

How about a sneak peek inside my new book, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir? Can I entice you to buy it with a sampling of it?

Chapter 18: Give away a Christmas Tree?

Boy carrying a Christmas tree - sneak peek

Giveaway a Christmas tree? Why would anyone do that? When I first came to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1991 as a middle school teacher, I started a tradition in my classroom. Each year, I put up a Christmass tree, then gave it away to one of my students before our Christmas vacation.

Early in December, I’d have my students put their names in a hat, and we’d draw the lucky winner. I taught in a low-income school and many of my students’ families struggled with the basics. A Christmas tree was a luxury and a fresh-cut one, a novelty.

In 1991, and throughout the time I taught, we could still put up a Christmas tree in our classrooms, and I dressed in my Christmas out!ts, starting the first Monday after Advent. Today, I know that teachers can’t do this, which makes me sad. That Christmas tree always brought a touch of magic into my classroom—the piñon pine smell, the twinkling lights, and the popcorn chain we threaded together in each class and laughed over.

Often, I would turn down the overhead lights and read to my classes with just the Christmas tree lights on. What a precious memory!

Because I put the tree up at the beginning of December, the anticipation grew about the contest. I teased them often with the possibility: who would win? All students were eligible!

I will never forget that first year of seeing the lucky student whose name I drew. He was the winner! Shocked, he and several students helped me un-decorate the tree after our class Christmas party. Then he convinced two friends to help him carry the tree home. As I looked out the window and watched this funny parade, the smiles and excitement the group exhibited warmed my heart. Even though they were middle-schoolers, they treasured this fresh-cut tree. After that first year, I knew I had found a grand tradition to continue!

HOW DID I come about having an extra tree each year to give away?

After I moved to Albuquerque, I often went home to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Like I mentioned before, my parents had a family ranch in southeastern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico. Growing up, we went out to the ranch and cut our own tree each year.

During that weekend home, we went out to the ranch and cut down three trees—one for my folks, one for my home, and one for my classroom. My parents loved the idea of providing a Christmas tree for my classroom and they loved the gifting to a student.

I loved those trips out to our ranch, cutting down a fresh tree. Dad, Mom, and I made a great excursion out of it. On previous trips out there, we had already decided where the best piñon pine trees were. During these years, Dad started the sawing, but because of his breathing issues and his age, I usually helped. And yes, we always got sap on our hands—what a delicious smell, but a sticky mess!

I felt privileged to give away a Christmas tree to one of my students, and this tradition continued for many years. What a rewarding experience it was!

Is a Christmas tree giveaway something special? I thought it was, especially after seeing my students’ smiles. Have you ever given a Christmas tree away? If so, what was the effect?

Larada Horner-Miller, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir, (2023): 85-88.

Finally,

I hope this sneak peek whetted your appetite for more of my stories, poems, and memories! Have you ever given a Christmas tree away?

News, News, News!

~ONE DAY LEFT FOR FREE! Today’s the last day to get Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir FREE on Amazon. Click here!

Languages & Merry Christmas!
Christmas · My Thoughts

Languages & Merry Christmas!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

Different languages saying Merry Christmas

I love languages and was a Spanish teacher at the middle school level for fourteen years! Recently, I enjoyed learning Merry Christmas in many languages! Merry Christmas in Italian, in Spanish and in Portuguese and how they say it in the Philippines! What a welcoming worldwide greeting!

Lin and I just got back from a cruise touring Spain and Italy. It ended up in Portugal. Holiday decorations appeared at the beginning of December, so I decided I wanted to learn how each country said Merry Christmas. I added a couple of new “Merry Christmas” greetings to my repertoire. In each country, I practiced as much as possible and received lots of smiles, giggles and responses when I said Merry Christmas in their languages. I greeted shop clerks, workers at the airport and anyone I could! Practice was important for retention—the teacher came out in me.

I learned how to say “Merry Christmas” in Spanish years ago as a Spanish teacher—Feliz Navidad! And One of my favorite Christmas songs is Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad.” However, it’s pronounced differently here in the United States and Mexico than Spain:

Feliz Navidad

Here’s how to say Merry Christmas in Spanish from Spain:

Here’s how to say Merry Christmas in Italian:

Buon Natale

Here’s how to say Merry Christmas in Portugal:

One of our waiters on the cruise shared with me how to say Merry Christmas in the Phillipines, so here it is. It sounds musical!

How to say Merry Christmas in several different languages

This is a worldwide holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, so I enjoyed seeing the decorations in the different countries that mirrored what we see here in the United States: twinkling lights, Santa Claus, Nativities, and season’s greetings, and I loved learning these greetings.

Can you say Merry Christmas in different languages? Check out these videos I’ve listed and share them with your family and friends.

News, News, News!

~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Christmas meme for Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?

~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? WON the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Have you bought your copy yet?

~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Christmas meme - Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

The Day After Christmas—Now What?
Christmas · Christmas · family · Friends · Holidays · My Thoughts

The Day After Christmas—Now What?

Featured Larada Horner-Miller3 Comments
Girl sitting sad the day afer Christmas

The day after Christmas is here! Santa needs a vacation. Now, what? As a child, I focused on playing with my new toys on this day. As an adult, what do I do?

Looking Back

Looking back on my Christmas preparations, I created a calendar for a family gift. I wrote, designed and published our annual Christmas newsletter. Then, I sent cards to friends far and near. During Advent, I took part in a group who read Richard Rohr’s Preparing for Christmas, then we shared comments and remarks on WhatsApp because we had an international group participating. What a rewarding group that was!

Christmas Eve

Lin and Larada on Christmas Eve
Lin and Larada on Christmas Eve

I had an errands day in Albuquerque, getting a prescription and some groceries. At 5:00 pm, Lin and I virtually attended my church’s, Hope in the Desert Episcopal Church, Christmas Eve service. It started with “La Posada,” a Mexican tradition of the pregnant Mary and Joseph going house to house and being denied any lodging. The last home welcomes them in. In its simplicity, it was beautiful.

After the service, we ate Costa Rican tamales from Lin’s ex-wife and watched two traditional Christmas movies—“Scrooge” and “It’s a Beautiful Life.” Then we watched a contemporary movie on Amazon Prime with a strong Christian message.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we opened our gifts and ate blueberry empanadas from Pastian’s Bakery. After that we played two Cribbage games. Lin worked hard so I wouldn’t be skunked on Christmas Day—what a loving man! We ate a late lunch—honey-baked ham, cheesy cheddar potatoes, asparagus, and applesauce. Later, we enjoyed pecan pie. Lin added eggnog ice cream.

From that point on, Lin watched the two football games scheduled for Christmas day. That’s always shocking to me to have football at Christmas. I made a big batch of popcorn balls—my favorite Christmas goodies. I neglected to get my traditional baking in this year.

During the day, we both called friends we knew having a hard time this holiday: one who lost her dad this year and was alone, one who recently lost her husband of fifty-three years and another long-time friend in an assisted living facility. Sharing those calls made our day! We are so blessed to have each other!

The Day After Christmas

So, here we are the day after Christmas. Usually, mega commercials for after-Christmas sales dominate our TV viewing. I have seen none! Probably because the stores’ Christmas items were picked over weeks ago. I went to our grocery store on Friday, and there was hardly anything available. Is this because of shortages or supply chain irregularities because of the pandemic? Unusual, no matter what. Mom used to love to go to these sales, looking for great buys!

I’ve always enjoyed this day. As a child, I familiarized myself with my new toy. As a high school student, we stayed up late each night and watched Johnny Carson and later Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. Later, I savored the time with Dad and Mom, with stories and trips to the ranch. After my niece moved to Texas and came regularly to Branson, she arrived this day, and we looked forward to a few days of loud games at the round table with laughter and stories and trips to the ranch looking for wildlife.

Extended Christmas Season

Twelve Days of Christmas - day after Christmas

For me, just because Christmas Day is behind me, the Christmas season isn’t over. My church celebrates the “Twelve Days of Christmas” which ends on January 6 at Epiphany, “a Christian festival held on January 6 in honor of the coming of the three kings to the infant Jesus Christ.”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epiphany

So, I keep wearing my Christmas outfits and enjoy extending the holiday. We don’t take our tree down until after Epiphany. I love this longer holiday season.

Day after Christmas

Many people have a big letdown on the day after Christmas—holiday expectations not met, memories of better times haunted by the changes today, etc. You fill in the blank with whatever weighs on you today.

Games - Day after Christmas

This year, on this day after Christmas, try something different. Call someone who may need cheering up, family or friend. Ask a family member about what Christmas was like when they were children, listen and ask questions to draw out more specifics. Dust off your stack of games and have a marathon game day. Tonight, make up some hot chocolate, grab your coat and hat to look at Christmas decorations in your area.

Finally,

The day after Christmas has arrived—enjoy it!

What are you doing today? Do you do anything traditional? If so, what?

Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Christmas meme

Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

EXCITING NEWS HERE!

Press Release - #1 in multi-genres
Homemade Christmas—I Love It!
Christmas · Christmas · family · Friends · Memoirs · My Thoughts

Homemade Christmas—I Love It!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
It's a homemade Christmas!

Homemade Christmas decorations and gifts have always given me a lot of pleasure in the making! From knitting stockings to plastercraft figurines to annual family calendars, I have made quite a variety.

Homemade Stockings

I started knitting in 4-H when I was ten years old and still enjoy this productive hobby. Many years ago, I found a fantastic stocking pattern and made my first. Then I branched out, making my nieces and nephew their own with their names on them. I also did great-nieces and nephew. Recently, I have made a great-nephew one.

I didn’t limit my production of Christmas stockings to just family. Because of my close relationship, I made my best friends’ children each one, and over the years, I have knitted so many I do not know how many!

To make these colorful holiday stockings, I always use red, white and green yarn or variegated yarn, but I don’t plan out the color scheme until I start. I have to graft out the name so it will fit on half of the stocking, so that takes some designing for sure. You can see my name almost doesn’t fit. I learned from mine a trick to make long names to fit!

Homemade knitted Christmas stockings
Stockings I knitted

What a truly wonderful experience it is to finish it, then add my label that says, “From the knitting needles of Larada Horner-Miller.”

Plastercraft Figurines

As a young married couple in 1973, we didn’t have any Christmas decorations and not much money to buy them, so I found out about plastercraft, “. . .similar to ceramics, but there is no firing or kiln necessary. Simply use easy water based acrylic paints.”

https://www.plastercraft.com/#:~:text=Plastercrafts%20are%20similar%20to%20ceramics,easy%20water%20based%20acrylic%20paints.

The first year I made Santa and love the whimsical look he has on his face with his wink. The next year I added Mrs. Santa. Over the years, I have protected my favorite Christmas plastercraft figurines in my many moves. After Christmas, I always stored them on a shelf in a spare bedroom to make sure they survived any storage problem. So when Lin wanted to store them in trunks in a storage shed, I panicked, but he wraps them up carefully and they have fared well these last ten years.

My other plaster craft figurine is a Christmas tree with lights. Every year, I love putting the little light bulbs in the spots and marvel at how pretty it is lit up.

So almost fifty years later, I continue to enjoy these three items as they remind me of our many years together.

Homemade Annual Family Calendar

A couple years after my dad died, one of my team teachers, Rebecca Betzen, reached out to my mom and put together a calendar filled with a variety of pictures from my childhood to my graduation dinner for my master’s degree! Several pictures high‐lighted favorite places on our family ranch. Those pictures ignited fond memories as my mom and I flipped through the pages, and I needed that. The gift thrilled me so much that I decided to do the same thing for my own family the next year. The recipient list grew over the years, so I added my brother and sisters, my nieces and nephew, cousins and great nieces and nephews. And it’s a tradition I continued until the pandemic. We weren’t together in 2020, so I have no pictures to highlight.

Each year I highlight whoever had a special event that year, like graduations or weddings. If a family member died the previous year, I featured him or her on the cover. I also featured our family ranch on the cover of several calendars. My second cousin married in England in 2017, and Lin and I attended, with me taking lots of pictures. Her new husband said, “I bet we make the calendar next year!” And they did—front cover!

Over the years, these calendars have become keepsakes, logging the key events of each year.

My joy came when my family members opened this gift and leafed through the pages, laughing at certain pictures and making heartfelt remarks. These calendars have become a historic family document of our year together.

Larada Horner-Miller, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? (2021): 217-218.

So I didn’t make a calendar in 2020, but it’s back in 2021 and here’s the cover:

2022 Horner calendar cover - homemade

Finally,

I love making homemade Christmas decorations and gifts. As I set out my decorations I’ve made, I get nostalgic remembering sitting at the table so long ago and making them. With each stitch I knit or photo I place, I have the joy of thinking about the gift and the person I made it for. How about you? Do you make anything for Christmas gifts? If so, what?

Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Christmas meme - homemade

Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

EXCITING NEWS HERE!

Press release for Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?
Santa Dear: You Broke My Heart!
Christmas · Christmas · My Thoughts

Santa Dear: You Broke My Heart!

Featured Larada Horner-Miller3 Comments
Santa Surprised!

Dear Santa,

Last year I asked for a desk and I was so very specific—a children’s roll top with drawers on each side and little cubby holes under the top for my pens and pencils and favorite notes. I could just see myself sitting in front of it doing my homework.

I saw it in the current Christmas catalog from Sears & Roebuck. Yes, I saw the price was more than you usually spend on me, but I’m getting older so I thought the price change matched my growing age.

I sent off my letter to you with a specific description and referenced the catalog number so you couldn’t make a mistake.

I started getting concerned when Mom and I talked one night after I sent off my letter. She brought up my request. How she knew about it was puzzling. She repeated several times that maybe Santa couldn’t afford such a pricey item.

I said nothing—just nodded my head. My stomach knotted up. Really? Santa had a budget! I knew we did. We weren’t the poorest family in town, but I knew Dad worried about money because I overhead him telling Mom his concerns for a happy Christmas this year.

But Santa had money concerns, too—oh, no! That caught me by surprise. I knew I was in trouble because Mom revisited this topic again and again in the next couple weeks, trying to protect me from a deep disappointment. She realized how much I wanted that desk—more than any doll or toy I had ever asked for before.

“Don’t be disappointed!” she repeated. How could I not! Until this point, you always came through each Christmas. I dreaded Christmas Eve last year because I knew that specific desk I’d dreamed of wouldn’t be under/near the tree for me. And it wasn’t.

You replaced it with a tacky metal desk with no drawers—only two shelves, one under the top of it and one near the bottom.

I hid my tears and broken heart last year, but I lost all faith in you, Santa. So, how do I write to you this year? Do I just make a general request? Can I be honest and say it doesn’t matter because I believe no more?

Help me out here on what to do? This is a pre-letter, so answer me please before I ask for something this year!

Thank you,

Larada

Did Santa ever disappointed you at Christmas? What did you do?

Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Christmas meme - Santa

Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

EXCITING NEWS HERE!

Is a Nativity Set Important?
Christmas · Christmas · Memoirs · My Thoughts

Is a Nativity Set Important?

Featured Larada Horner-Miller6 Comments
Stained Glass Nativity Set
Stained Glass Nativity

Nativity sets, trees, lights—what’s your favorite Christmas decoration? Mine is my Nativity collection that I feature on a buffet with white lights, and I want to share why I think it’s an important part of my Christmas decorations.

The Nativity is what Christmas is about—Jesus’ birth is the centerpiece with Mary and Joseph by his side. Three Wisemen bring their gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh. Shepherds kneel close to the Christ Child in humble adoration. And an Angel stands near Jesus glorifying his birth.

I have a fun collection of Nativity sets I’ve gathered over the years I’d like to share with you.

The Beginning to My Nativity Collection

  • My Mobile Nativity Set
  • My Three Wisemen Candle Holders

The oldest one I have is a mobile I made in the 70s that I turned into a mobile we hang each year. I also made a set of three Wiseman candle holders made of plaster craft. I had them set up on the mantel one Christmas and a wreath fell off the wall above them and knocked two of them off, injuring them slightly. So, I’ve kept them and loved them every year.

My Tonala Blue Pottery Nativity Set
My Tonala Blue Pottery Nativity Set

In my early travels to Mexico in the 70s, I noticed a beautiful blue pottery and bought a cup, saucer and plate early on. On another trip, I bought a beautiful pitcher. I found out today on the internet this pottery is called Tonala blue pottery. In the 80s, I bought a fourteen-piece Nativity set of this blue pottery. I place in the center of my collection every year. From an older set, I add some animals to fill it out.

I remember bringing that set home in a carry-on bag. Carefully, I wrapped each piece and worked hard to make sure nothing broke. They arrived safe and in one piece.

More Additions

So slowly over the years, I’ve added to my collection. I have a Native American set, a music box, a Peruvian candleholder, and a small happy kids’ set. In 2020, I picked up a small set in Spain that looks very Gaudí!

Native American Nativity Set
My Native American Nativity Set

Why do I gather a multi-ethnic Nativity sets? Jesus was a dark-skinned middle East man, yet many people only see him as they are—whatever the color of their skin! His nationality doesn’t matter; therefore, He can be a Native American, a Mexican, a middle easterner, or an American!

More Additions
My Outside Nativity Set

I’ll end with one more Nativity set—our outside set I inherited from my parents. I love looking out our kitchen window and seeing it lit up every night on our patio.

Finally,

Here’s one of my favorite Christmas saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” That’s why I set up my collection each year—to honor who this holiday is about!

Do you put up a Nativity set? What do you think?

Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Christmas meme

Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

EXCITING NEWS HERE!

Christmas Traditions or Not?
Christmas · Christmas · family · Grief · My Thoughts

Christmas Traditions or Not?

Featured Larada Horner-Miller1 Comment

            Do you have repeated Christmas traditions in your family? We did—my Mom, Dad and I! During my lifetime, I often helped Dad shopped for Mom’s Christmas gift over the years, but this one was special.

Mom & Me in the mid-1980’s

In the mid-1980’s, Dad asked me to pick out a dress alike for Mom and me and started a tradition that continued while he was alive and after he died for seventeen years until Mom’s death.

Any time we wore of outfits alike with Dad, his chest swelled, and he smiled a lot and made a point of letting everyone around him know the history of this tradition—he was so proud!

            When Dad died, Mom whispered to me in her grief, “You don’t have to buy our look-alike outfits for Christmas anymore.” We both sobbed. I shook my head, and I never wavered. I continued this heartfelt idea.

            Our first outfit was a dress, then during the years Dad was alive I bought us dresses. After he died, I bought us a variety of outfits: slacks and sweaters, warm-up suits and dresses. One problem I faced when I bought slacks was my Mom’s height. She was short; I’m short, too, but she was shorter.  So, I always had to buy her petite size slacks so she didn’t have to cut them off. Often that forced me to have to look hard for outfits in two different departments or I would buy petite for me and just deal with shorter slacks than I preferred!

            So, we wore our outfits together proudly and often explained why we were dressed alike. We always gave Dad the credit for starting this tradition.

            When Mom passed away, getting rid of our look-alike outfits broke my heart! I couldn’t imagine seeing them on someone else. Then I had a brainstorm! I shipped them off to a girlfriend in Virginia, wanting her to have them, and I didn’t have to see them again. In fact, those outfits were the first of Mom’s clothes to go!

I did continue wearing mine, celebrating the connection to Mom. This tradition blessed my heart for many years. Do you have anything like it in your family? Share yours with me!

~ NEW Christmas Chapbook—A Colorado Country Christmas—Full color paperback chapbook or digital version. Visit my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft to purchase: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaradasReadingLoft

~Whitey & Gladys Puerling were playful friends of Flippo’s who created a Fan Club. I thought it would be fun to recreate this group. Would you like to join the Marshall Flippo Fan Club Facebook page? Read interesting posts about Flippo’s life. https://www.facebook.com/groups/328325644382769/

~I HAVE OVER 200 PRE-ORDERS FOR THE MARSHALL FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY!  You, too, can pre-order this amazing story? You can select which paper format or e-book format you would like. Go here to order the version you want. Monthly SWAG Giveaways!  https://goo.gl/forms/4D4hwbHdme1fvJc42

My Hair Was on Fire!
Christmas · Christmas · My Thoughts

My Hair Was on Fire!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

My childhood holiday experience included activities at our Community Church. Here’s a poem from my book, A Tumbleweed Landed, recognizing the place that church had in my life.

Branson Community Church
 
The Branson Community Church
 small and quaint.
  
 People that touched my life
 Maynard Bowen,
 Walt Graham
 Ministers of God, who took the time for me.
 The Loudens
 The Gilstraps
 The Smiths
 The Warners
 The Cummins
 Mabel Survant
 Mrs. Jamieson
  
 Sunday School teachers
 and family friends who let me sit with them,
 singing my songs out loud
 when I couldn’t even read.
 Beautiful old hymns and singing.
 They loved me, taught me,
 and encouraged me.
 A safe place to be on Sunday morning,
 and a nice place to meet God.
  
 Youth group on Sunday night
 games and talking about God
 Youth group picnic and campouts at the Gilstraps
 and the annual Christmas programs.
  
 One year, at the Christmas program
 I was an angel
 with the other young girls.
 Donned in our white robes, wings, and haloes,
 we walked in a straight line
 carrying lit candles.
 The girl behind me got too close
 and caught my hair on fire!
 Our teacher quickly handled the situation, and
 I wasn’t burned.
 The program went on.
   
 Copyright©2014, Larada Horner-Miller

~ NEW Christmas Chapbook—A Colorado Country Christmas—Full color paperback chapbook or digital version. Visit my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft to purchase: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaradasReadingLoft

~Whitey & Gladys Puerling were playful friends of Flippo’s who created a Fan Club. I thought it would be fun to recreate this group. Would you like to join the Marshall Flippo Fan Club Facebook page? Read interesting posts about Flippo’s life. https://www.facebook.com/groups/328325644382769/

~I HAVE OVER 200 PRE-ORDERS FOR THE MARSHALL FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY!  You, too, can pre-order this amazing story? You can select which paper format or e-book format you would like. Go here to order the version you want. Monthly SWAG Giveaways!  https://goo.gl/forms/4D4hwbHdme1fvJc42