Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams.

Four days before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except for our Elf on the Shelf. I love traditions, old and new. Whether it be a dish passed down from my grandfather or something my husband and I came up with a few years ago. This time of year is filled with special activities, food and memories.

On Christmas Eve, we would dress up, load all the gifts in laundry baskets and head over to my grandparents’. My grandfather was from the South, so every year, we’d eat fried chicken and potato salad. I don’t believe the chicken was actually fried, but rather baked. I mean, it might have been, but we ate it cold so it didn’t have that fried feel to it. As a child I never cared much for potato salad, but I’d always have a small scoop to be nice.

We would hang out, eat and open gifts until the midnight church service, which I always enjoyed. The message was short and sweet: the account of Jesus’ birth read right from the scriptures. They would hand out candles and we would circle around the parameter of the pews. With lights off and candles lit, we would sing a song, and for a few minutes you could just feel the peace that comes with Christmas.

My grandfather died when I was young, but the tradition of fried chicken and potato salad lives on in my house. I remember my first Christmas alone with Brian, and it wasn’t even negotiable. I ran straight over to KFC before they closed and I got that food, because it’s tradition. Over the years I’ve tried my hand at preparing the meal from scratch. Currently I order the chicken from any number of places in town and I prepare my own potato salad. It satisfies both my need to prepare food for the ones I love and eat delicious fried chicken.

In my home we have created our own tradition of buying one ornament that represents something new or fun that we experienced during the year. On our tree you’ll see a house, a baby stork, a Hawkeye, pirate ship — 15 years worth of memories we’ve created. Every year we sit down toward the beginning of December, and my husband tells a little story about each ornament before we hang it on our little 2.5-foot tree.

We try to cruise around town one night and admire all the pretty lights and then come home and enjoy some hot cocoa. We still read the account of the Savior’s birth a few days before Christmas, and our children reenact it with our Little People nativity set. We try to watch the movie “Elf,” and when the kids are old enough I’ll introduce them to “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” I have this monkey bread recipe my grandmother taught me how to make that we enjoy every Christmas morning: “Quick and Easy Monkey Bread” from allrecipes.com. You’re welcome.

Apparently I’m trying to start a new Christmas tradition. I play the Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” loudly from our Alexa in my kitchen whilst I slide around in my socks pretending that I’m putting on the concert of the century. I really do think this one will catch on. Especially if my microphone is a piece of crispy fried chicken.