Yes, we have bragging rights to the cold and wind here in Saskatchewan!
When the temperature with the windchill is anything  less than -40 C, there are very few things that will call us out of the house.  But my good husband was willing to brave the frigid weather, take a list and pick up the last minute grocery items I needed for our Christmas meals!
While still loading the cart at Co-op with many goodies that I didn't have on the list, I sent him a text to pick up something else and take it up to Dad at the hospital.  He gladly agreed to go that extra mile.
Just over an hour later, a gust of arctic air blew into the house as Walter brought in a few bags of food and a gift bag from my dear Auntie Eleanor.  Her famous toffee- melt in your mouth recipe that if you try to chew will rip the molars out of your jaw bone!  You can only melt it in your mouth, one piece at a time.
As I unpack the grocery items, I stir the red cabbage and bacon simmering on the stove and pull the apple kuchen from the oven.  If we don't eat some of this food soon, we'll be overrun with holiday dishes and have no more room to store it all!
Fortunately, while we are busy with finishing touches on our festivities, Mark & Amy are on the highway (from Amy's time with her family in Gladstone, Manitoba) which on a clear day is about a 5- hour drive.  They have one stop along the road to meet a relative who will take Amy's Grandma Healey for a Christmas visit.  So, we find things to do to fill the time while waiting with anticipation for our son and daughter-in-law to arrive.  Watching Netflix shows, snacking on tasty but calorie-laden goodies and wrapping presents~not me, but another Selke family member!
Soon hugs, greetings and luggage will fill our quiet home as we all join together for the holidays!  We hope to have a quick supper and then take in the movie, "The Hobbit", part 2.
So, this evening we will force ourselves from the warm security of our house to enjoy a family movie night out...we will brag about the Christmas of 2013 when we remember Mark & Amy's road trip, our family tradition of a holiday movie and whatever else happens this absolutely ridiculously cold night!
Happy Holidays, everyone!