The weather in Texas the past several days — cold, windy and downright blustery — has gotten me feeling a bit sentimental about the state I’ve spent most of my life in and where all of my siblings and parents still reside. We’ve always gotten together at my parents’ house for Christmas to eat, drink, laugh and enjoy each others’ company. Among other dishes, Christmas food always includes my mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup, potatoes, Polish blood sausage (it’s my favorite; I drown it in vinegar) and lots of cookies and candies. Of course, there’s always the customary Old-Fashioned (or three) for the adults, too! We fill our bellies before we open gifts in the basement, although several trays of goodies always seem to make their way down the stairs, begging us to munch on them while watching the kiddos delight in their presents. We oblige, of course, because it’s Christmas and it shouldn’t be any other way.

This year though, my husband, daughter and I weren’t able to make the trek to Wisconsin and missed the holiday festivities. I called my parents’ house as my brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews were arriving, so I did get to talk to many of them. It was nice to hear their voices and it made me feel a little bit like I was still part of the holiday fun. But it still wasn’t the same. I think it was hardest on daughter, who really misses not only her grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, but her Wisconsin friends, as well.

What did help is that husband’s father now lives near us, so we were able to spend time with him for Christmas. For about the past 10 years, he’s lived in Arizona, so we didn’t get to see much of each other during the winter (he doesn’t like the cold winters). When we moved to Texas, however, he decided to buy a house just down the street from us. Now we get to see him anytime we want!

One of my sisters and her husband also came for a visit a couple days after Christmas (I think they’re responsible for bringing the cold weather with them!), and we had a nice couple of days catching up, seeing the Christmas lights on the Georgetown square, shopping and watching the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions for the NFC North title. It was SO nice to see them. Not to mention they brought us some Spotted Cow, a New Glarus, Wis., brewed beer that we can’t get here in Texas.

We’ve got a couple more visits to look forward to — son is coming next week and another sister and brother-in-law will follow in February. Hopefully by then it will have warmed up a bit.

Until then, I’ll just have to settle for looking at photos of my Wisconsin garden from over the years. These are some of my favorites: