I Lefse My Heart in San Francisco

Hunter's very first Christmas, I was that guy and we dragged him to the mall so he could sit with Santa and have a picture taken. Now parents don't do this for the kids. Sometimes it is to build a tradition or get a little product placement and brand recognition face to face with the big red guy. Well for tradition anyway.

But mostly, it is because we were torchered so we want to pass on the special feeling. Hunter was, predictably, that screaming kid who wanted nothing to do with that picture. Or that big red guy.

As the holidays are approaching I always stop to ponder the new traditions and Hunter will include going to his grandparents in Minnesota for Thanksgiving. These trips are wonderful and as Hunter gets older, these traditions will sit with him, as will learning to talk about the weather.

This year it was so cold in Minnesota that a couple weeks after left, there was such a spectacular storm that the baggies which hold up the Metrodome roof imploded, tearing and causing tons of snow to come billowing inside the dome. Watching the video, it looked like one of those Billy Blanks late night infomercials advertising some new "unbreakable" garbage bag- You can see here as I try and punch my fist through and stretch and pull, the bag stretches with my arm, it bulges, but it never breaks. (Which if these bags existed, let's honest, they would be one of the greatest inventions/presents you could give my dad. This is, after all, the man for whom we have to set out Hefty bags on Christmas morning along with all the other presents.) Anyway it made for spectacular TV as I was watching football, but the real point is that the weather is besides the point.

Hunter gets to hang with his grandparents and his uncles, whom he rarely gets to see. This past summer we went to visit them and rented a Pontoon boat for fishing and Hunter caught two fish before I caught one. Of course, if I fell out of a boat into the cold winter water I could not catch a cold, but that is a different story.

These are the types of memories he will always carry with him. He just threw his line over the side, and watched like he supposed to, and then as his line bobbed, he pulled, and reeled in his very own fish. I was too busy eating goldfish and checking out where we were on my iPhone GPS to notice. (By the way, those things are cool, an actual map of the lake appeared and it knew exactly where we were, real 007 stuff.)

So I want him to know what the traditions are, as best we can. So he knows when we go to grandma and grandpa Pattersons house, we go shopping on Black Friday, we help them put the lights and Christmas decorations up and we have good time.

I remember Thanksgiving as a loud blur of Spanglish and Amero-Salvdoran fusion food (I totally made that up) but it always included waiting for the turkey no matter who was cooking and lots of good company. Because there so much at these parties it could always be counted on that there would be people I did not know/remember and loud conversation. The loudness could be counted on like clockwork, or having Lucky Charms at Carmelita's house. But he is building new traditions. Like signing the Christmas cards or playing cards and board games a night.


(Check out the picture if you want a glimpse of what the family looked like to me at Hunter's age, espcially my grandfather ;) >

Speaking of culture, this year we went to the Mall of America so Hunter could ride on some of the amusement park rides. He loved the log ride, but the giant Pall Bunyan and Ox, scared him more than large drop off at the end, where he was scared but when we were done he said- No I wasn't. So I know he was.

And we went to a Warriors' game. Yep, playing the Timberwolves in Minneapolis. For a mere ten bucks, we were able to walk right in and sit directly behind the bench. That was cool. But we did not make lefse. This is a Patterson tradition, but apparently it does not happen every Holiday. I can see why. It tastes wonderful but it is certainly a production to produce. When I first met heather, lefsa and her father's stuffing were the the two things I knew first about her family traditions.

Also, it did snow. Did I mention it was cold? Hunter was able to go out and build a mini-snowman and we were able to some serious sledding. It was the third time down when Hunter trying to snow-board on the sled that I knew he was ready to learn to ski. We also enjoyed time enjoying a bonfire with Heather's brothers although I am not a good lumberjack. Despite the weather I was able to enjoy a couple of runs in the snow. Jogging outside is fun there as long as you can keep your cheeks from freezing. All in all we were grateful and thankful to build such a foundation for our family, I know my son will never be out in the cold about his own family values.

As a new Christmas approaches, I am helping him build his new traditions at home as well. I remember my Papa building toy trains for under their Christmas tree. I mean literally building them, he was like an inventor and would make all sorts of things. My brother can do that too. Me, I put the wood tracks around the tree and turn on the battery operated Thomas train. But it was decorated in Christmas colors and we used cotton to make a winter scene, so it has to count for making something.

This year we have also been to two different lighted boat parades on local canals. The first one was great, we went to a buddies house where there were 3 or 4 kids Hunter's age to play with and one big guy, maybe ten. Hunter played football with him all night. He missed most of the boats, lit up with brilliant colors and reindeer and sleighs and whatnot, but, no he played football with the big kid. I mean he saw some of it, he was excited when we first got there and made it about ten minutes. Then he saw this kid playing football and he was done. They were tackling and running and playing catch. It was awesome.

Then a week later we went to a different house, on a different canal and Hunter met Santa. Santa sailed up on a boat and delivered a present to him and his friend Jack. Very cool. He cried as got on the boat with Santa but he did reach up and grab the the present so that is progress. At an earlier visit to the mall I could not get him to go into the place and stand near Santa. So we stood outside an looked in at the big red guy.

Soon we will go to Grandma Sharon's for some lasagna and beef wellington and sit around, enjoy each other and wait for the big red guy to come to our house and eat cookies and milk. My favorite new tradition. I hear he likes Heather's oatmeal-raisin cookies.