What the holiday season means to our sugar family

Don't worry folks we aren't decking the halls just yet here at the Sugar Mill.  However, we understand and value the importance of the holiday season as individuals, families and friends.  Before the season kicks off ahead of us we wanted to take the time to share a little from our hearts about what the holidays mean to us.  First up are professional photographer, Marcus, and stylist and model, Monica.  Thanks again for being loyal customers and family to Sugar Mill...Happy Holidays!




What the Holidays mean to me...... Love, Happiness, Sharing and Giving. (Monica)

Love~ To have a day when our entire family is together. We Laugh, cry, hug, tell stories, and watch all the love that surrounds us. Aunts, cousins, dads, Uncles, sons, daughters, Moms, Grandmas, Grandpas, husbands and wives..... a room full of LOVE

Happiness ~ The Holidays mean peppermint mocha lattes from Starbucks, and getting up at 3 am on Black Friday and laughing about how stupid it is.... then doing it again next year.

Sharing ~ Sharing the joy and laughter with the ones we love and care about the most

Giving ~ Not only do I love to see the faces of my family light up when they open a gift they just love, watching them play and laugh. My favorite part about sharing during the Holiday and a family tradition is to help out at the homeless shelter, watching my kids share in the joy of helping those most in need. Their selfless hearts and open arms in interacting with the homeless is the best gift I can share and receive during the Holidays

(Marcus)

Queue the music...
Queue the soft warm lights....

Queue the fireplace....

Queue the dog to come in and lay at my feet...

(lighting a pipe and gently rocking in the rocking chair)

Zoom in, - I'm ready for my close up....

When I was a kid, I lived in Dallas. And every year when Thanksgiving would roll around, we'd pack up the car and take a 5 hour ride to San Angelo where my Grandmother lived. She had a little house on a corner right next to a park.

My dad and I used to walk across the street to the park and toss a baseball back and forth enjoying the down time and enduring the chilly air as we just made time to hang out.

Grandmother had a huge pecan tree in her front yard and we'd all spend time out there picking up the pecans. They don't make them anymore so most of you probably haven't seen one of these, but what we used to pick them up with was a rectangular box attached to a pole. The box was open on both ends but the bottom had a few thick wires stretched across the base of it. What ya do is walk around and then kinda push down on the pecan sitting on the ground and it those wires would spread wide enough for the pecan to slip into the box and then they'd bounce back to normal, holding the pecans in. We'd get huge amounts of pecans for Grandmother's homemade pecan pie - and it was delicious!

In the evenings, we'd all just sit around in the living room, watching the seasonal shows on TV while Grandmother made dinner. And she would make a huge spread. There was hardly any room on the table for our plates. Then we'd all cram around the table and eat till it hurt and return to the living room to sit around and complain about how we all overdid it.

Now Christmas....let me tell you about that!

My mom LOVED Christmas. As soon as we got back from Thanksgiving with my Grandmother, out came the decorations, and she had a TON of Christmas decorations. She'd have stuff hanging off the doors, the mantle, stuck to the windows, little Christmas knick knacks everywhere. It was like Christmas exploded all over our house.

And from Thanksgiving to Christmas, mom would break out all of her Christmas records and play them over and over and over again, singing along and just really getting into it, building up the whole event. I can still hear my mom singing off key to those old songs and it still makes me smile when I think of it. - And now I know almost every word to those old songs. And yep, I sing along now too - but I make sure nobody can hear me cuz I can't carry a tune at all!

And I wish i could show you her Christmas tree! She made all of the ornaments herself. She'd get these white styrofoam balls and just COVER them with beads, lace, and all kinds of stuff. Different colors, sizes, and everything. We had so many lights and ornaments on that tree that it took HOURS to put it on there. - But it was all worth it. You've probably never seen a tree like my mom's.

So now I LOVE those old Christmas songs from back in the day. Whenever I hear one come on the radio now, it really takes me back to those great times during the holidays with my family.

And that's what it's all about. Family and friends. Spending time with them, enjoying each others company and even each others quirks.

Along the way of life we gain family, and sadly we lose family as well.

It's memories like these that help bring them all back.