6 • December 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Daddy I Need…Christmas Cookies! by Gabriel A. Fraire ~ gafraire@comcast.net


Healdsburg, CA. ~ Christ- mas is especially great when you have children. One thing my wife and I have always done is buy our Christ- mas presents throughout the year. If we see something


“on


sale,” or if we just see some- thing we know would be a great gift for one our daughters we go ahead and buy it. We like this approach because is spreads out the expense of the holidays and it also makes the final weeks toward Christmas much less hectic.


The only problem is hid- ing those gifts from the kids


before Christmas. I can get pretty good at it. Sometimes too good, like finding a hid- den present three


months


after Christmas had passed.


One year I de- signed a scav- enger hunt at Christmas so my girls could search for their gifts. I figured that way I’d be sure to keep


track of the hidden treasures. We had several gifts under the tree to start because we didn’t want to miss that look of “big eyes” kids have when they first see their gifts. But after the initial unwrapping we had the hunt and they loved it.


But my favorite part of Christmas is Christmas cook- ies. We always enjoy mak- ing the cookies and then taking a plate around to


all


our friends. The nic- est thing about this is that it helps re- inforce


the notion that Christ- mas is a time of giving.


One Christmas


we were visiting some dis- tant family members. After we had been at their house a little while one of my daugh- ter came up to me and asked, “Don’t these people celebrate Christmas?”


I was a bit confused, they had a tree, the house was all dec- orated, there were even some presents under the tree. So I asked her, “Why do you ask?”


She just gave me an expression as if that were the dumbest ques- tion she had ever heard. Then she said, “I don’t see any cookies.”


Happy Holidays!


Gabriel A. Fraire has been a writer more than 45 years. He has written fiction and non-fiction books,


plays, poems,


music lyrics, and news ar- ticles. But, he writes about his children exclusively for the Upbeat Times.


JOKES & Humor # 3


Why is it a bad idea to insult an octopus? Because it is well armed. ~


Man to his wife:


“Do you know what our 6 year old son wants to be once he’s big?”


Wife: “No.”


Man: “A garbage man. And you know why?” Wife: “No, why?”


Man: “Because he thinks they only work on Tuesdays.


During the


holiday season, it’s easy to forget that


sometimes the best giſt of all is simply the giſt of time. I can’t think of


Manage your risks with crop insurance from American AgCredit. You can rest easy, knowing that we’ll be there for you, no matter what tomorrow brings.


anything a writer would appreciate more than being given time and


space to work. Kate Klise


EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED


Jim Pratt (left) Cornerstone Vineyard Management Santa Rosa, CA


Call 800.800.4865 today or visit AgLoan.com


A part of the Farm Credit System. Equal Opportunity Lender.


Available on iTunes and Amazon Joanne L. Mumola Williams, PhD


Download these Delicious Live-Changing Recipes Today!


6 • December 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. “He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.” ~ William Blake


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24