I’m sending holiday good cheer around the world to you this morning! (My family’s sleeping in from our late night Monopoly marathon; I’m up with my early morning coffee, admiring our tree.)

Anticipation brings joy, and I truly believe that you can have maximum fun with minimum effort, so for you — my list of holiday goodies to enjoy.

For families — Christmas Camp Out
We started Christmas Camp Out when the boys were little and budgets were tight. We’re still going, 15 years later. On December 23, the kids open their Christmas pjs, then they drag sleeping bags under the tree and have an indoor camp out. Late night stories, lots of laughs. It was THRILLING for 3 year olds to sleep under the tree, and honestly — teenagers still love it.
Take a walk — alone or together
For us, it’s a big bush walk. Walking is the perfect way to de-stress, to think about what you love, and to get your body moving. My teens chose a bush walk that was 3 kilometres down a cliff and 3 kilometres back up. Not kidding you. I’m sore this morning! Wherever you are today, take a walk and appreciate how beautiful the world is.

3. Enjoy your holiday treats

We all have a few holiday treats we love. For us, it’s old-fashioned Coconut Ice and Rum Balls at Christmas.

I use this recipe for Coconut Ice, and I always make Vancouver chef Diane Clement’s rum balls.

4. Always this: gratitude.

Because no matter what we’re facing this holiday — and I know, we rarely share the absolute hard stuff but we ALL have it happening — we need to take a little time to appreciate our lives. The old cliche is true:

5. Friends and family: reach out!

A one minute text message, a photo sent, a call, a hug, a minute to really listen. Give the gift of your attention. We can all do more of this. My big sister, Cookie, always says: “Is there a piano tied to your keister??” which makes me laugh every time. So unless there’s a piano tied to you, you can easily reach out to someone. We all can.

From me and my (tall) family, Happy Holidays. It’s an absolute privilege to say hello every week. Thank you for reading!

Thank you for being lovely.

Love, Catherine x