Keeping Christmas

This book brings home the stories and origins of the treasured customs which Norwegians use to celebrate the Christmas season. Norwegian immigrants carried with them centuries-old folk tradition, which they held especially dear at Christmas time, remembering family members left behind. But the US, the immigrants and their descendants met the newly evolving traditions of the commercial American Christmas, a powerful homogenising force in a nation of immigrants. Stokker describes and traces the development of folkways on both side of the ocean, from their origins to their practice today. With fascinating details, with scores of accounts of ancient and modern Christmases, with recipes and photographs, this book reminds Norwegians and Norwegian Americans of their connections to each other and explains how their celebrations differ on this joyous family holiday.

For the first time since their children were born, empty nesters Judith and Stan Winters spent Thanksgiving without the kids, and it's looking like Christmas will be the same. Judith can't bring herself to even start decorating for the holiday; her kids always hung the first ornaments on the tree, ornaments they had made each year since they were toddlers. Sure they were strange-looking--some could be called downright ugly--but they were tradition. A tradition she's heartbroken to miss this year. With Judith refusing to decorate the bare spruce tree in their living room, Stan knows something must be done. And his only hope for saving the holiday is found in a box of handmade ornaments. Fan-favorite Dan Walsh invites readers to enjoy this nostalgic Christmas story that celebrates all of our most cherished seasonal traditions, especially the importance of family. Readers will join in remembering the things that make their own Christmas season so special.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year—or at least we want it to be. Too often our celebration of Jesus’ birthday is overwhelmed by bright lights and tinsel, overspending and overeating, plus constant chatter about a “war on Christmas.” Can’t we do better than this? There are two Christmases. One is sacred. One is secular. The two have clashed in one “culture war” or another for 1,700 years. Christmas is not (as some falsely claim) a pagan holiday, but pagan-influenced traditions are part of the seasonal clutter. Keeping Christmas is about helping you find joy in a season of excess and strife. Part survival guide, part history, part cultural commentary, and all laced with spiritual reflection, this book is about how you can celebrate in ways that are most meaningful to you and your family. It’s not easy to thread your way through the Christmas maze. But if Ebenezer Scrooge could learn to keep Christmas well, so can you. Maybe it’s time to reinvent Christmas. Maybe we can get it right this time.

CHRISTMAS NEVER MEANT MUCH AT THE BONNER ESTATE...BUT COULD IT BECOME A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER AT CHANCE WALKER'S MONTANA CABIN? Ten years ago Dixie Bonner was the favorite wild child of a powerful Texas oilman. But after uncovering a dark family secret that cast suspicion on everyone close to her, she took off for a new life and never looked back.

Dylan loves his family's yearly vacation to Holiday and wishes it could last all year. When he finds a flyer asking if he'd like to keep Holiday, he encounters a bigger and better Holiday than the one his family has always visited; he also learns that entering it requires the Founder's authorization. Thus begins Dylan's quest to meet the one of whom people keep saying: "You can't find the Founder; he finds you./He's not just the Founder, he's the Finder too." As Dylan reads of Holiday's origins, he experiences a number of adventures and meets characters who represent the sights and sounds he always finds in Holiday-characters who explain how each of these familiarities points to the Founder's previous rescue of the city's inhabitants. And the more Dylan learns, the more he longs to personally know the one who holds the key to entering the "real Holiday." Writing for elementary-age children and older, author, teacher, and grandmother Starr Meade offers a book that families can read together, discovering along with Dylan how God brings a person to faith. Keeping Holiday is also a charming, insightful way to help children grasp the meaning of the Incarnation.

Shhhh, don't tell! This is the secret, true story of Santa Claus.

The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall by Charles Edmund Brock, first published in 1906, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

When Katie "Smith" and her baby boy, Kyle, appear at the Owens family home one night during a snowstorm just weeks before Christmas, it seems a cruel twist of fate. Katie looks exactly like Jacob Owens's dead wife'and Kyle could be his son! At first Jacob wants nothing to do with the mysterious woman. But before long, Katie accomplishes what no one had thought possible'she breaks through Jacob's grief, giving him back his joy for life. But how long will she stay' Katie is obviously running away from someone, though she won't say who. Whatever happens, Jacob vows to keep her and Kyle safe with him'at least until Christmas.

A PI hired to find a wealthy Texan’s daughter finds himself falling for his pretty prey in this romantic suspense from a New York Times–bestselling author. Ten years ago Dixie Bonner was the favorite wild child of a powerful Texas oilman. But after uncovering a dark family secret that cast suspicion on everyone close to her, she took off for a new life and never looked back. Chance Walker is the cool-eyed cowboy hired to bring her home by Christmas. But after catching her, he can’t decide if she’s a blackmailer or a victim. Is he tempted to protect her because she’s telling the truth—or is he falling for her? Holed up in a remote Montana cabin with the bad guys closing in, two stubborn souls need to trust each other if they hope to survive the season.