Bringing the Smokies home for Christmas

Campfire could help set stage for Smokies-style Christmas

I got a call from a niece this past week concerning the Skupien family Christmas get-together.

We always have supper on the Mississippi Gulf Coast at different locations whether it is our house, my mother's or some other relatives'.

We usually don't have a theme, although a number of years ago we had a "pajama" theme.

At that time everyone was asked to wear the nighttime attire. Why? 

Well, my mother fulfills what a mom and grandmother always seems to do at Christmas-- buy clothes for their offspring. My mother for years usually included a pair of pajamas in everyone's Christmas bag.

So that one year we decided to let her know we appreciated what she did. And everyone complied. It was not only a fun time, pajamas are really comfortable and with the elastic waist bands, we weren't as restrained when it came time to sit down at the table and gorge on the goodies.

Well, this year, we're going to have somewhat of a theme -- and guess what? It will have us experiencing some of the things from our favorite place to visit -- the Great Smoky Mountains.

We'll be meeting at her brothers in D'Iberville. It will be an open air place that will give us a feel of the outdoors but there will be protection in  case of inclement weather.

We'll probably have hotdogs, hot chocolate, s'mores, popcorn and favorite meals others want to bring and have enjoyed while in the mountains.

We won't have a cold running river, but someone might get splashed somehow.

Back in 2009, we did have a family get-together in the Smokies with about 30 in attendance for a few days.

As my niece said, its hard to get that many people together in the mountains, so this Smokies' Christmas party may be just the thing to get a taste of a place we all love and we'll only have to travel a few miles for the experience.

Next post: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2011