Holidays Bring Cheer for Cook Children's Employees

Donna Capps Picture

Family Fun

Tanisha Grant, Director of Corporate Compliance: Every year, starting the weekend of Thanksgiving, we have a family tradition that carries us through to Christmas. When our kids were younger, we’d kick it off by taking them to visit Santa. Then, for the next four Saturdays, we bake our favorite cookies: chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and frosted shortbread thumbprints (we add a little cocoa for a special treat). While baking, we watch Christmas movies together. It’s something we all look forward to and it’s a fun way to spend time as a family.

Donna Capps, Licensed Clinical Social Worker on the Ernie Response team: Over the past several years, our family of four has started traveling over the holidays. It has become almost a tradition to be on a cruise ship at Christmas. This year, we are looking forward to having my mom join us.  I believe that this will create a wonderful memory for the kids. It’s ultimately about family and quality time together. That makes Christmas for us.

Bethany Hooper, Director of Practice Operations in the Neurosciences Department: I love to go on road trips with my kids! I have been a single mom for the last four years and it has been really important to me to create magic in the available moments. The kids and I will plan an adventure including where we will be stopping and the activities along the way. We especially love to thrift shop and will find unique thrift stores when we are on the road. We are typically doing this over a holiday break.

Tanisha Grant Picture

Favorite Celebration

Tanisha: My favorite tradition is our cookie baking and Christmas movie nights. We kick things off with “Home Alone 1” and “Home Alone 2”, then move on to “Jingle All the Way” and “Jack Frost.” We always end the season with “A Christmas Story.” My husband and I started this tradition because we wanted to share the movies we loved growing up with our kids. Over the years, it’s grown into something even more special. Now, our kids can invite their friends to join in, and they’ve added their own favorites to the mix, like “The Polar Express,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and “Fred Claus.” It’s become a meaningful way for us to connect, laugh, and enjoy the magic of the holidays together

Donna:  This year will be different as we are traveling to Lubbock to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents who moved into an assisted living earlier this year. But, normally, we start our Thanksgiving at Cracker Barrel.  It is great for our family of four. Each of us is able to get what we want for the meal. It’s the best option for us and there are no leftovers. After we finish with our meal at Cracker Barrel, we head to the Fort Worth Zoo. As it’s a holiday for most, it is not crowded. We spend two to three hours there enjoying our time together seeing the animals. Later, we may decide to head to someone’s home to share dessert and coffee. 

Bethany: My favorite road trip that I took with my kids was over a Thanksgiving Break. I had the week off and we knew we were going on a trip but we had no idea where we were going. I called this the “Choose your own adventure trip.” The kids and I got in the car on the first morning and I asked my son (9 years old at the time) to pick a direction. He picked north and I started driving. We ended up in Omaha, Nebraska! The second day was my daughter’s choice and we had a more leisurely day, stopping often and ending in Arkansas. The third day we came home. It was so much fun to figure out our route, spontaneously choose hotels and restaurants, and just enjoy being together. My kids still talk about that trip.

campus christmas tree

Special Memories

Tanisha: One special memory that stands out is the first year we started the tradition of baking cookies and watching holiday movies. Seeing the excitement on our kids’ faces when they visited Santa and watching them enjoy the movies we grew up with was unforgettable. That moment brought home what the holidays are all about: family, love and making memories.

Donna: My daughter is a Wish Kid. A memory that I will always hold dear is from her Make-A-Wish trip. Her wish was to go on a Disney Cruise, and it just so happened to coincide with Christmas. From the time that we boarded the plane to Orlando to the sailing, it was such as special time. Our fellow passengers and the crew made it so special. There was caroling with Goofy dressed as Santa, hot chocolate, story time with Mrs. Claus and a visit with the Big Man himself. It was so special. It was such a blessing, and I loved watching her face light up. Best Christmas memory ever!!!

Bethany: I have many memories of cooking with my mom and grandma. My family is Norwegian and holidays are when we would eat traditional Norwegian food such as kringla, lefse, and krumkaka.

Bethany Hooper Picture

In with the New

Tanisha: If I could add a new tradition, it would be a summer twist on our holiday tradition. I’d love to have outdoor movie nights with a projector, where we could all pick a movie, bring snacks, and enjoy being together. It would be a great way to keep that sense of togetherness outside the holiday season.

Donna:  As a family, we love to travel at the holidays. We are together sharing experiences and creating memories in our way to last a lifetime. I love that we are able to do this and hope that my kids continue this. But I  also encourage them to not be stuck in the “should” and develop their own traditions in the future if they decide to have families of their own. There is no “right” way to holiday and traditions can evolve.

Bethany: I love both a family game night and doing puzzles on a holiday. I think I potentially did both of those too much with my kids when they were little because now they do not like either one. I am hoping they will come around when they get older.

This holiday season, let us remember that although we all have our own traditions and ways of celebrating, we are still similar in many ways. The holidays can be a stressful time for many but family traditions are a way to bring a sense of joy into this season. Have fun celebrating with your own special traditions or try some new ones this year. Happy Holidays!