Its that time of year again

The trees are all bare, with a bunch of leaves on the ground.  Mine are all raked up and placed into piles waiting to be placed in bags.  My house is all winterized, with the plastic on the windows.  The temperature outside is extremely cold.  I am not a big fan of this time of year.  I dislike wearing big bulky winter coats and having to break out the gloves.  If it was my choice it would be 70 degrees all year round.  The only good thing about this time of year is all the holidays.  I love spending time with my family and the holidays are one of the best way to do this.  We get together for thanksgiving and of course Christmas, but my family has some traditions of its own.  Every year we do what we call candy cookie day.  We all get together with the goodies we made and visit.  We also divide up the goodies and make christmas trays for the people in our lives.  I love this day, it is always fun.  We have also started doing a white elephant christmas gift exchange.  Last year was our first year to do this and it was a blast.  So even though this time of year is not my favorite time, I always find ways to make the best of it with my family!!