December December 2015
www.MoonValleyTattler.com
Trading Pork Pies in Maine for Pizza Pies in Moon Valley T H E T U S K A I FA M I LY I grew up in southern Maine and Christmas was a special time with lots of family, food and laughter. I have three siblings, fourteen aunts and uncles plus so many cousins I lost count. We’d all squeeze into our house on Christmas Eve and feast on my mother’s buffet, which always included Tourtières or French Canadian pork pies. Relocating to Phoenix after college, getting married to a man from St. Louis and having two kids changed everything. While most of my relatives still live in Maine, it became harder for us to return each Christmas. Staying local forced us to do what other Phoenix transplants must do: create our own holiday traditions. Fortunately, moving to Moon Valley in 2002 made that easy to do. Instead of serving pork pies on Christmas Eve, we started to make our own pizza pies after attending twilight service. Some years we have friends over, but more often it’s just the four of us trying to one up each other on who makes the better pizza. Best of all is what’s happening outside our front doors: holiday luminaries and lights displays! While we give a Charlie Brownworthy effort to our outdoor decorations, a few homes on our street are usually named to the Moon Valley 12 Homes of Christmas list. A non-stop procession of cars inches along our street to experience Moon Valley in all its glory. Sometimes we’ll see a truck pulling a decorated boat or a trailer filled with families on hayrides. We often hear the sounds of Christmas music and jingle bells as they drive by. One year we even saw Santa and Mrs. Claus on the back of a convertible. What also makes the holidays so special in Moon Valley is spending time with the “family” we picked: our wonderful friends. We’ll all gather for Christmas dinner at the Weber house and bring our favorite dishes to share. Chris will make his assortment of pies, the old fashions will flow and it will be easy to count our blessings. One day my kids will be able to say: I grew up in Moon Valley, AZ and Christmas was a special time with lots of family, food, laughter ... and luminaries.
VOL 35 No. 12
Celebrating Holiday Traditions with Moon Valley Families The Adopt A Family program is very special to us. Phoenix C h i ld r e n’s Hospital asked us to be a part of this program several years ago to enable them to broaden the program scope. Each year, at Christmas time, the hospital gives us names of families that are in need of Christmas. Each of these families has a child receiving treatment at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, and are experiencing other difficulties in their lives. Through the Foundation, we have been able to consistently provide gifts, food, household necessities, and other items for each of these families. From 2006 - 2014, we have adopted more than 530 families. In 2014 alone, we adopted 101 families! What a blessing it is to be a part of this program. Our volunteers love to give and this program gives them an extra special feeling as they bless the lives of these children and their families at this special time of year. This year we helped 90 families from PCH
rg u b n r o H e Th Our top 3 Christmas Fa m i l yin Moon Valley traditions: 1.) A hay wagon ride with neighborhood friends down Candy Cane Lane. 2.) Roasting marshmallows around a campfire in our front yard watching the parade of light seekers. 3.)Hiking Shaw Butte and adding our ornaments to the decorated Palo Verde tree.
Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders with a holiday of their dreams. Last Friday many volunteers meet to wrap gifts for EVERY member of these families. Volunteers from all over the city came to help. We saw many familiar Moon Valley faces smiling as they helped to create an amazing Holiday for these families. Thank you to all that volunteered. To get involved go to www.teamjaydie.org or on Facebook Team Jaydie.
Tea m Jayd i e
Th e Hutt e n m e ye r Fa m i l y
For many years we have a Christmas caroling party with friends from Moon Valley. Most of the children have taken music lessons of some sort throughout the years, from piano to cello to bass guitar. Each of the kids, and some of the adults, take turns playing songs while the rest of us sing along. It is a wonderful tradition that seems to get better every year!
Andy 12, Matt 9, Grace
6
Continued on page 3...