November 23, 2020

Client Christmas Gifts

Category: Miller Moments | Tags: 2020, christmas, gifts, hollidays, traditions

Posted by Meagan

Oh, 2020. This year doesn’t seem so sad to see come to a close… Ending this chapter of chaos, and inviting in the next one. But, as Accountants, we don’t just sit in the chaos; we work hard to create calm and order. In finances, in life, and even in gift giving.

While the staff of Miller Management regrets that we couldn’t gather this year to assemble our client Christmas gifts as in years past, we tried to find some other ways to provide a personal touch, while still being “hands off” this year.

You might also like: our 2019 Holiday Traditions post

Christmas Songs

Holiday Traditions

This year when asked about traditions surrounding the holidays, we encouraged people to respond with how 2020 could look a little different.

Every year, each member of the family picks out a new ornament that means something to them about the current year. When we decorate our tree, we get out all past ornaments and arrange them by year before we put them on the tree so we can talk about all our memories.

– Tiffany R.

Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings at our parents’ house in Tulsa. With my children grown and one married, we’re moved from Christmas Eve to the weekend before or after. With Covid we may have to be virtual but fortunately everyone is in good health without vulnerability other than age.

– Maureen R.

My family is originally from Tennessee. ALL of our extended family still lives there. So every Christmas we load up the car and drive back home. We usually stay with my family for a few days, then travel visit my husband’s family. The long road trip is filled with frequent snack stops and lots of great discussions (and movies). Our kids reconnect with their cousins. It’s a time filled with stories, games and amazing food. I’m not sure how this year will look. It may be our first Christmas without our family since we moved to the KC area 9 years ago. If that’s the case, we will still be thankful for what God has provided for us. We will still play games, bake and watch plenty of movies. Although, we will miss the ones we don’t get to see nearly enough. ❤

– Dana M.

I love everything about Christmas!! I love how talking about Jesus is completely normal and seeing nativities everywhere. We send out a lot of Christmas cards, so in turn, we receive a lot. We tape them on the doorframe between our living room and kitchen. It is fun to watch it fill up as we near Christmas.

– Ashley H.

Buying for and packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. It’s been more individually done this year and has involved a bit more online shopping, but it’s still been a fun process!

– Laura S.

When our kids were little my husband assured me that restaurants would be open after our Christmas Eve church service. After the service we found there were no restaurants open. So, we ended up at QuikTrip to get hot dogs. Ever since that year we still go to QT every Christmas Eve and they get whatever they want. Our kids are adults now and this tradition continues. Our picture in front of QT will look a little different this year since we will be wearing masks.

– Kerry M.

Kim always cooks “Party Chicken” for Christmas eve dinner that we host at our house, lots of good memories….not sure what we will do this year.

– Glenn M.

“Decking the halls” of my house with Christmas decorations with my family is my favorite holiday tradition. We usually do this the weekend after Thanksgiving; however, a recent tradition my husband and I started is to set out our Nativity set in November some time before Thanksgiving, since that is the biggest thing we are thankful for-Jesus!

– Ileah C.

My family has really gotten into lighting candles each week of Advent. This year, we will be having a little Zoom party to light the first candle with others from our church.

– Meagan M.

Holiday Recipes

Find recipes for Gooey Butter Cake, Puppy Chow, Opal’s Cherry Delight, Turkey Cheese Ball, and more on our Pinterest board. All staff favorites to either make or just indulge during this season. Keep scrolling for two holiday recipes.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• One 12-ounce bag cranberries
• Combine the sugar, orange juice, 1/2 cup water, the cinnamon, salt and cranberries in a medium saucepan. Bring up to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Holly Wreaths:

• 1 cup of butter
• A little vanilla
• 25 large marshmallows
• 4 cups of cornflakes
• Green food coloring
• Cinnamon Imperials
• Melt the butter and marshmallows like you would to make rice crispy treats. Mix in vanilla and food coloring. Add in cornflakes. Scoop a cookie sized amount onto wax paper and add two cinnamon imperials. Let them cool and enjoy.

Notes of Encouragement

We want to leave you with some encouragement. We’ve all had one heck of a year, and our clients have been so flexible and gracious as we were all navigating 2020. Thank you to each one of you!

You can also view the video on our Vimeo page.

You might also like: our Thankful November post

Share Your Christmas Favorites

We hope you enjoyed this year’s extension of our gifts to clients! We would love to hear your favorite Christmas traditions or recipes on our Facebook post.

What it used to look like; vs. what it looks like now.