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December 2024
Your Trusted Advisor Zihmer Law Firm Season of Giving
Our Holiday Traditions and a Timely Reminder
Our Holiday Traditions In our family, we have consistent and fond traditions. The day after Thanksgiving — after a night of nursing a food-induced coma and regrets of eating that extra slice of pumpkin pie — we head to the local tree farm. While we do not chop down the tree ourselves these days, we still have a fondness for a live tree. There is just something about genuine branches to decorate, and a real wood trunk to arrange your presents around.
The holidays are when families — some of whom have not seen one another for quite some time — get together at last to share words, gifts, and conversation at the dinner table. While the holidays are a great time for togetherness, they are also a time of reflection. Along with pleasant words, fond memories, and delicious meals being shared, we inevitably also form new insights about our loved ones. It could be that you have welcomed new cousins and grandchildren; new marriages could be forged or divorces finalized; or a family member’s health may have deteriorated, giving pause and worry about their future. These developments can change the family dynamic and require us to rethink our circumstances. It could be that you realize assigning your medical power of attorney may be necessary to consider, or that you wish to account for new additions to your family. Whatever the case, the passage of time is the herald of change, and it is necessary to account for these changes in our estate plans. Though the holiday season is an especially busy time for estate planning attorneys with end-of-year updates and last-minute tax planning, we, too, experience change with the new year and spend time enjoying our family traditions.
Collecting Ornaments No Christmas tree is complete without all of the Christmas lights and an assortment of ornaments. We have a tradition of getting new ornaments wherever we travel, and to get ornaments that reflect our kids’ favorite characters and movies. Whether it’s Disney World, the beach, or wherever we go camping, we grab an ornament, not only to serve as a decoration, but also to remind us of our adventures together. By the end of the year, when we finally put up all of the ornaments, the branches are heavy with mementos of the previous year and years past, all coming together to write the history of our family.
Time With Family When Christmas finally arrives, we like to spend the holiday with friends and loved ones. Christmas Eve is a night spent with my family. Then, on Christmas Day, we enjoy a dinner at home with my husband’s family and welcome anyone who wants to stop by beforehand and join in on our Christmas cheer! From our family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Could your grandchild be a future celebrity chef or a world-class baker in waiting? Help transform your grandkids into tiny tastemakers by following these three simple tips. Use your space as a skill zone. It takes more than just a love of food to make delicious meals and treats, as cooking and baking put all five senses to the test. Helping in the kitchen enables small children to heighten their awareness of smells, tastes, sounds, and textures while learning new words. Having them measure ingredients and pour them into bowls is an easy way to refine their motor skills, and your guidance behind the counter will encourage them to follow directions. If your kitchen companion is a baby, you can still involve them by describing the sights, sounds, and smells surrounding them and letting them touch some of the food — all great tools to assist in developing their connection to the world. Kid-proof your meal prep. Before taking your grandchild on a culinary journey, check that their countertop travels
won’t endanger them. It’s obviously a big no-no to rest a sharp knife on a cutting board that small hands can reach, but little things like toothpicks can also pose a risk. If your small assistant is old enough to cut up ingredients, a plastic utensil will be less painful than steel if the blade misses its mark.
Keep family flavors flowing. Want to give your children and
grandchildren a meal memory they’ll never forget? Revive a family recipe, share its history with your grandkids, and have them help prepare the dish for the entire family! Holiday gatherings are great for sharing the details and delicacies that shaped your family’s history — and a wonderful opportunity to pass down those special traditions to the next generation. With the holidays upon us, now is a perfect time to introduce little ones to the joys of baking and cooking by turning your kitchen into a safe space for learning and bonding.
Kitchen Adventures: Kid Edition WHISKING UP FAMILY FUN
REVIEW AND REVISE The Importance of Updating Your Estate Plan SE
The end of the year is a great time to reflect, revise, and reprioritize, especially when it comes to your estate plan. What changes have you and your family experienced in the prior months? Are there new children, grandchildren, or relationships to consider? After the holidays have passed, you may be thinking of what your New Year’s resolutions should be. While reading more and losing weight might be great goals, there is definitely an objective you should have in mind: updating your estate plan. Why should I update my estate plan? An out-of-date estate plan can be a burdensome problem for the ones you leave behind. Without a proper, accurate plan in place, there is no guarantee your wishes will be carried out after you pass away. An updated estate plan can also provide your beneficiaries and loved ones peace of mind, and prevent your family from spending time scrambling to determine how things should be settled. You do not want to make your passing
any more difficult than it has to be: By making an estate plan that accurately reflects your wishes, you can make the transition easier.
What updates should be made? If you have acquired new property or other assets, or are in a new financial situation, accounting for that in your estate plan is necessary to ensure there are no surprises when your estate is being settled. Moreover, relationships change, and family dynamics shift, both of which should be reflected in how you distribute your estate. If the worst were to happen, and you or a loved one’s mental acumen declined, assigning medical and financial powers of attorney can help your family take better care of you and your estate in the difficult years ahead. Whatever your circumstances, updating your estate plan is a must as we enter a new year.
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The Surprising History of the Christmas Tree A GLOBAL SYMBOL ROOTED IN ANCIENT TRADITIONS
It should come as no surprise that many of our holiday traditions have time-honored lineages. Santa Claus, mistletoe, and nutcrackers have stories that have withstood the test of time and are part of our celebrations today. The same goes for our beloved Christmas tree. Before it was essential decor to commemorate the holiday season, the Christmas tree served as a fragrant evergreen, providing joy during harsh winters. But that’s not the entire story. It’s roots can be traced back to ancient Rome, the medieval period, and Germany, with ties to the Garden of Eden. Decorated trees have played an essential role in many faith-based rituals throughout human history. During their winter festival, Saturnalia, the Romans honored the god of agriculture, Saturnus, by decorating evergreen trees with small pieces of metal. In the Middle Ages, these “paradise trees” were decorated with apples, symbolizing the feast between Adam and Eve. Because of this, some link the Christmas tree directly to Christian cosmogony, and the tradition evolved through the retelling of religious practices and ancient stories, but that’s not the case.
The earliest record of a decorated Christmas tree dates back to a diary entry in 1605 Germany. It described a tree decorated with candies, apples, and paper roses. The first record of Christmas trees in America dates back to 1747, when Moravian Germans in Pennsylvania built a wooden pyramid community “tree” and decorated it with candles. Unfortunately, many did not greet the celebration with welcoming arms. As late as the 1840s, many Americans viewed these holiday traditions as “pagan mockery” and did not accept them. The season’s frivolity was so frowned upon that the General Court of Massachusetts enforced penal offenses against anyone hanging decorations on Dec. 25 in observance of the holiday. However, by the 1890s, the once “unholy” tradition gained more acceptance in the U.S. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that Americans embraced the holiday tradition.
Who knew the Christmas tree had such a rich history? Many feel gratitude for the ancestors of Christmas past, as their traditions and faith shaped how we celebrate and cherish the special season today.
Inspired by Delicious.com
Sticky Fig and Pecan Pudding With Toffee Sauce Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Ingredients • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened • 2/3 cup brown sugar • 2 eggs, beaten • 1 tsp baking powder • 3/4 cup self-rising flour • 3/4 cup dried figs, roughly chopped • 3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped • 1/2 cup hot water Toffee sauce • 1/2 cup unsalted butter • 1 cup brown sugar • 1/2 cup heavy cream
Grease a 6-cup ovenproof bowl and line the bottom with waxed paper. 2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and flour until smooth. Stir in pecans and figs, then add 1/2 cup hot water. 3. Pour batter into prepared bowl, cover with a circle of waxed paper, then cover tightly with foil. Bake for 50–60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. 4. For toffee sauce, put butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Stir in cream and increase heat to medium. Bring to just below boiling, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–7 minutes until thickened. 5. Turn pudding onto a plate and drizzle with toffee sauce.
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Inside 1
A Timely Reminder to Secure Your Legacy
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Mix, Measure, and Make Memories Why Updating Your Estate Plan Is Crucial
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The Fascinating Story of the Acceptance of the Christmas Tree Sticky Fig and Pecan Pudding With Toffee Sauce
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Tips for a Tidier Life
DECLUTTER YOUR LIFE HOW TO BECOME A TIDIER PERSON
Clean Slate Keeping a clean home can help you be more physically fit. According to a study by Indiana University, a tidier living space contributes to higher levels of physical activity. Keeping things clean means keeping active, and even if you don’t exercise for 30 minutes daily, 30 minutes of vacuuming or any kind of scrubbing is still a great way to keep yourself moving. Daily Declutter While tidying up the home may seem daunting at first, it can be much easier if you break it down into smaller tasks. Doing a bit of laundry every other day helps prevent you from having to do a massive load later. Picking up around the kitchen when you get a snack or cook a meal can prevent that space from looking like a scene out of “Kitchen Nightmares.” Wherever you go in your home, if you pick up a thing or two cluttering the area and put it away, you are well on your way to becoming a neater person.
If the top of your desk looks like a photo op for an “I Spy” book, chances are you could benefit from tidying up. It isn’t easy saying goodbye to your familiar clutter, but it’s for the better. A messy environment can be stressful and frustrating, as it makes finding anything more difficult and worsens the overall attractiveness of your home. While change can be challenging, it is worth the effort for your home and health. First Thing’s First Growing up, your mom probably reminded you to make your bed. There is a good reason to prioritize that first thing in the morning, as it helps set an intention to accomplish the
little things and get your day off to a more productive start. It also contributes to better sleep hygiene; a cluttered bedroom and undone bed could be hindering your sleep. So, eliminating potential distractions, including an unmade bed, could enhance your sleep.
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