Last Christmas, Randy and Chelsea DuVall wanted to give their daughter, Harper, a gift that reflected their shared passion showing dairy cattle, would last longer than any toy and be more personal than a store-bought present.

“As dairy producers, we need to make bringing people to the farm part of our job,” says Kevin MacLean, owner of Ripplebrook Farms. For MacLean, building consumer relationships isn’t just about an occasional conversation with consumers, it’s a conscious effort to connect them with the source of their food.

Her dad shook her shoulder lightly. She slowly opened her eyes; the transition to the bright overhead light he’d flipped on was jarring. Then, she remembered with a quick rise of her pulse, it was Christmas. Had she slept in? Where were Clara and Ethan?

“Feliz Navidad” was ringing through the Faber household as I sat down to write our Christmas article. Christmas music in the beginning of November seems a little early. Christmas celebrations should have a firm line in being celebrated post-Thanksgiving.

In winter, I have often stood in the icicle air and gazed up at the starlit sky. The pinpricks of light shimmer and flicker in the velvet blackness, while their reflections, like millions of candles, dance across the frozen snow. The whole world sleeps under the warmth of an icy blanket. My soul is filled with indescribable peace as I marvel at the grandeur of it all.

I was destined to love Christmas. With the name “Joy,” how could I not? For so much of my life, I believed that the reason I loved Christmas was some delicate balance of gifts and decor, and the wide variety of sweet treats, but as an adult, I see there’s so much more.

This holiday season, Challenge Butter is proud to partner with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to support its mission of improving treatments for pediatric cancer.

I have thought quite a bit about Mary this Christmas season, especially the part at the end of the Christmas story we read in Luke 2: “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Christmas is a special time of year, filled with sharing memories of Christmases past and spending time with friends and family. Progressive Cattle staff and a few of our regular contributors share Christmas memories that have a special place in their hearts.