Hot Tamales

I love my big, loud, giving, and wonderful family. Sometimes I forget that everyone does not have the same love, acceptance, care and support that I have from my family. My family on my dad's side of the family has been making Christmas tamales longer than I have been alive. I love it!! It is a great time of fun, love, laughter and making memories. We normally wake up and start at like 7:30 in the morning and then we finish around noon...Growing up my grandpa always had the most important job to clean the corn husk and the olives. Growing up I was always close to grandpa. He taught me how to clean the corn husk and how long to soak them , the proper way to gather up the hair, etc. My grandpa has been gone now for two years . I miss him and it was hard for my grandma. Last year I decided that as long as my grandma makes tamales at her house that I will take over my grandpas job of sneaking little kids olives on their fingers, clean the corn husk and heckling my aunts, uncles, cousins and loving my grandma. We started later in the afternoon this time around and that felt very wierd because we didnt eat any mexican bread or drink any coffee and everyone was already awake so the heckling was too much!