Advent of Christmas Memories December 7, 2015 - Christmas movies and TV

I love the the old holiday shows that i grew up watching when I was a child and then when we had kids and grandchildren. It seemed to be magical that they were something you could always count on to be exactly as you remembered. I can remember very clearly bundling up to watch the set when they finally came on.  Some of our favorites were Charlie Brown, Frosty, Rudolph and the Little drummer bo

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Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories December 6. 2015 - Santa Claus

Our family has always loved Santa and we have so many "Santa" memories that I will only share a few here. I have kept many of my dolls and plush from when I was young and remember where each one came from except the "elderly" stuffed Santa that was with my treasures from my earliest memories.

I always made sure he was well placed with the Christmas decorations, and because he seemed like a much older wiser Santa, I made sure he was never slighted by the newer, brighter and flashier Santa's. I didn't find out where he came from until just a few days ago when I discovered a photo of him in one of my parents' albums. Lo and behold, there he was sitting very proudly under the tree between my grandparents, Manley and Priscilla Dunn. What a surprise, I think I was right, he was a very distinguished Santa before he came to live with us.Another favorite Christmas eve was when my daughter Sandi and her cousin Lon were about 2 or 3 years old and Santa came to visit walking right up the sidewalk to the house. My mom had arranged for Santa to come to the door instead of down the chimney (since we didn't have one) bringing some very special gifts. In Santa's bag were toys and life sized Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that she had made, including matching Raggedy outfits for the kids. Santa even spread his visit to the little boy next door who was terrified and would have no part of it!

And finally, I saved the sweetest for last. In 2004 the three youngest grandchildren Jayden, Jazzie and newborn Taytum were visited by a very special helper of Santa's. Our 13 year old grandson Joshua, agreed to help Santa out and let his cousins and little sister have their pictures taken with him.It went something like this:
ME: Josh, I think you would make a great Santa

JOSH: I don't think so grandma 

ME: Sure you would, we will even get you a cool suit to wear, just likeHalloween

JOSH: Ummmm I'll think about it 

Sometime later:

ME: Josh, look, your mom found a really cool Santa Suit!!!!

JOSH: MOMMMMMMM!!!!ME: Please?????

SILENCE AS TIME PASSES

JOSH: Ummmmm, well, I guess I could do it, it does look KINDA cool

Christmas Eve 2004
JOSH: Uhhh grandma???

ME: Yes Josh?


JOSH: This is really really hot and sweaty........How long do I have to wear it for? JOSH: Grandma???
Grandma???? where did you go???????? man I gotta get outta here.............

ME: THANK YOU JOSHUA .......Here comes Santa Claus here comes Santa Claus.......

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories December 5th, 2015 - Holiday Recipes

My dad's mother was born in England and at Christmas time, there were always special foods we did not normally see throughout the year. One of the dishes was suet pudding. I might have been able to try it if I had not watched my mother make it. I could not ever get it past my chin, and I could not understand why you would eat something with FAT in it and think it was so yummy. The next treat, bread pudding, was another matter entirely. It was made and served with the best thick lemon sauce to put over it. It was very mysterious, as it was always kept wrapped in wax paper in a tin and kept in the refrigerator. This was the treat my dad always coveted, hid, and snuck out to the kitchen for in the middle of the night. The other two foods that seemed to be very popular were the mince meat pie and the fruitcake. You never had to worry about me taking anyone's share of those! I did not find out until much later that every Christmas was a test of sorts for my mother, who was not from England, but she worked hard to prepare the special menu items perfectly so that they would pass my grandmother's inspection. Maybe that was why she didn't really care for the traditional foods???

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories December 4, 2015 - Christmas Lights

2014 was our second Christmas in our new home and our first year to decorate.  

We coordinated our outside lights with our neighbors so we blended together with the same lights.  Steve was really happy to see that the previous owners of the house had already put nails up to hang the lights from! 

 I concentrated my efforts on decorating the Agave and desert plants as well as our little palm plants! We really enjoyed finally being able to make our house our home!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories -Dec 3, 2015 -Christmas Music

Christmas music was always a big part of our family Christmas's. When I was growing up, we had one of the big console radios with a phonograph it.  We listened to Christmas music on the radio and we had a few 78 records with Christmas music as well. 

The one I remember best had a yellow label on it with Santa and Reindeer on it. I think I almost wore it out. It had all the popular kids songs on it by the original singers. I also had the Alvin and the Chipmunk's record. When the school would put on Christmas concerts, I always signed up. I know my brother's sang in Choir at church as well. When I was 10 I learned how to play the organ and a friend of ours gave me hers. I practiced everyday throughout the year but I loved to play the Christmas music every night when mom and dad got home.When I was older and moved to Arizona, I joined the Dickens' strolling caroler group and spent many enjoyable hours singing for others. I also participated in church choirs and the Arizona Mormon Choir. These experiences have been some of my most treasured memories. It would not be the same for me on Christmas if we did not share it through music.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories December 2, 2015 - Christmas Cards

I'm fortunate to have a collection of my grandparents and parents' letters and cards. Some of them are as old as the early 1900's, but the majority of them are like the ones shown here from the 1940's. I love the soft colors and innocent images, these are the images I grew up with in the family scrapbooks and albums and they almost seemed like storybooks to me.

Not only are the cards beautiful, but the personal notes inside were handwritten with beautiful penmanship and hopeful messages for the upcoming years.

I feel so fortunate that I have been able to learn so much about my ancestors from these cards. So many of the cards are from brother's and sister's and aunt's and uncles that had passed long before I was born. The cards I treasure the most are the ones that were sent between my mom and her mother. Some of the thoughts they shared showed how much love and concern they had for each other and how much they missed being able to see one another.

We no longer exchange cards in the family and I can't help but feel an obligation to make sure that my grandchildren appreciate the treasures in this little box of memories.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 1, 2015 Christmas Trees

This year has brought so many blessings in our family along with an new little Blessing Malachi who arrived in January.  This year, I wanted to Blog about our Christmas memories again this year so I decided to re-post this first entry from 2012! I hope you enjoy it!

I love putting up the Christmas tree each year, but some years are more memorable than others. My favorite memories are of trimming the trees with my children and grandchildren.  It seems like we are opening boxes of treasure as we pull out the ornaments. Everyone has their favorites that they remember from year to year.

Luckily even the ornaments my parents had survived through years. We usually end up with ornaments and lights tangled together before we are finished because I always try to string the lights first and everyone else wants to put them on last!  

Finally, the best moment is always lifting one child up to put the Angel and Star on the tree to finish!  The most precious times were when we all would finish and my oldest granddaughter would get in the big rocker and read our favorite Christmas stories.