Christmas Memories

A fake tree pulled from the attic above our garage. Strings and strings of white pearls. White crocheted snowflakes. White ribbon angels. Tangled strings of white lights that made my dad irritable. Pink ball ornaments. Clear glass hearts came later, along with frosted white picks that my mom poked into the tree all over the place. Sounds like a hit and run from Martha Stewart, huh.
That was how our tree was always decorated. (I found it odd later when Rus and I shared our first Christmas that he had a box full of homemade ornaments dating back to his birth, and I had none. Not one. So he was a little surprised when I returned from Michaels with coordinating ornaments and ribbons to decorate our first tree. I didn't know any better...We didn't use his ornaments that year, but I love using them now.)
My family always got out the little porcelain nativity set and put in on the round end table (the one with legs that looked like baseball bats). We'd lay out angel hair first and Mary and Joseph would look like they were floating.
From some dusty shelf we would pull out Christmas music...Mannheim Steamroller and the well loved Chipmunks Christmas record. Yep. Record.
Then there were our stockings. They were white felt with felt people on them. My stocking has a drummer girl on it with blond pigtails and a tall red hat. The insides were lined with plastic. One year my oldest brother James left a piece of candy, chocolate I think, in his stocking all year long, just to see what would happen. He proved how wise it was of my mom to line the insides. I still have and love that stocking.
The final token piece of many of my childhood Christmases was the big blue Christmas lights that my dad would hang on our home in Sierra Vista every year. When a bulb would burn out he would somehow replace it with another, although the blues never quite matched. So year after year our pink trimmed home bore the disgrace of those blue lights. I think it was the invention and overwhelming success of icicle lights that finally made my parents retire those blue ones!
There were other traditions, though...Every year we had Christmas eve dinner with the Callahan family. We would have dinner at one home and dessert at the other. Marinated grilled turkey breast, golden ("yucky" because I hated them at one point) potatoes, green beans, clover rolls...pumpkin roll and pies for dessert...No one cooks better than my family and the Callahans at Christmastime. And we would have a special punch that we'd drink in special stemmed glasses. We would always dip our fingers in it and circle the rim of the glass, trying to make it sing. I still remember Erin Callahan breaking a glass that way. After dinner we would all pile into our vans and we would drive around, oohing and aahing at the Christmas lights and singing carols. My dad is famous for his Luff-language version of Jingle Bells, and I am proud to say I have also mastered it. Call me. I'll sing it to you. :)
My first very clear Christmas memories are from when we lived in Germany. I fell in love with the Kris Kringle Marts and advent calendars. I was six, seven, eight, and very much believed in Santa Claus. I remember creeping down the stairs in the middle of the night to try and catch him...I even thought I saw him in the shadows and ran, scared, back to my bed. Then another year I found a big black garbage sack in the front hallway and I peeked inside...it was filled with toys for Christmas and then I knew the truth about Santa. I still loved the anticipation though. On Christmas morning we would line up, youngest (me) to oldest and wait for my dad (who took an inexcusable amount of time) to turn on the music and make sure Santa had come. Then we would march down, bursting with excitement, and take in the sights of Christmas morning...Stockings scattered across the room with our "big" Santa present beside it, unwrapped. There was a barbie house for me one year, a small rocking chair another (I know, unusual, but I loved it), new scriptures, white and purple roller skates, a cd player and music, hmmm...I really can't think of many more...Other gifts I loved were from my brothers and sisters. Amy got me roller blades one year with her bonus money from work. Tyler bought me a globe one year and a yellow bean bag chair another. James sent me a real butterfly in a clear plastic case. Jared got me a puzzle ring one year. (I practiced for hours that Christmas until I figured it out.) I still have it and I can still put it together. Amanda made me a bunch of snowman ornaments for my tree a couple of years ago. Always there were clothes from my mom (she is still my best personal shopper!), reeses trees and snickers nutcrackers.
One Christmas we woke up to find that my friend Nathan had toilet papered our house to give me a "White Christmas." So Jared, Amy, Tyler, and I balled up all the tp, made it into a snowman, and returned it to him. I loved that Christmas!(Notice the blue lights. That was 1999, and they were long overdue for a landfill. :)
Well, while I should mention many more things, like how The Muppet's Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever, I guess I've said enough.
I love Christmas because of the wonderful memories it brings me of being with my family.
I hope yours is just as merry this year!