Christmas Memories
 

I sooo enjoy Christmas and would love to hear some of your favorite Christmas memories and why.

The one Christmas that really stands out to me was the year I got a Cabbage Patch doll! And I still have it! :D. I was always such a lucky child. My parents went above and beyond to make us happy. I was very very blessed.

I was the same way Rhonda I was so blessed to have my parents:) My Mom passed away when I was 13 but I carry on her love for Christmas:) We would have so many presents under the tree but what I remember the most was the love they put into all of them and how big my mom smiled when we opened them:)

I too was always blessed at Christmas time, my parents went above and beyond to make sure everyone got what they wanted. My fav memorie, was the year mom made mashed turnips to go with the mash potatoes. Dad loaded up his plate with what he thought was potatoes, the look on his face and the expletives that came out of his mouth, when he realized it was turnips (he hated them) made us all howl with laughter. Mom knew it was turnips and watched while he loaded spoon after spoon after spoon with a quiet secret smile on her face, then burst out laughing as the first cuss word came out....which sent the five of us into gales of laughter. Omgosh I'm laughing now just thinking about it as I type this.....:D Even after he finished cussing, the look of love on Daddy's face as he looked at my mother...I just knew I wanted to marry a man that loved me as much as Daddy loved my mother.:)
Daddy has been gone six years now, he sits and argues poitics with Auntie Joyce (his older sister) and Granmy...I can just imagine....how I miss him.

I remember being very little,living in Fla,getting up on Christmas morning to a bubble hair Barbie in a beaded and sequined,white satin wedding dress (that my mother made),standing next to Ken in a black tux (that my mother made),Midge was there as the maid of honor. They were standing infront of the original Dream House. I still have Barbie,Ken and Midge. That same day I got to sit in my driveway and play with my little friends that also had Barbies and Kens.
I still have the dress and tux and my mother later gave the pattern to me,so I could make clothes for my girls Barbies.

Daddy used to usher in Christmas by bringing home from the Farmers' Market downtown a box of fruits, nuts and huge, monster peppermint candy sticks(2" in diameter and 12" long). He'd get odd things like kumquats and persimmons besides the huge navel oranges, huge red apples and candied pineapple, apricots and some other dried fruits the farmers' wives made. Mother decorated the house so beautifully and Daddy hung the outside lights. We ALWAYS went to have pictures taken with Santa Claus and gave him our long lists. Afterward, that night, Daddy would drive us around to see Christmas lights all over. We always had a real Christmas tree and piles of gifts and my parents really outdid themselves with Santa's gifts. My brother and I would leave out cookies and milk and in the morning, crumbs in the plate and an empty glass and dolls, trucks, doll carriages, little farm and ranch sets, Cowboy/Cowgirl outfits, doll dishes, sports equipment, radios, games, etc. - a dream load of wonderful toys. My favorite Christmas was the year when my main present was a huge, almost lifesize Madame Alexander doll lying in a beautiful box with pink tissue paper, dressed in a pretty organdy-like blue and white dress with patent-leather shoes and white lacy socks. I carried that big thing to meals, to play, to play tea parties, outside/inside with me - whatever I did. I slept with her, changed her clothes almost every day and did her hair. She was my constant companion and wore my young arms out hefting her around until I learned to walk her. It was so slow to stand behind her and leg at a time swing her so she'd "walk" but way less tiring! I still have pictures of "Penny" and me together. I don't remember anything else I got that Christmas - just Penny. I guess it was my best Christmas memory as a child.

One of the yrs that was fun with the yorkies is when My5 cats were kittens and me and my hubby got a ton of toys for the yorkies and a ton for the kittens,
some we wrapped and some we just gave them but it was so cute wjen I brought them out chachi and Jewels were so excited and the cats were going crazy playing. It was so much fun just shopping for it but the reactions made it memorable

One of my favorite memories were of my two sisters and I playing in the snow. We would double our socks on our feet, put on our saddle back oxfords, double sock our hands and rush out early to a new fallen snow to build our walls for our snow ball wars. We would pound each other with snow, hooping and hollering then falling down laughing and make snow angels, swishing our arms and legs back and forth in the snow. Both my sisters are in heaven now, but I can still hear those three little girls giggling and feel the hint of snow on my face.

Thanks for sharing your Christmas memories, keep them coming. I am really enjoying them!

My fondest Christmas memories was when I was probably 5 or 6 and my Brother was 9 or 10. This Christmas both of my parents were alive and Santa Claus had brought us Bicycles!!! We were given strict instructions we could not get up before daylight but of course we were kids and probably didn't sleep at all. My Brother snuck down our stairs to go into the family room and check out the gifts and some how knocked over both of the bicycles waking up the entire house.

My fondest Christmas memory is when I was 5 and we were living in a one-story adobe house in Arizona. I was helping put out the decorations near the fireplace when I heard, "Ho ho ho" from the chimney. I ran to my mother exclaiming, "Santa is here!!!"

The ho ho ho came from my father who was on the tile roof setting up the luminarias. :p

My parents let me believe that Santa was visiting early. :)

Last Christmas was awesome with my friends and family

Growing up, I lived upstairs from my aunt, uncle and cousins. My Dad worked in the restaurant and club business. So Christmas Eve, my cousins and I were allowed to stay up late to wait for my Dad to come home from work. My Aunt would always save some strufoli, just for me, that my Dad's cousin would make. Now every year, I make strufoli and remember eating cousin Antonette's strufoli.

Imagine your parents' horror waking up to that racket!!! LOL!

My fondest memories would be from when I was little. We would go to my grandmothers house. We would sing Christmas caroles all the way there, and when we arrived... the smell of food cooking was so wonderful! We'd have a full meal. Soup, salad, the works! And the pies! My grandmother would make each person's favorite pie to have for dessert! And she'd always had a house full of people for Christmas dinner since she was 1 of 13 kids! Each person had their favorite type of pie :) After that Christmas, I started learning to cook at her side. I still make many of her recipes for Christmas (Holiday) dinners.

Funniest memory was being put at the kids table with my husband (in our early 20's) and I didn't like being at the kids table. I was married!So, being the rebelious type that I am, I yelled into the formal dinning room (from the kids table in the kitchen)"At what age do we get to be at the big people's table?" My cousin's were at the table, also adults. 9 of us all together. They started complaining. We all wanted to be in the other room, WITH THE ADULTS! After a few minutes of whining, someone yelled back from the dinning room, "Theres no room in here, someone has to die to make room, and no one here is ready for that!" We never asked again.:cool:


My most recent favorite Christmas memory though is putting the tree up this year. Cinders was so into it. Looking at it, trying to get the low ornaments, sniffing the unlit light string on the floor, and jumping when I plugged the string in and the lights lit up under her paws! After the boxes holding the decorations were put away and I could enjoy looking at the tree, I saw something laying on the tree skirt... It was Cinders favorite toy! It was like she knew something nice belonged there. :)

Cinder, we also sang songs all the way to our Grandma's house, laughing together and loving it. Grandma was a wonderful cook who was a "just throw it in until it taste good" kind of cook. I doubt she ever had a cook book. Just like you, my Grandma was the one that taught me "the beginnings" of cooking. Wonderful memories! Sure wish I could find some molasses like she used to serve........yummy.

Christmas time in general has always been what I look forward to all year. When I was little, I used to get SO upset that I could never make a perfect snow angel. There'd always be that mark where I had to push off the ground to get up. I would carefully lay down, move my arms and legs to form the angel, and sloooowly get up and that feeling of anticipation and looking down and my angel would be messed up...I'd start crying and my dad would tell me to try again. Finally I got so upset that I refused to make a single snow angel ever again. My dad insisted I try one more time...so my little four year old self flopped down and started the angel, and daddy came over and picked me up off the ground. No dents or marks left behind. I remember being so happy I finally made a perfect snow angel. :) My dad even took a picture of it with a polaroid camera and it's in a scrapbook I made as a child. Good times...

I also remember sitting in the living room with my parents and stringing popcorn with a needle and thread for the tree. I would never sneak a single bite...and when my dad would, I'd tell my mama onbhim and she'd pretend to scorn him, and I'd laugh my head off.

Also, I remember one Christmas in particular, I got an easel from pappaw that he built himself and painted pink. I was soooo happy...I loved that dang thing. It was twice as big as me.

Christmas Decorations, Oh My !!!

Gracie has the worst time with any changes and turns into Velcro Yorkie. She sniffs every plastic tub of decorations, with intense suspicion. I think she is fearful that a tub might contain another dog, she would have to share me with. Little Abba was happy to pee on as many storage tubs as he could, until I put a belly band on him. Now he does his bouncy dance while giving squeaky little woofs and harmless leg lifts. Rubin just yawns and goes to his crate for another nap, not bothered at all by the mess. As long as Mama, treats and his nappy crate are the same, his world is pretty perfect. Our little beastie brat and nosey girl Ginny Joy is beyond excited. She tries to get into the tubs to see what might be fun to chew on or play with. She barks at the stuffed musical animals, nabbed a ceramic Santa off the table and took it to the yard, to bury it. She has played tug of war with a string of lights, and taste tested the cookie scented candle. She grabbed the tree skirt and tried to take it for her new blankie, but of course I wouldn't let her have the sparkly fur trimmed blankie in her crate. So she turned her attention to the 'new to her/ very old to us, Santa pillows on the sofa. Lily the Lab thinks a tree in the house is really weird, and is watching it to see what happens next. One of the plastic storage tubs, from the outside shed, had mouse (maybe some other tiny creature ?) mouse droppings on the lid. She and the Yorkies went crazy. Growling, yipping, pawing at, sniffing attacking that tub.I smiled at my teenage granddaughter and ask want some coco ? She yelped Granny it is 80 degrees ! I want a diet coke." I looked at her sweaty, dirt streaked, sweet face and smiled. I started to hum deck the halls as she clunked ice into her glass and I flipped on the AC.

Happy Holidays, Teresa & the Just Right Yorkies

The story above was from last year. This year Julia Rose has joined the family. She is fascinated with the twinkly lights. She lays with her chin on crossed paws and stares in awe. We have a small animated elf frog that plays jingel bells and she goes crazy when we turn it on. She backs up barking, then runs for my lap. Abba has given up marking the tubs, and instead tips his nose up like a blood hound, sniffing the cookie scented candles and evergreen. He is content to sniff the presents and hasn't chewed any. Ginny Joy still looks at the tree skirt with longing and has agreed to leave it under the tree this year, if she can lay on it there.She nudged gifts around to make a place for herself. Gracie stole baby Jesus from the manger and hid him in her crate. We knew what she did when she growled at any Yorkie who walked by her crated. She was guarding her new baby. And Rubin of course ignores the silly frivolity until I hang his sock. Then he goes and lays under it waiting for the treats and toys to fall out ! Merry Christmas All !

Oh, Carmeow, I loved your snow angel story of you and your Dad. I can just picture that little frustrated four year old and her Daddy, the hero, there to save the day. I am so glad you have a picture of that perfect snow angel. Such memories.


Teresa, sounds like you, your fur babies and granddaughter are making some wonderful, fun new memories. I would probably go for the coco to even if it was 80 degrees, but my grand kids probably would want the soda. Lol. We have our tree up with the lights on it, but other than that it is naked. DH and I are planning on decorating it Friday night. Yes, we will have coco, Christmas music and the fire place lit (even if we have to turn on the air conditioner).

My favorite Christmas memory is when my husband proposed to me. He was supposed to propose to me on Valentines Day, but I was upset because it was my first Christmas without my daughter (She was with her dad). He got on one knee and proposed to me in front of the Christmas tree. We have been together 12 years now and married 10 years.