Merry Christmas!

December 17th, 2008 | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas!

I really cherish the memories I have of Christmas while I was growing up. Our family celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would go to our church’s candlelight service and afterwards the church would hand out bags of peanuts and chocolates to everyone. Yum! Then at home we’d have chili or potato soup for supper and afterward open up our presents. My parents might save one or two for Christmas morning, but the majority of the gifts were opened on Christmas Eve. The next day we’d usually go to Grandma’s and have turkey or ham and just spend the day together playing cards and games. We’re nuts over card and board games. My Christmas (and Thanksgiving) holidays do not seem complete without them.

The pictures above are from 1971, 1978, 1984, and 1991. Top left is my brother and I, and the top right picture is me (left), my brother, and my cousin. On the bottom left is my brother, little sister, and I, and the bottom right is a pic of one of our card marathons. The little girls laughing are my little sisters. My husband was taking the picture, and as usual he probably said something silly to send them into hysterics. My grandma is also in the picture and she looks almost the same today! Please don’t judge me by the outfit I’m wearing; it was a gift – I swear!

Of course, after my husband and I had our two kids, Christmases were all about them. We still opened a few of the gifts on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas afternoon or night we would celebrate with my husband’s family and open the gifts from that side of the family. The top two pictures below are from 1995, and the bottom two are from 1997.

Unfortunately, I am not organized with my pictures at all and also haven’t taken many from recent years so I don’t have any to show you that are too recent. Plus, my kids would be more embarrassed! But, below on the right is a picture taken yesterday of where we live and celebrate Christmas now, and on the left is a picture of my house in Colorado where I grew up. We’re in Iowa, my husband’s family is in Kentucky, and my family is in Colorado, so celebrating holidays is a little tricky, but luckily we’re in the middle so we can go either direction. Thanksgiving is now usually spent with my side and Christmas is usually in Kentucky.