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.
Thanks for taking this tour with my family, and we wish a very merry Christmas to all of you!
Be sure to also check out previous and future stops on the Advent Tour!
1 December
Joanne from Lost in a Good Book
Susan from You Can Never Have Too Many Books
2 December
Louise from Lou’s Pages
Penelope from Life’s Sweet Passions
3 December
Booklogged from A Reader’s Journal
Lisa from Book Lists Life
4 December
Ladytink from Ladytink’s Neverland
Kim from Page After Page
5 December
Vickie from Scrapbooking and Tidbits
Rob from The Snig’s Foot
6 December
Andrew from The View from Arizona
Kerri from Latte’ Buddies
7 December
Becky from Becky’s Book Reviews
Melissa from Book Nut
8 December
Amy from Passages to the Past
Alyssa from By the Book
9 December
Raidergirl3 from An Adventure in Reading
Sherrie from Just Books
10 December
Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise
11 December
Chris from Book-a-rama
Mister Teacher from Learn Me Good
12 December
Bigsis from Through the Eyes of the Creator
Julia from A Piece of My Mind
13 December
Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot
Lisa from Book Ahoy
Suey from It’s All About Books
14 December
Emily from Dreaming on the Job
Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Cindy from Nocturnal Wonderings
15 December
Natasha from Maw Books
Wendy from Caribou’s Mom
16 December
Strumpet from Strumpet’s Life
Chris from Stuff as Dreams are Made on
Tammy from Omah’s Helping Hand
17 December
3M from 1 More Chapter
Stine from The Washingtonium
Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness
18 December
Alex from Daemonwolf Books
Leya from Wandeca Reads
19 December
Laclau from Conversacions de Cafe
Krissi from The Swim Mom
Morgan from Insert Clever Name Here
20 December
Jessica from The Bluestockings Society
Naida from The Bookworm
21 December
Rhinoa from Rhinoa’s Ramblings
Melissa from Remember to Breathe
Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies
22 December
Nicole from Linus’s Blanket
23 December
Jane from Janezlifeandtimes
Memory from Stella Matutina
Debbie from Friday Friends Book Blog
24 December
Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings
Sherry at Semicolon
I love Thanksgiving! I was a little sad last night as it was just going to be the 4 of us. All of my side of the family is in Denver this weekend, and my husband’s side of the family is in northern Kentucky. We couldn’t travel anywhere as my son has basketball practice over the weekend and also because of the distances (8 hours and 11 hours away).
Mr. Ives’ Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos was a Pulitzer finalist in 1996. Hijuelos had also previously won the Pulitzer in 1990 for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
