EY #26 Part 1: Describe Family Traditions, Christmas (Visits with Santa!)

Today has been a fabulous Christmas! Barton, Emily & Abigail came to Seattle to visit for a week and thanks to technology, I was able to see Sami's, Brooks' and Brandon's kids open their gifts from me (and from cousin/family draws) in a group video call. 

One of the best parts of Christmas for me has always been the experience with children in the house. I still remember looking at our tree the first Christmas Al's son Dan was old enough to enjoy Christmas. It was so fun looking at the lights on the tree in the dark room, with all the toys underneath. It has been equally enjoyable as I've watched each of my children and then grandchildren as they've come on the scene.

I don't really remember the excitement of Santa for myself. Obviously, I wasn't terribly excited on my first time to sit on his lap....

My First Visit with Santa
Dec. 1956 (I assume!)

But, I guess I was pretty happy with the baby doll he brought me....

I believe this was my Tiny Tears doll. She cried real tears!
(Note my Mickey Mouse on the floor; Disneyland opened
the year I was born: 1955)

Either she was the only toy I played with or the person with the camera was happy I was playing with her....

My mother took me to the Savings & Loan to visit Santa every year...

With Santa 1959; 4-years-old

But, this was the last time I sat on his lap....

With Santa 1960; 5-years-old; Kindergarten

One day before Christmas in 1960, I went to get my coat out of the coat closet and as I reached up to to get my coat off the hanger I saw three games that I thought looked fun and wondered why they were there...

Christmas morning I was surprised to find those same games under the Christmas tree with my name on them!

That was also the year I got my first blonde-pony-tailed Barbie doll and from that time on, for many years, Christmas was Barbie dolls and Bobbsey Twin books.

Christmas traditions have evolved in my family over the years. I used to love seeing the presents my kids would give one another as we gave each of them $10-20 to spend on their siblings. There would invariably be an outing to the dollar store or advantage taken of my Walmart discount as each child got a cart, covered their gifts with their coats and got in line behind one another to pass down the discount card. Many good family memories came from those days with a lot of jokes and even some re-gifter items (Oil of Beauty passed back and forth for years...)

In most recent years, it seems my kids have competed to see who can make me cry first or the hardest. Today, they were all winners.... Barton & Emily had gathered family photos from each of my kids to update my family picture wall, making a gift from them a gift from all. Brandon & Diedre's boys gave me the book "Just Grandma & Me" and they helped the boys do a recording of them "reading" the book to me with a bonus recording of Brandon reading the book "Just Me and My Mom." The final gift was the beginning stages of a gift I've wanted for MY mother all of my adult life.

My mother was adopted and always wanted to know about her birth parents, but had never done anything to pursue it, not wanting to hurt her parents. Josh & Brooks took the initial steps with the info I was able to give them and seem to have determined who her parents, grandparents & great-grandparents were. While the story doesn't appear to be quite what my mother was told for all those years, but we now have a place to begin a whole new line of family history.

We finished the day today attempting to play pinochle online via iPads, iPods, computers, etc. only to realize it was two hours no one was going to get back... but it was fun in the making with a goal for next year to have it figured out ahead of time!!!

All-in-all, a wonderful day with lots of family, love food and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. May the peace and joy of the season stay with each of you through the upcoming year! Merry Christmas!