Christmas Memories

Christmas with children is magical. The wonder in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, and the joy in their giggles makes not only my day, but the whole season. I remember the Christmas traditions of my childhood. I remember waiting for my cousin, DiAnne to arrive from Chicago. I remember watching Mama Gooch wrapping presents for all her grandchildren while I munched on rag bologna. I remember my older brother telling me I had better get to bed because Santa Claus might pass by our house if he looked in the window and I was still up. Since my mother and I lived with my grandparents, everyone came to our house. When my boys were little we started our own traditions. We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve, then Christmas morning there was Santa and all the gifts he brought. Those memories are precious to me. Now I have grandchildren and all the memories they are bringing. I feel so blessed to have all my family. My boys, their wives, and the three precious young ones.

Speaking of the young ones. I will hold these pictures in my mind and heart forever of this Christmas. Max saying when he opened one of my gifts, "I did not ask for this...(my heart sinking)... because it was so big, but, I really wanted it"(whew)
Lily seeing her quilt on her bed and loving all the colors and flowers on it. Forrest being so excited when he saw his astronaut suit and space helmet, so excited that he wore it for two days. I was also so excited, trying to make sure I got to see each one open their gifts that my neck was whiplashed.

The best was having Christmas eve supper with Kev, Amy, Lily and Forrest. The turkey, fresh green beans, and baked potato were yummy after working. The Christmas Dinner at Brian and Shannon's was so delicious. A moment I will remember forever, was seeing Brian's eyes when I told him how tasty the Brussel Sprouts were. I know this sounds strange, but I could tell he was glad I liked them. He will always be my wonderful little boy, and I am so proud of him. Then, another proud moment was Kev telling me he used my gift to him in preparing his part of the meal. Don't laugh at me, but I love my boys and they make me a happy mom all the time. Now that is a wonderful Christmas gift that they give me everyday.

Max and the Winter Festival

I went to Max's winter Festival at school. The weather was rainy, so it had to be moved from the amphitheater to one of the classroom. It was cozy!!! All the different grades did a skit of all the different traditions around the holiday season. Max's Christmas tradition was getting a new ornament each year.

After the program, we ate lunch at Miss Cordelia's. This is one of my favorite places to go with Max. Whenever I pick him up at school, we always go there for a treat.

Next for our day was a visit to the Enchanted Forest. This is special because I took his dad there when he was little. The little mice, raccoons, elfs, are all the same ones they saw and they still hold the same magic they did long ago. When it came time to visit Santa and talk about what the ole man would bring him, Max was not too sure. He seemed torn between talking to him and getting his wishes, or not and then no toys. Then he heard the little boy ahead of him mention Pokeman and Santa talking of Pekachou. You could see his eyes light up, and Santa was now a really cool guy. So....he talked to him and his mom and I got a picture of the event.

HoHoHo

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas....I cannot wait for a moment to talk about it all...

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday DiAnne
My cousin, and best friend is sixty today.
The cats and jammer kids.....

Christmas Fun With Family

This has been a Christmas weekend. Friday I went to Brian & Shannon's to help trim the tree. First ornament I held, I dropped. At least it was not a real special one. It was nice to watch my son's family traditions in play. I loved hearing each one talk about their favorite ornament, who gave it to them, especially if I was the one who gave it!!!

Saturday night all my grandchildren came over for a sleepover and we trimmed my tree. We also watched Rudolph. Don't tell my kids, but we did not go to bed til 10:30 PM....then in the middle of the night, the youngest woke me up and wanted to go into the den. So, we did. He fretted because it wasn't daytime and he wanted to play. I truthfully do not know how I got him back in the bed.

Today we went to Aunt Karen's church for the Alpine Festival. Kevin and Amy and the children make cookies, ornaments, spinning tops, Gingerbread cookies and played in the snow. Forrest even made snow angels. we had loads of fun and I loved being with family.