Christmas Memories

Christmas time always full of warm memories and favorite traditions.
When I think of Christmas time as a child I remember gathering with my dad family Christmas day. We always took one of our new toys over to Grandmas house to show our cousins what we got. Maybe it was a mistake that year we got New Kid on the Block Dolls, darn cousins like to tease. I remember just playing all day with the cousins. As we got older I remember the wonderful meals we shared.
Christmas Eve was always a favorite once the potatoe soup tradition started. Perhaps the best soup ever ...way to go dad! It was always fun to drop off Christmas treats to friends and neighbors. Then to sit around the rest of the evening and beg mom and dad to let us open a present. The last couple of years have been fun competing to be the last person to drop gifts in the stockings. The last person gets an early peak at all the gifts. Of course there was the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer and some cheese for Santa mouse. For some reason all of us girls would pile in the same bed on Christmas Eve. That was easy when we were little, I remember it getting harder as we grew but we still did it. Last year as a joke I was sleeping in Ambers bed and Monica climmbed in between us. She stayed the whole night...the tradition lives on.
Christmas morning we would all wake up and have to stand in the hallway and wait while dad turned on the Christmas music and the tree lights all while making comments about all the gifts he saw. We would get so annoyed he took longer every year. Opening presents was done one person at a time. My favorite part was always the stockings, I just always loved the treasures inside. We could always count on our toothbrush from Santa mouse. Ambers was always purple and Monicas was green or blue so I could count on a pink one or the occasional teal. Amber brought a fun tradition to our family, the pull-a-part breakfast. Oh so warm and gooey. Thanks for that one Amber.
More recent Christmases have been spent with my Moms side of the family. Wonderful dinners shared and intense Monopoly games played. Which reminds me of the year we got Monopoly for Christmas I was the first to go bankrupt due to some whining my mom kept me in the game! Don't forget the Christmas nap usually a couple of us cousins could be found piled on each other on one of the couches.
Who can forget the Christmas in Puerto Pinasco. What a fun trip that was even if half of us were sick. There was the sandman building contest on the beach and the Christmas Pinata. Grandma and Grandpa took us to a nice dinner and I remember Morgan trying to pay for her own meal because she did not realize the prices were in Pesos and she felt so bad for ordering what she did.
My favorite Christmas with some friends was the year the Divingboard Professionals (my friends band) played at the ward Christmas party and their groupies sang along.

So many fun memories... and so many more to make.