Christmas Memory Tag

So Leah tagged me forever ago, and I had a hard time thinking about what to write about myself. Last night, I was drifting off to sleep and it came to me...I would share 5 of my favorite Christmas memories and/or traditions. I hope you enjoy!

1. When my sisters and I first became suspicious of the whole Santa thing, my parents hired the mayor of our little town to come dress up as Santa on Christmas Eve after we had gone to bed. They turned on the video camera and "caught" him eating the cookies we had left out for him and setting up our Christmas cache. The video was pretty convincing--I was a believer for several years after that. We invited every nay-saying neighbor kid over to watch our indisputable proof. Mom & Dad--thanks for keeping Christmas magical for so long!

2. Once the effects of the aforementioned video wore off, Jan and I became very sneaky. We once convinced a babysitter to pick the lock of the bedroom that housed our christmas presents so we could get a peek. One year, we discovered that the presents were hidden in the camper of my dad's truck, so Jan climbed through the window and held up all the goodies. That year we got caught when, after our escapade, Jan took out a toy magazine and pointed out to my mom which "jewelry making kit" she wanted for Christmas (my mom had apparently gotten the wrong one). My mom asked "Jan, were you peeking at your presents?" She responded "Summer!!!!!" I responded "Jan you are so stupid!" (not very sisterly I know). The next year I found all of the presents hidden and already wrapped, so I unwrapped mine, tried on my new clothes, then re-wrapped them. After that, I decided Christmas was more fun when you didn't know what you were getting. (before you feel sorry for my mom, I just have to say that she is a far worse present peeker than me!)

3. I have great Christmas memories with my friends. In grade school I wa sover at my best friend's house and we were listening to Christmas music and choreographing dances to them. The trouble was we didn't understand all of the words. For example: noel became no whale and the actions included us shaking our fingers no, and making and then making a diving motion like whales in the water--good times! In high school I had a group of friends that got together and read the forgotten carols every year. We also enjoyed festivities like seeing the lights at temple square, and of course singing in A Cappella and Madrigal choirs. Nothing puts me more in the holiday mood than music. A few years ago my friend Britt, taught me how to make my first quilt--a christmas one. I caught the bug and ended up making matching pillows, stockings, and a tree skirt.

4. Snow and I had a great first Christmas. His grandma gave us an artificial tree that she didn't like and we decorated our apartment (the attic, with the doorless-bathroom in the kitchen.) We used mostly hand-me-down stuff from our parents, but it was so exciting to decorate our first place, and lets face it, anything was an improvement. I also got to experience some of his family Christmas traditions. My favorite is mouse races. We take half a walnut shell, sand teh inside smooth, decorate it like a mouse, and race it down a track by using a marble--so fun! His mom also decorates paper sacks to look like Rudolph and encloses new pajama pants. We all get to open our Rudolph's on Christmas Eve and wear our new PJs to bed.

5. My favorite memories are the times when we did something nice for someone else. We used to like doing the 12 days of Christmas for our older neighbors, making care packages for humanitarian aid instead of getting presents for each other, or drawing names off an angel tree to get presents for a child in need. It always feels good to be a little more generous of spirit.

Honorable mention: Christmas in Hawaii with my family--It didn't really seem like Christmas when it was 80 degrees, but it was so much fun!!!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and makes some great memories this year. I now tag Tiffany Lamb, Erica Lewis, The Headley's, & Matt & Laura Brady. It is your turn to share 5 little-known facts about yourselves, or whatever else you want to share.

Gingerbread with Grandma

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating Gingerbread houses with My Grandma Chambers. She is an absolute artist when it comes to home crafts: she sews, quilts, upholsters, decorates cakes, and all kinds of other things. She bakes the gingerbread houses every year--she even sands them down so they make a perfect fit. Then all the grand kids and some of her kids come decorate them. Everything she does is so precise and perfect, I am sure it is painful for her to watch our shaking hands, and imperfect results, but she is always patient and we have so much fun.

This was the first time in 4 or 5 years that I have been here in Utah to participate and as a bonus my sisters were able to come decorate their houses at the same time. We talked, laughed, and ate way more candy than ended up on our houses.

Thanks Grandma for helping us to enjoy such a fun family tradition. I am proudly displaying the finished product at my house, and so far Saylor hasn't managed to break off a single icicle!

Decorating For Christmas