First Christmas for my Dad in Heaven...

This is the first Christmas since my dad died.  The picture below is Christmas 2015.  Just 3 months before he left this Earth.  I am thankful that I always try to get a picture.  Because now the family dynamics have changed.  Changes occur and you never know when or how, but it's best to get those pictures taken while you can.

So as a result of this year's change, I felt I wanted to write a bit about past Christmas memories.  

As a child, in Minnesota, I remember my Christmas.  We had a tree with REAL CANDLES glowing on it.  Yes, that's right.  The German tradition was to have these little candle holders that clipped to the tree branches and they had a particular size of candle on them.  I remember that they were either red or white and about 3-4 inches tall.  They would be lit on Christmas Eve.

The Minnesota neighbors that saw this were quite shocked by this tradition and it wasn't too terribly long that the change to little electric lights on the tree occurred.

My parents had made a bedroom down in our little basement of our very little Minnesota house.  The tree was actually in their bedroom.  And my mom chose to keep the "live" tree in there until my dad's birthday which was Feb. 17th!  Wow!  Here I am the day after Christmas striking down all the decorations to get my house back to "normal".  

I remember that some of my friends would ask why our tree was still up.  I am thinking now about all the mess the falling pine needles must have been to clean up.  That's one tradition I won't be keeping or passing on.  It is kinda fun to think about it though.

I also remember that we opened presents and celebrated on Christmas Eve, as we do now, still.  However, there were no gifts under the tree until that night.  And my dad would take me out on my sled and go sledding. It was always dark and cold, very cold.  But there was always snow, as this was Minnesota!  The road we sledded on seemed so steep to me as a little kid.  But apparently not so much.  After I was married I have gone back several times to my hometown of Elmore and that hill was barely a hill.  I am not even sure how I could have sledded down it.  But none-the-less, this is one of my most vivid memories.

I remember one year wanting a doll that was popular at that time, she was very tall, at least 3 feet tall and when you raised her arm, she was supposed to walk along side of you as you held the arm.  I remember she didn't quite walk the way she was supposed to, but oh well.  Old technology.  Somewhere, I have a picture of her, but I would probably have to search forever to find it. So nevermind!

I also remember my grandmother coming from Germany and staying for 6 months.  I remember her making me a crib for my dolls, too.  She didn't use any nails, just made holes and pegs that fit into them.  It was quite large, again this is how I remember it from my childhood.  I also remember that when we moved to California, we left it behind.  I think I am still sad about that.  When she went back to Germany, it turned out that this was the only time I would be seeing her. I do have pictures of her and I during Christmases in Germany.

Now that I am a gramma, things are different again.  I have four sweet munchkins that are a part of my life now.   My mom still is nearby and I am happy for that.  So now we have our traditions that are also slowly starting to change as my mom no longer can participate as she could in years past.  She is 87 now and struggles to do most things.  But the Roladen dinner for Christmas Eve is still in place and then the grandkids open gifts here.  After they rush to the other grandparents for their family party.  Things have changed over the years, but it's still fun to remember days gone by.

Christmas Aftermath!

So it's been a busy time.  Isn't it always busy?  Yes, I don't know how anyone could be bored when there is always so much to do and so little time in which to do it.

I am going to back track just a bit, first.  I somehow overlooked posting on Brian's birthday.  Here is a shot of that:

Opening presents.  We all love that!  You can see that Brian's birthday is around Thanksgiving by the pumpkin in the foreground and the Pilgrims on the little table.

Then December quickly rolled around and we got to go hear Tyson sing in the Choir at school.  Surrounded by pretty girls, of course! Then the pretty girls left and the boys all looked rather confused because they were not done singing yet.  The pretty girls brought out boutonnieres for all the male singers.

We also had a church Christmas breakfast.  We only had little Grayson and he sang in the Children's chorus.  So lots of Christmas music "events".

Then it was piano recital time!

And we had a Young Women's activity and my class, the Mia Maids were in charge.  They did a great party and it was an Italian pot luck and I would say we were pretty lucky.

And then comes Christmas Eve.  I have been trying to remember to always take a picture before the gifts are opened at which time it looks like a tornado ripped through.  Here is the calm before the storm.  Still couldn't get my dad to smile, though.  Have to work on that one.

Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are happy to greet the shepherds.

Let the opening begin.  With this I close hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a very good New Year!

Christmas Aftermath

Well, it is a few days after Christmas and the grandkids are away and I have been working hard to get ready to set up the new computer which I will be getting within the next days.  The decorations, tree and presents are all put away and gifts gone to other homes and things look pretty normal.  I am glad to have had some time off work.  Had lots to do and keep me very busy in the last days.  So here are some Christmas photos to share.  The first ones are of our church Christmas party.  The last few years, they have been doing a Christmas breakfast.  It was very tasty.

The Primary kids put on a little program.

Christmas Eve was at my house, which is what we usually do.  The menu was Rouladen, of course.  And although the meat had been cut a little on the thin side, it was extremely tender and Spence said it was the best I had ever made.  And that's always good to know!

After dinner, Brecklyn was in charge of the program this year.  She likes to do this and then she sings her song.  In the past I had always accompanied her, but we thought it would be nice to have her mom do it this time.

Waiting to perform.

 Check out Logan's expression!

 Ready to pop...

Logan decided that cpr was needed.  Seriously, he did the whole routine...

Little guy, Grayson, got a new car for Christmas

 Christmas Day at Omi's.  Dinner was nummy Sauerbraten.  It was wonderful.

Funny how money always brings a smile!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Random Stuff!

So I totally finished this blog entry, only to see I put it on my genealogy blog by mistake.  So I guess it will be in 2 places.  Oh, well.  Leave it to me!

Well, just some little things to remind me of the time of year we are now in.  So here are some recent pictures!

So yes, it snowed it Utah and then after the snow storms, the temperature dropped to super low.  That made it icy and slick conditions.  Because it was so cold I have not taken the train to work since.  I can't stand waiting in the cold, wind or snow.  It's too hard for this grandma!

At work it's starting to look like Christmas, too.  The people in the book order dept. brought over goodies.  Notice there isn't much left. 

Heidi does all our decorations, each year.  This year we have a Scandinavian Christmas tree.  She always does a wonderful job of decorating.  Glad that is her job and not mine!

Above is my little cube Christmas!  Since I have to live here as my home away from home, I like a little festivity!

 This is part of the largest set of nativity pieces ever.  It must be the whole town of Bethlehem!

Here is one of the many nativity sets on the B-1 Floor.

The annual office Christmas party went through several changes of plans before we finally ended up doing what we have done over the years.  Lunch at the Lion House with a wild and rollicking game of "White Elephant"  and somehow we really get some very "white" elephants.  This year was no exception.  I often wonder what the Lion House people think of our rowdy little group of people!

Here we are at Timberline Jr. High waiting for Tyson after his DANCE performance!  Yes, that's right, Tyson danced!  It was for the program of a class he was in.  He isn't a Brecklyn, by any means, but he held his own and it looked like he was having fun.  They performed in 2 numbers.  As Jamie said, I bet you never thought you would be coming to something like this!

And here come "the boys".  All 4 of them!  Sorry it's blurry, my cell phone isn't the steadiest, or is it me???

Then last nite, because I had gotten the random ticket win for the Motab Christmas Choir, we went first to the Lion House, that is Jamie, Tyson, Brecklyn and myself and had a nice little dinner.  Tyson seems to enjoy Salmon.  The rest of us no.  The rolls were fresh, and tasty! 

Breckie had the kid's meal of chicken strips and mashed potatoes, rolls and RED JELLO!
And as maybe you can see, or not, she will be singing the famous Christmas song "All I want for Christmas is my 7 front teeth!"  Yes, it is a wonder this child can even eat!  But, better now than later.  And when they come in, "if they ever do" she gets those wonderful things called braces, like her handsome bro!

So here we are waiting for the show to begin.  Notice Tyson making a face for the camera.  Little did he know I would be posting it!  Jamie is preparing a lesson while we wait.  It was a nice program and that is the last week or two in a nutshell.  One more week and I have vacation!  I love having a little time off!  I think we all need it now and then!  Till later!