Christmas Memories

MomRN2 is inviting us to share Christmas memories at her blog called My Quiet Corner. The memory she shares is really sweet.

One memory I have isn't so much a memory as a story I've heard all my life, since I must have been too young when it happened to actually remember it myself. Apparently one Christmas Eve when I was about 5 and my brother was 2, Mom and Dad tucked us into bed and we proceeded to go on off to sleep with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads. Along about 11pm, I came dragging my poor sleepy brother into the living room to the tree, just sure it was already Christmas morning. "Santa" hadn't even put out the presents yet! Mom still laughs about that one.

I also remember one year when Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle L. were driving in from Tennessee. Mom had prepared all these great treats for the supper when they would be there. Well, there was a big crock pot full of cheese dip, and my brother and I kept sneaking into the kitchen and eating the chips because it was just that good.

Another tradition we had growing up was to read the Christmas story from Luke around the Christmas tree and drink egg nog. And Grandpa would always call on Christmas Eve to tell us that he'd just heard on the news that Santa was seen entering the airspace over Florida, could we hear the sleigh bells, yet? And the firetruck with Santa that would drive through the neighborhood passing out candy canes always brought us running out the door.

But my very favorite Christmas happened 13 years ago. Hubby and I were married on December 18 - yes, we were that crazy to get married 7 days before Christmas. Needless to say, subsequent anniversaries have been shared with work or church Christmas parties. But our wedding was beautiful. Our color scheme was royal blue, silver and white, with white poinsettias and candles. Lovely! The pastor of the church in Gainesville where we met officiated, and the service was held in the church in central FL where I'd grown up. And we had Christmas music played and sung (by Hubby's brother) at our reception. Then we went to Disney World for the first two days of our honeymoon. Disney all decked out for Christmas is a sight to behold. Then on to Sanibel Island, FL for the rest of the week, and we had such a sweet time together. On Christmas Eve we drove up to my parents' house and went to the candlelight service at church and spent the night at their house.

Then after Christmas we drove back to Gainesville and the condo that Hubby had lived in before we got married. Some of his friends had been there after the wedding on their way back north and dropped off the wedding presents and "decorated" the house for us with cute little things written on the windows with shoe polish, some of the furniture turned backwards, toilet paper streamers everywhere and cute little heart shaped notes hidden all over the house. We were finding those notes until the day we moved out of that condo.

So, a week from this coming Monday, I get to say Happy Anniversary to one of my very favorite Christmas gifts.