HOLIDAYS

Christmas was definitely my favorite holiday growing up.  I loved all the excitement surrounding this special time of year.  The music, the smells of special foods, the beautiful decorations, the presents, and the family gatherings added to the magic of this holiday.  

We always had a Christmas concert at school and I loved participating in it.  The first concert I remember, we sang a medley that began with a song about Christopher Robbin 'saying his prayers' and it led into Up On the Housetop, why do I remember such a random thing?  The Claymation Specials all came out in the 60's and we watched those holiday movies every year, too.  They had great Christmas songs throughout them that I LOVE...Silver & Gold was one of  my favorites.  I also loved the Andy Williams and Lawrence Welk Christmas specials and of course there were the movies like Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol, and It's a Wonderful Life!  Everything brought happy feelings into my heart. 

We didn't go overboard with our decorations.  We put colored lights on the roof line of our house and we loved the smell of a live Christmas tree.  One year Dad thought he'd be hip and he brought home one of those hideous silver tinsel Christmas trees.  It was only about 4' tall and it looked pitiful.  We gave him such a hard time about it because we missed the smell of the live Christmas tree.  The fake tinsel tree just didn't give that same traditional feeling to our home we had grown to love.  We kept the tree for a long time, but mom would put it in the drapery shop and let us get a real tree.  I don't remember hanging stockings even though we had a fireplace mantle, perhaps it was just too expensive to fill them?  We didn't get a lot under the tree, but I remember that I was never disappointed.

Christmas & Thanksgiving always centered around the family.  We would gather with our Harwell cousins and we would usually drive over to Lompoc to gather with our Cowell cousins, too.  I remember the Cowell gatherings more than our Harwell gatherings.  My dad and his brothers were somewhat unpredictable and I'm really not sure how consistent those gatherings were.  My mom's family gatherings were the kind that sticks in a kid's mind and heart.  My jolly grandmother gave the best bear hugs - I always knew she loved me...I felt it in every hug.  Her kitchen always smelled delicious - good cooking always was the result - turkey or ham or  sometimes both, with mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, green salads, pumpkin pie & treats of all kinds, but Granny's banana pudding is one thing that we all looked forward to. 

As I started my own family, I tried to make all the holidays special.  I enjoyed decorating the kitchen table for breakfast so the kids would wake up to something fun for each holiday & instead of just Santa Clause leaving a surprise - Cupid came for Valentine's Day, the Leprechaun came for St Paddy's Day, the Easter Bunny came for Easter, Uncle Sam came for the 4th of July, the Great Pumpkin came for Halloween,  & T.H.E. Turkey came for Thanksgiving.  They never left anything big, usually some little toy, a pencil, candy, etc.  I tried to find any excuse to  celebrate & make things fun for the kids.

Since we lived in Tennessee, so far away from family, I wrote an annual Christmas letter & included a family snapshot so  my family/friends could see how the kids have grown each year.  It is a tradition that I continue to this day.  It has become my journal & personal history.  We also couldn't afford gifts so I used my  crafty skills to make some simple "homemade" treasures each year.  As the kids got older, they helped me with my projects and that  became some of our favorite Christmas traditions.  We also gathered for Carter Christmas with all the Carter extended family.  It was something that Grandmommy & Granddaddy really  looked forward to & it was a fun way  to maintain those extended family ties.  There was always a gift exchange  &  delicious food.  I used to make the kids matching outfits for Sunday & handmade sweatshirts for our Santa photos that we took every year with the Alexins....but they soon out grew that idea. Here are a few...

When we moved to San Jose & I started teaching school, our crafty tradition faded because it was too time consuming.  It was replaced with our "goodie baking" night where we made a bunch of Christmas treats & delivered them to friends as we went Christmas Caroling to their homes.  The kids got to choose one or two friends each year to take treats & sing to & everyone helped to make treats.  For several years we would do the "12 Days of Christmas" for some family in our neighborhood.  We would leave a treat anonymously for each day & doorbell ditch them, trying not to get caught!  On the last day we would drop off a treat & sing "The 12 Days of Christmas" to them to reveal who had been leaving the treats.   I still enjoy holiday crafts and I am  always looking for things to make for or with my  grandchildren.

I could never afford Christmas PJs for everyone, but I love that tradition.  For several years, my mom would give each of us pjs as our Christmas gift...we all looked forward to that.  Christmas morning everyone gathered on the stairs anxiously waiting to see what Santa brought.  In theory, no one went down  stairs until  we had  taken the picture on the stairs lining up youngest to oldest (but we always knew kids peeked, especially with our paper route...Christmas Day was always the biggest paper of the year with all the Black  Friday ads.)  

Santa didn't wrap his gifts, he set them  around the  family room near the  fireplace.   We have always  done a sibling gift exchange because it's a little overwhelming to buy gifts for  9 siblings...we still do a sibling exchange & a cousins exchange.  The idea is to help us remember others & maintain those extended family  ties.  Paul would always make Christmas omelets for breakfast & later we  would  have a turkey  dinner, much  like  our Thanksgiving feast. (Unfortunately, as our family has continued to grow & the cost of sending gifts too expensive, the gift exchange has been discontinued.) 

As each of our children  have married, we have enjoyed seeing them carry on their favorite Christmas traditions & adapting those of their spouses & their families.  The specific traditions are not as important as the feelings & memories they evoke in each of us.  The fact that we try to make the holidays special & create fun memories that bring the family together & help them remember the blessings they have in this life...this is what "holy"days are all  about.

As far as other holidays...

Halloween was always fun for me.  I loved making costumes with what we had on hand.  Later, I would make costumes to order...it was so fun to try & create each child's costume & see the excitement when it all came together!  Now it is fun for me to see the costumes that my girls create for their kids, too.  Some are quite elaborate - they are far more creative than I ever was!  Here are some of my favorites through the years...

Easter wasn't as elaborate as other holidays, but I enjoyed making/buying new clothes for the kids & dying eggs.  The Easter Bunny brought treats & we celebrated that Christ has risen!  Here are a few of our Easter Outfits...

The "Grand Easter Parade Finale..." as the kids got older, I busted out all my crafts & let them embellish their Easter Eggs.  One year I filmed them as they paraded each egg past the camera describing it one by one.  Towards the end of the film Jill announces (all crazy like), "And now, for the Grand...Easter...Parade...Finale!" And they marched each egg quickly past the camera...the phrase became a family saying anytime something exciting was about to happen.  Here is an example of some of their master pieces from 1994...