What a great thread!

Our daughter was just about 1 for her first Christmas. My family never had a tree up for Christmas UNTIL Santa did it it when he came. (Between that and present wrapping, etc., Santa was really busy.) So, Santa put up the "first" tree, etc. Lights and decorations galore. Presents were placed and Santa put together all the gifts that required pliers and screwdrivers, and, .... Santa and elf collapsed into bed.

Our daughter woke the next morning and was carried out to the living room and placed on the floor. Her eyes were huge. She headed toward the tree, crawling at high speed. AND SHE STOPPED, TURNED ASIDE, AND HEADED TOWARD THE COFFEE TABLE. Santa had left a pliers and a wrench on the table. Guess who settled down, totally ignoring the tree and glittery gifts, with the pliers and the wrench. DH and I still shake our heads over that one. And smile.

We all spent time last evening planning the workshop and home she and her fiancee are going to build on the tree farm they recently purchased. Note the order of shop and home. She is still tool obsessed.

I am so glad all of you tell stories. How much better life is with a joyful story to warm it.

Thanks,

Pat

LOLing!!!! great memories!! Another I remember one Christmas, my Dad almost through the gifts away he got my mother. Jewelry was always saving his butt for Christmas. He was a stickler for gathering up all the torn gift wrap and sticking it into a garbage bag. We would display all the gifts under the tree after opening. When it came time to put Mom's under the tree and also a pair of cuff links for Dad, they were no where to be found. Quickly, my brother ran for the garbage that Dad stuffed into the burning barrel that was already on fire. Big old bucket of water put that fire out. Christmas was saved!

My oldest DGD was about 4 years old and just adored me, as I adored her. She was in the Christmas play at their church. I sat next to my daughter and her husband in the third row, his parents sat behind us. When Alex came onto the stage with the other children, she kept waving to me. Finally in the middle of the song, she just could not stand it any longer and she left the stage and came down to sit on my lap for a few minutes and give me a hug. I asked her if she was ready to go back and sing some more so she said yes, and she walked back on stage. Everyone except my son-in-law's parents thought it was precious, but they were a little jealous I think. I will never forget how she looked at me that day. She is now 21 and still loves me that much.

Thanks to my grandson, we enjoyed a nativity scene with the Wise Men and shepherds accompanied by Power Rangers.

I went to visit my sister for the holidays and took my daughter and Siamese Male cat Sam. My sister had a female dog named Suzy. They were the same size and got along just fine. But, one day they were chasing each other around the living room and Sam decided to climb the Christmas tree, up he went and Suzy tried to follow. Boy, what a mess we had to clean up. Funny now, but not so funny then.

When my oldest son was in kindergarten his class put on a play at the Christmas program. Each student had a line from "The Night before Christmas to recite" My son's line was....out on the lawn there arose such a clatter. I told him before we went to the program to speak up nice and loud. He stepped up to say his line and he shouted...and out on the lawn there is a roast on the platter. Everyone in the audience burst out laughing. he was so upset, but we have laughed about it many times since.

These are such precious, sweet stories; enjoying them so much! I hope we continue to post until Christmas morning, sort of like our scrappy quilts section.:)

Two of my favorite memories occurred to me in adulthood. In one, I lived for 7 years in Germany and spent our first Christmas there in Zermatt, Switzerland on a ski trip. We rode a narrow gauge train through the snowy mountains for a long time, looking out the window down the mountainside with the train wheels right at the very edge of the cliff on one side and nearly brushing the hill on the other side.

When we finally arrived arrived after dark in the town of Zermatt, we learned that there were very few - mostly emergency - vehicles in the town. We walked across an area to the backside of the baunhof (train station) where we kept hearing bells tinkling. As we came around the side of the building, there sat several wonderful, brightly-colored horse drawn sleighs with bells and horses with steaming nostrils!!

We boarded our sleigh for the long ride to our hotel and settled in covered in lovely, cozy fur lap robes. As we rode through the town, people in other sleighs and others just walking called Merry Christmas in many languages. The air was so festive it was hard not to cry and rejoice at the same time! I was still fairly newly married and had just learned I was pregnant. :)

I had fondue for the first time there, and gluhwein, what a special memory!:)

Jan in VA

My favorite Christmas memory was the year I had a stroke on December 5th. The day I was released from the hospital was also the day of DD's "Winter Concert" at school. My daughter had been taking sign language classes, and her class was asked to stand in front of the choir risers and sign the Christmas carols, wearing black clothing and white gloves. My DD was the shortest in the class so she was in the center front of the group with students arranged by height so that the tall kids were on the ends. As the choir started to sing, the choir directors "error" made everyone giggle. He had placed my DD in the center front, and forgot she was the class "lefty", so there they were all signing for all they were worth, and my DD in the middle signing everything in reverse!

My mom always told me the story of my first Christmas when I knocked the Christmas tree over and the tree was on top of me with all the lights on! Of course, I also must tell you that I was almost 1 when that happened as I was born the day after Christmas.

The gifts I received from my husband one Christmas consisted of: a pair of flannel PJ's with the feet in and trap door in the back, a pet rock, a mood ring and an iron.....He's not my husband anymore.....