Holiday Video

Christmas Season 2011 - Yule Log Cake

Yule Log Cake Made with Nordic Ware Pan

Christmas 2011 - The Tree

This year I worked right up to the 23rd of December and didn't have a large chunk of time to get the tree decorated. I dedicated a little time each night during the week preceding Christmas to put up some of the decorations. It made this monumental job seem a bit more manageable although by Christmas day it felt like I had been at it forever! The last few decorations and the star were finally on shortly before Mom arrived for dinner in the afternoon on Christmas Day. I think the tree turned out pretty well even if I do say so myself.

Christmas Day 2011 - Christmas Dinner

Mom came over to our place in the afternoon and we had Christmas dinner at about 5:00 p.m. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans amandine and dinner rolls. It was all very delicious. Dale did almost all the dinner prep although I did help baste the turkey. I also carved the turkey and Mom made the gravy. We had chocolate roulade for dessert. It was all delicious.

Christmas Day 2011 - Christmas Cocktails

I indulged in a Christmas cocktail while Dale and I opened stockings. This one is a Tanqueray martini (shaken, not stirred) with olives.

Christmas Day 2011 - Opening Stockings

Dale got a Mrs. Potato Head in his stocking. He seemed to really enjoy putting her together.

Christmas Eve 2011 - Dinner at Mom's

After the Christmas Eve service, Dale and I went to Mom's for dinner. We started with some lovely hor d'ourves of brie cheese and jelly on crackers. For dinner we had cheese fondue and steak. Brownies for dessert.

Christmas 2011 - Christmas Eve Service

Dale and I sang at the 4 p.m. Christmas Eve service at Gethsemane Episcopal Church this afternoon. Mom attended the service. I had a solo in Children Run Joyfully, that went, if I do say so myself, pretty well. The service itself was lovely and it was so nice to have Mom there with us. The above photo was taken on December 4th. We haven't had much snow this season. In fact, it's the first brown Christmas we've had since 2006.

Christmas 2011 - Christmas with Ed Ames

I've been looking for Christmas with Ed Ames on CD for a few years now. Mom's had the vinyl edition since as long as I can remember. The album was originally released in 1967. As a kid one of my favorite Christmas songs was Carol of the Donkey. I've never heard anyone but Ed Ames sing a this song about a donkey that feels he's not good for much but finds joy when he's the one picked to carry the Virgin Mary on his back. One of my all time favorite Christmas songs is I Wonder As I Wander and my first exposure to it was on this album. Ed Ames has a most gorgeous baritone voice. Listening to this disc has brought back some very good feelings of Christmases past...

Christmas 2011 - Angel Figures

Today I set out these angels that Mom gave me a few years back. They appeared in the house on Stevens for many, many Christmases. Mom says that Grandma Jean gave them to her in the early or mid-1970s.

Christmas 2011 - Decorating the Tree

I got a few ornaments on the tree tonight. I'm far from being done but at least it's a start!

Christmas 2011 - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Dale and I caught A Charlie Brown Christmas on television the other night. It's my favorite holiday special. Sam, Pete and I loved watching this as kids and waited with anticipation for it to be on.

Advent 2011 - Fourth Sunday

I can't believe we are only a week away from Christmas!

Christmas 2011 - Setting Up the Tree Part 2

The lights are on! Now all we need are ornaments...

Christmas 2011 - Setting Up the Tree Part 1

Christmas 2011 - Cottontail On the Trail

Cottontail On the Trail

A sculpture close to home on Minnehaha Parkway is Cottontail On the Trail. Neighbors usually help outfit him for the holidays and this is what he ended up looking like by the time this weekend was over. Cottontail On the Trail is a bronze sculpture by Jeff Barber and is located where Portland Avenue intersects East Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis. When Becky was here with the boys in the late 2000s I remember the boys really liking this sculpture.

Advent 2011 - Third Sunday

Today is the third Sunday of Advent. This is a photo of the advent wreath at church.

Christmas 2011 - Frosty the Snowman

The 1969 animated special Frosty the Snowman, which I haven't seen in years, was on network t.v. tonight. As a kid I remember looking forward to this being on and I loved the sappy but cute story. Back in the day, before home video, one had to watch something whenever it was on and if you missed it, you missed it because the recording of television didn't exist either. This was also my first introduction to the great Jimmy Durante.

Christmas 2011 - Saint Nicholas Day

I have fond memories of waking up on December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day, and finding an ornament in my shoe left by good St. Nick. Growing up I was told that this was a German tradition.

From Wikipedia:

"In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of 5 December. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (Rute) in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they have been good (sometimes ostensibly checking his golden book for their record), handing out presents on the basis of their behavior. this has become more lenient in recent decades."

Having never received a tree branch in my shoe, I can only surmise that I must have been mostly well behaved during the year.

Christmas 2011 - Holiday Greenery with Snow

We got a little snow Saturday night. This photo was taken yesterday.

Advent 2011 - Second Sunday

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. This is an Advent wreath mom gave me a few years back.

Christmas 2011 - Holiday Greenery

The garden in winter.

Christmas 2011 - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Part 2

From Wikipedia:

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It first aired Sunday, December 6,1964, on the NBC television network in the USA, and was sponsored by General Electric under the the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour."

"The special was based on the Johnny Marks song by the same name; the song taken from the 1939 poem of the same title written by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS affilliate television stations with the network unveiling a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005. As with A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph no longer airs just once annually, but several times during the Christmas and holiday season. It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest running Christmas TV special, and one of only four 1960s Christmas specials still being telecast - the others being A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman."

Christmas 2011 - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was on television tonight and Dale and I caught a good chunk of it. Sam, Pete and I watched this almost yearly while growing up. I loved the song as a kid and particularly liked Fred Astaire's version of it. The following is from Wikipedia:

"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special, made by Rankin-Bass with models carved from wood (as with most Rankin-Bass specials). The film stars actor Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger, the narrator, and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus (a role which he would frequently play later on). The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song of the same name, which was introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934."

I didn't see this special too often during my high school and college years but rediscovered it again in my mid-20's when it was released on home video; something that didn't exist when I was a kid. I catch it now every few years and it does bring back some wonderful childhood Christmas memories.

Christmas 2011 - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

While at the gym last night I noticed on one of the tv's that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was on network television. The show premiered a couple of years before I was born so I've been watching it as long as I remember. As a kid I loved the stopped motion animation, the music, the voice characterizations (especially Burl Ives as the snowman/narrator) and, of course the hokey yet cute story. I still watch this one just about every year.

Advent 2011 - First Sunday

Today was the 1st Sunday of Advent. The first of the four candles of the Advent wreath was lit at church today.

Christmas 2011 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive outside Macy's on 34th Street in NYC to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Dale and I watched the parade this morning on NBC.

Christmas 2011 - Mom's Advent Tree

Was over at Mom's today and saw her advent tree. She was very specific that it is an Advent tree and not a Christmas tree.

Christmas 1965 - Mom and Dad's First Christmas Together As a Married Couple

This photo was created using Mom and Dad's wedding photo which was taken ealier in the year.

Christmas 1965

Christmas 1966 - Christmas with the Cousins

My cousin Deb, in the middle, is holding me. Diane is on the left and Danny is on the right. Photos taken at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment above their bakery in Two Harbors.

Christmas 1966 - At Grandpa Lou and Grandma Alice's

Christmas in Two Harbors. Grandma Alice and Grandpa Louie hadn't moved into their house on 6th Avenue yet. When these photos were taken they were living in an apartment above their bakery.

Top photo: Aunt Alice Mae photographs me along with the cousins.

Middle photo: Uncle Dale is on the far left.

Bottom photo: Grandma gets a shot too.

Christmas 1966 - At Grandpa Les and Grandma Jean's

Christmas in Two Harbors.

Top photo: With Uncle Denny.

Middle photos: With Grandma Jean and Grandpa Les

Bottom photo: With Mom, Grandma Jean and Grandpa Les

Christmas 1966 -

Christmas 1967 - Joe with Grandma Jean in Two Harbors

Christmas 1967 - See 'n Say The Farmer Says

From Wikipedia:

"See 'n Say is an educational toy created by the toy company Mattel in 1965 after the success of its talking Chatty Cathy doll."

"In the 1960s, after introducing a line of talking dolls that said different phases when a string protruding form their upper back was pulled, Mattel trademarked the word chatty. Several Mattel pull-string talking dolls and toys were packaged in boxes that read 'A chatty Toy' or 'A Chatty Doll by Mattel'. However, these dolls and toys spoke phrases at randon when their 'chatty ring' was pulled. see 'n Say, introduced in 1965, was the first Mattel talking toy that allowed children to choose the exact phrase they wanted to hear by adjusting a pointer on the toy's face to a particular item and pulling the 'chatty ring.' The Farmer Says See 'n Say made animal sounds when a pointer shaped like a miniature farmer was aimed at pictures of animals on its dial. For example, when pointed at an image of a duck, the phrase 'this is a duck...quack, quack, quack' was heard. Unlike other toys, the original See 'n Says required no batteries. Instead, sound was produced by a simple low-fidelity phonograph record driven by a metal coil wond by pulling the toy's string. The was the same mechanism used in Chatty Cathy dolls."

I loved this toy. I loved pulling the string and being able to pick which sound I wanted to hear.