Christmas 1984 - Santa and Joe

December 1984

Christmas 1984 - Visit to Santa

I don't remember sitting on Santa's lap as a kid. Mom says she remem-

bers taking Sam and me to see Santa once but didn't have pictures taken. I have a vague recollection of going to Dayton's department store downtown Minneapolis and getting in a line and I remember some kind of Christmas gift shop that you ended up in after going through this line. Aside from that though, I don't remember sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what I wanted most for Christmas. Being a somewhat anxious kid, maybe I chickened out. Later on, during my college freshman year in 1984, Santa set up shop in the student union accompanied by a photographer. Feeling I had missed out before, I wasn't going to let another chance go by.

Christmas 2004

Pictured is the Christmas card that Mom sent for Christmas 2004. She cross-stitched the flower on front of the card. Also pictured is the prayer card she included with her Christmas greeting.

The Christmas of 2004 is also notable as it was the first one for Sam and Becky's first child, Calvin.

The bible verses on the inside of Mom's card:

In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:78-79

Christmas 2005 - Calvin and the Advent Calendar

Sam, Becky and Calvin were living in Germany during Christmas 2005. Here Calvin puts up a piece on the Advent calendar that Mom made many years ago and that Sam, Pete and I enjoyed for so many years as kids.

Gifts - Colorful Pots and Pans

My earliest Christmases (late 1960's/early 1970's) were spent at my grandparent's houses in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Grandma Alice and Grandpa Louie owned a bakery there which they operated from the mid-1950's to 1981. Grandpa Les worked for the railroad but retired around this time and Grandma Jean stayed at home. Jean and Les also owned a cabin on 40 acres of land about eleven miles just outside of town. I loved going to two Harbors and visiting all of them at their houses but also loved spending time at the bakery and cabin.

It was about 1971 and Mom, Dad, Sam and I were up in Two Harbors for Thanksgiving. I remember sitting on a big unopened bucket of lard in the storage room by the back entrance of the bakery. My brother Sam and I were paging through Grandma Alice's Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog and looking at Christmas toys. What I decided I wanted most was something the catalog called Colorful Pots and Pans. They were big colorful plastic toys modeled after kitchen items but with faces on them. There was a skillet, coffee pot, saucepan, etc. I never got them and I don't remember feeling too disappointed. Once we got back to Minneapolis I'm sure I came up with something I wanted even more.

This past weekend my friend Noel and I were putzing around a Minneapolis antique store and I stumbled upon what is pictured here. If this isn't the actual product I saw in that Montgomery Ward catalog then it's eerily close!

Christmas 2005 - Chicago Trip

Shown is a clip from Brenda's 2006 Christmas newsletter. Pictured is Mom, me, Dale, Brenda and Irv (Dale's mom and Dad). The photo shows the five of us at a Chicago pub on a trip we took to Chicago shortly after Christmas 2005.

Stocking Stuffers - Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts are another stocking stuffer I remember from childhood. Mom probably started putting these in our Christmas Stockings in the late 1970's or early 1980's. I remember the brand we got was Mauna Loa which has been produced, according to their website, for just over 30 years.

I usually didn't get around to eating the macadamia nuts until very early January as I'd start working on the Christmas candy first.

I remember eating them in my south west facing bedroom in the house on Stevens on a bright sunny January afternoon and just loving them.

The following information is from Wikipedia:

"Macadamia nuts are native to Australia and Indonesia. The genus is named after John Macadam, a colleague of botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, who first described the genus. Besides the development of a small boutique industry in Australia during the late 19th and early 20 centuries, macadamia was extensively planted as a commercial crop in Hawaii from the 1920's. Macadamia seeds were first imported into Hawaii in 1882 by William H. Purvis. The Hawaiian-produced macadamia established the nut internationally. Outside of Hawaii and Australia, macadamia is also commercially produced in South Africa, Brazil, California, Costa Rica, Israel, Kenya, Bolivia, New Zealand, Colombia and Malawi. In 2003, research from Australia shows that macadamia nuts lower total and LDL cholesterol levels."

Abby and Xander - Christmas 2010: A Visit from Santa Claus

As I said in my last post, I recently visited my brother Pete and his family in Virginia. I reminded his children, Abby and Xander, that I hadn't seen or talked to them since before Christmas and I asked them if Santa had come to visit them. Abby said that yes, he had come while they were sleeping.

I asked Abby what Santa had brought her and she showed me her Play-Doh Cake Makin' Station.

I asked Xander what Santa had brought him and he showed me his Buzz Lightyear VTech Learn & Go which has a number of interactive learning activities on it.