Thursday, July 21, 2011

Christmas 1990 - Church of the Annunciation



The church we grew up attending was the Church of the Annunciation. Here are some decorations displayed for the Christmas season.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Christmas 1990 - Sam Home for Christmas



The cat Sam is using for a pillow is our family cat, Benjamin (actually a female, but Pete named her when he was two and didn't quite get the difference at the time. She actually kind of looked like a Benjamin so the name stuck.).

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Christmas Story - 100th Post



Way back in 1983 during Christmas break my brother Sam and I hiked over to the Boulevard Theater on Lyndale Avenue to go see A Christmas Story. The Boulevard was a second run theater and it only cost 99 cents to get in. I had seen a review for this movie on Siskal and Ebert and thought it looked intriguing. Sam and I roared with laughter through the movie but after this initial viewing I never heard about it again. During one Thanksgiving in the mid-90s ('94 or '95) Dale and I were visiting Brenda and Irv for Thanksgiving and I came across the movie on cable TV. Whatever channel was showing it was doing a 24 hour marathon. I called Dale's attention to it and he had never heard of it before. He fell in love with it so we purchased a copy and have been watching it every year since.

Christmas 1992 - Joe and Tree

Christmas 1992 - Pete, Becky and Sam


Sam brought Becky home for Christmas 1992. I think the cat Pete is holding is Benjamin who had been in the family since about 1978. Also, note that the wallpaper, which had been on the wall for so many years, disappears between Christmas 1992 and 1993.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Christmas 1992 - My Tree

I was living in Uptown on Girard Avenue at in the early 1990s. I bought this tree on sale just a few days before Christmas. I've used it just about every year since then up to the time of this writing. Under the tree are a pair of cowboy boots that I got that year.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Christmas 1992 - Pete with the Tree


This is Mom's Christmas tree at the house on Stevens in 1992. Pete, still in high school, is at the top left. It looks to me that he's feeling quite jolly.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Christmas 1992 - Mom


Mom making Christmas Day dinner. Notice Willie, the family dog, in the bottom corner of the picture. He looks very interested in what's going on.

Christmas 1992 - Dad


Here Dad is sitting by the manger scene that he and Mom made together. Dad built the manger and Mom made the figures. Mom started making the figures in the mid-1960s shortly before I was born.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Christmas 1993 - Annunciation Church Sanctuary

We attended Annunciation Catholic Church. Here are a few shots of the sanctuary decorated for Christmas.


Christmas 1993 - Willie


Willie, the family dog, sports a bow that goes quite well with his fur.

Christmas 1993 - Pete


Here's a shot of Pete waiting patiently to open a present.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Christmas 1993 - Dale and Joe's First Christmas Part 2


I bought this ornament to com-
memorate our first Christ-
mas together.

Christmas 1993 - Sam and Becky's First Christmas


Christmas 1993 was Sam and Becky's first Christmas together as a married couple.

Christmas in July - The Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July 2011!

Christmas 1993 - Dale and Joe's First Christmas



Christmas 1993 was our first Christmas together as a couple. Here we are celebrating at the house on Stevens - Mom and Dad's house.

Christmas 1993 - Dale


Dale with the tree in our first apartment. We had moved in in November 1993.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Christmas 1993 - Mom


Here's Mom drying out the bowl for the fondue bread. Check out the TV on top of the fridge. I remember thinking at the time that I wouldn't want to watch anything on a screen that was much smaller than that. Funny, just the other day I watched an episode of Family Guy on my iPod.

Christmas 1993 - Mom's Tree




Here's a photo of Mom's tree from 1993. I'm blending in with the woodwork to the left.