Flashback Friday: Childhood Christmas's and Memories...

With Christmas just around the corner I thought this was a great way to start my "Flashback Friday" posts...

Christmas 1975. This was my parents first Christmas together and my mom was 6 months pregnant with me. My dad made this cradle for my mom for Christmas. This cradle has become very sentimental and my siblings and I have been passing it around and using it for our kids. It's kind of neat to know that my kids have slept in the same cradle(that was made by my Dad) that I did over 32 years ago.

Christmas 1977. 1 year old.

Christmas 1978. 2 years old. Aren't my shoes so cute!

Don't you love my red striped leotard! My dad made both wood toys in the picture.

I remember being so excited on this particular Christmas. My dad made the little doll rocking chair, highchair and stroller that my sister Jamie is sitting in. I was also so excited that my sister Jennifer and I got the "Baby Alive" dolls. They actually really ate and pooped. We loved pretending we were moms and feeding them and changing their diapers(until the diapers ran out.) I also loved that we always had real Christmas trees.

I always looked forward to seeing what my dad was going to make for us. My dad also made a doll cradle for all of us girls. If you look closely you can see it has my name on the top of it(I still have it and plan on letting Avery play with it when she is older.) Here are some more Christmas/Winter time memories I want to remember.

*Making snow angels.
*Making sure I didn't eat yellow snow(yuck!)
*My dad taking us sledding on the back roads of Ephraim. He would tie long ropes to the back of his truck and pull us behind(I'm pretty sure this would no longer be considered safe but we loved it and it was definitely the highlight of the winter season.
*Going tubing down hills up Ephraim canyon with friends and church groups. My sister Jen and I even took our men for a little "moonlight run" one night after making them a yummy lasagna dinner.
*Sledding down Ephraim canyon(it was a long ride) with church groups/friends and then having hot chocolate and doughnuts once we made it down.
*In middle school trying to hang onto the back of cars(can't remember what we called it) to catch a "ride" home(something that I'm sure is also no longer considered safe(it wasn't really then either but that didn't stop us.) We just watched out for cops.
*Snow ball fights.
*Dreading walking home in middle school because of all the snow ball fights and face washing that was going on. There was one particular boy that waited for me and would chase me home trying to face wash me the whole way. One time we even ended up falling in the muddy snow and I dropped my clarinet(yes I was a band geek) and it feel open everywhere and he ended up with a bloody nose. He backed off a little after that. At the time I thought he was mean but later found out that he had a crush on me.
*Making cool snowman with carrot noses, dressing them and such.
*Christmas caroling on a big trailer with church groups
*In elementary school making those long red and green colored paper link decorations and hanging them all over the classroom and Christmas tree.
*Making popcorn strings to hang on the tree.
*Thinking we were so cool when we got those lifesavers books in our stockings or from neighbors.
*Getting practical things in our stockings(like underwear, socks, toothbrushes, nutritional food snacks, tons of nuts and of course always an orange.)
*Waiting in a huge line every year to sit on Santa's lap. Most the time I remember feeling shy and nervous. Afterwards getting a brown bag full of chocolate, gum drops, nuts and an orange from Santa. What ever happened to that? Now your lucky if you get a full size candy cane.
*Some of my favorite toys/gifts were a trampoline(we insisted my dad set it up and we were out jumping on it in snow and all), Schwinn 10 speed bike(my friends also got bikes that year and we were out riding them Christmas day and trying not to crash on the slippery roads), Cornsilk Cabbage Patch Doll, wooden marble toy my dad made, Linkin Logs, Jots-n-Tittles game, Sit-n-Spin, Lite Bright, Barbie House. I also remember my brothers getting Tonka Trucks.
*The excitement of Christmas eve and trying to go to sleep and be the first one to wake up. My parents would always make us go back to bed if it was too early.
*Watching traditional Christmas cartoons(How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc.)
*Participating in and being a recipient of the 12 days of Christmas. It was always so fun to wonder who was knocking and running(and try and catch them) as well as to do the knocking and running(and try not to get caught.)
*Ward parties.
*Building snow forts in our backyard.
*My parents driving us around to see all the lights. There was a house in Moroni that was always completely decked out that was our favorite.
*My parents reading us the "real" Christmas story from the scriptures.
*My Grandma's annual Christmas party. All my cousins, aunts, uncles(there were a lot of us) would be there. We always had a yummy dinner which always included my Grandma's frozen pineapple/banana/sprite slush drink. She always made a separate batch(without bananas) for the few that either didn't like or were allergic to bananas. Cousin gift exchange, family gift exchange(my dad was one of six kids), gifts from Grandma, ornament from Grandma on the tree that always had special meaning(magnet with our picture on it, silver dollar/two dollar bills made the year we were born.) Getting our family calendars that had our pictures(that she took up the canyon earlier in the fall) with the corresponding month of our birthday. Going to see Santa.
*Going to my friends house's to see what they got for Christmas.
*My mom's homemade divinity candy that she made every year at the request of my Uncle Roger.
*Snooping in my parents closets when I was older.
*Always having tons of nuts at the house and my dad cracking them open for us with his nutcracker.
*Going with my Dad up the canyon to pick out our Christmas tree. Sometimes getting stuck, but he was always prepared with chains for the tires.
*Gift exchange/Christmas parties with friends.
*Writing letters/lists to Santa Claus.
*Various church and school Christmas programs.
*Always wanting it to snow on Christmas(still do) and being disappointed if it didn't.
*Believing!
*Felt board Christmas story my parents had.
*Leaving cookies and milk for Santa Claus.
*Listening to my parents traditional Christmas music.
*The city Christmas decorations that draped across the whole street.
*Plates of homemade candy from neighbors.
*The big Christmas toy JC Penney catalog. It had everything a kid could ever want.
*Christmas parades.
*Making Gingerbread houses and wanting to eat them(but not wanting to at the same time.)
*New Years Eve dances(where I usually had no one to kiss at midnight but always wished I did.)
*Bundling up in Snow suits, layers of socks, gloves, moon boots, hats, scarves etc. to go out and play.
*Presents wrapped in newspaper.