10 The memory that I penned for Write Integrity Press about the year just before Sweet Hubby and I got married. We traveled through four states that year and Christmased in three of them! You can read the article HERE!
9 One year my brother and I got my mom an antique piano and on Christmas day, we did a scavenger hunt for her all over East Texas to help her find her gift.
8 And then there was the year that I got my brother a rubber chicken with Christmas ornaments hanging out of its ears. (Do chickens even have ears?) That one event established a tradition for every year. I work at finding a goofy gift to go with my brother’s personality. Last year it was a dancing snowman and they year before that, I found a Santa that shouted “Smelly Christmas” and then tooted Jingle Bells. Perfect for his humor! Ha!
7 This year’s production of Two From Galilee was an amazing event. This year will definitely go high in my memory archives.
6 One of the craziest memories of a Christmas was the year we got my dog, Marcie, from “Santa.” A sweet, almost three-year-old beagle, she didn’t seem tall enough to get to my table. Until I found her nose deep in my cheesecake ball after our lunch.
5 I loved the year that I announced the birth of my twins, of course, I didn’t know they were twins at that point. I gave my dad a package with a diaper (yes, clean) inside. Then sat there and snapped pictures while the truth dawned on him.
4 That reminds me of the Christmas party when I told my mom about that pregnancy. At the party, we had the waiter bring her a baby bottle as all the other drinks were being delivered.
3 Then there was the Christmas when my son got his bicycle and my daughter got skates. Sweet hubby, nephew, and I all got skates as well, so we all walked out to the park behind our house and spent the afternoon rolling around, falling, and laughing.
2 Jelly jars! My sweet hubby’s most embarrassing Christmas came when my mom invited one of her friends to our celebration. Sweet Hubby spent a couple of weeks perfecting homemade jam and even picked out cute Christmas glasses to give them in. (He’s a farmboy married to a city girl. What can I say?) So when our guest opened her gift, he explained that he hadn’t wanted to use boring jelly jars for the gift. The next thing he opened … can you guess? Yes, our guest had also made jam, but in “boring jelly jars.”
1 And our guest didn’t let Sweet Hubby forget it! My number 1 memory came the next year when she celebrated with us again. She made a point to leave notes on all of her gift containers like, “Nothing boring about a PopTart box!” My Sweet Hubby’s ears reddened both years!
Marji Laine 