Memories, Memories, Memories

 It will soon be Christmas.  The day after Thanksgiving is often the day the Christmas decorations come out of storage--especially for us and for many of our neighbors.  Unwrapping these decorations brings back so many memories.  A number of the tree decorations are ones that were in my home growing up.

This Santa is made of something similar to plastic.  It had been on the tree when my mother was a child.

These snowmen are copies of ones that decorated our house when I was a teen.  After John and I married, my mom knit a set for me.

I think this tree was made in the 1930s or 40s.  I remember it in our home when I was a child.  At some point, I know my dad sprayed it with green paint to renew the color.  It has also been rewired so we didn't have a fire.

                                    

This Santa came filled with candy canes, probably as a gift when I was very young.

More modern Santas also decorate our home.  We bought this one because John loves trains.

When we lived in Granby in the Colorado mountains, we fell in love with skiing.  This ornament celebrates that activity.

Some of our ornaments first graced the home of other people.  We bought some of them in antique stores.

Our numerous Santas are arranged on the coffee table.  John carved the  five figures in the center front. 

We also have a number of nativity scenes.

I made this scene when I was working in the pottery studio.

This is a nativity puzzle.  Both John and I made these in the wood shop at our resort.

We have had trees of various sizes and shapes over the years.  We bought our first artificial tree in 1975 when we moved to Castle Rock the week before Christmas.  I seem to remember the only decorations were bows made of heavy red yarn.

There were large trees for larger living rooms and a very small tree for Christmases spent in an RV.  Since moving to our small home in Arizona, we have one just under 3 feet high.  The ornaments are quite small.

This is the tree in our Arizona home.

We have lived in three states and numerous homes over the 56 years of our marriage.  Christmas helps us think back on so many of our good times as a couple and a family.

One year when we were traveling a great amount of the time, we returned to find a broken pipe flooding our home in the Denver area.   Many things stored in the basement, including the many books in the library there, were destroyed.  Thankfully, some of the Christmas decorations were saved.  And after we recovered emotionally, we enjoyed shopping for new ones.

 

Christmas Is Coming

And that means we need to pull out our much loved Christmas decorations and find places in our winter home to display them.  We have quite a few nativity sets.  One is carved out of olive wood, another is a puzzle. When the pieces are taken out of their frame they can be arranged with Mary, Joseph, the wise men, a shepherd and animals surrounding the baby Jesus.

Other sets are made of wood, glass, or pottery and one I shaped out of clay.

We also have a large collection of Santas.  The red plastic Santa on green skis I received as a child.  Five wooden ones John carved.  Two are antiques we found.

We have a small tree--just right for our small house.

John carved a larger nativity scene we display in front of our home.

Soon we need to go find some good Christmas light displays somewhere in the area.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, full of the joy of celebrating our Savior's birth,  and a happy and healthy new year.

So Many Memories

It's that time of year again, time to put up the Christmas decorations.  For us, and probably for many of you, it is also a time to rejoice over a lot of good memories.  The decorations on our little tree bring back memories of Christmases past.  We talk about where the ornaments came from.  Some belonged to my mother, some remind us of why we bought them--like the small US Marine in dress blues, bought when Doug went into the Marine Corps.  There is a Santa in running gear to remind us of when we both ran for exercise.  The Santa wearing a priest's color brings back the many years John served as a priest in Colorado churches and here in Arizona

We have been traveling in our RV since 1988 and some of the ornaments were purchased as souvenirs of places we've been.  Even one from England--obviously we didn't get there in our RV. We have a canoe and a lighthouse from the Maritime Provinces of Canada and 4 small RV trailers recalling our mode of travel.

I collected Santas for years.  One of these I had as a child, 2 belonged to my mother, 4 are Santas John carved and others were purchased on our travels or at garage sales.

These 4 snowmen were made--or dressed--by my mother.  They represent John, me, Doug and Eric.

I also have a small collection of nativity scenes. This year is has been joined by this great scene that John carved over the past couple of years. We set it up in front of our house here in Arizona.

Going to Gruene

Gruene (read "green") is an old community in Texas that grew up during the cotton boom in the 1870s. Today is it part of New Braunfels here in Hill Country. We have been there before but enjoyed another visit. It is full of shops and restaurants and bed and breakfast inns, all located in old, really old, buildings. Some have been restored, some have not.

This is Gruene Hall, the oldest continually operating dance hall in the state, built in 1878.

You know you are near Gruene when you see this iconic water tower.

John took a number of what he describes as "artsy fartsy" pictures during our visit, including buildings

Then were were the trees--live oaks with massive branches, sometime so far extended from the tree they need to be supported or they will break off.

This one had the largest set of wind chimes we had ever seen.

This old truck is a great item in the town. We also saw one about this age that was actually still in use.

Some stores and restaurants have more modern things.

I spotted these plants (weeds?) growing in a rain gutter.  You sure wouldn't see that in Colorado.

It isn't long till Christmas. Look at the ropes around this tree, they aren't made of tinsel or popcorn or cranberries, they are lariats.

This will be the 7th year we have been away from Colorado for Christmas but looking at some of the antique decorations for sale in Gruene made me long for the days when we had children or grandchildren to the house for the holiday.