Although my bottom 10 would be funnier... which reminds me...
HA! Still one of my favorites.
But fine. We'll go with my Top 10.
10. Let's talk about the year in Rexburg that we snowmobiled up to get our Christmas tree. And Mom was huge pregnant with--Jared? Must've been? I remember someone (Bishop Stegelmeier is the person in my mind) who told us to just stand by our favorite tree and wait... and wait... while I contemplated the ice on my mittens and how long it might take me to freeze... Good times. That was a great tree, though. Huge. Dad had to keep cutting more off the bottom, until I think we eventually just hacked off the top so the angel could fit.
9. Who can forget the homemade Christmas? That's where we got our family flag, which I remember Mom presenting. It was also the year, if I remember right, that we all got pajamas that were left by a secret santa on the front porch. Mine had little flowers. Jen's had cabbage patch kids. And I pitched an ungrateful fit. Then I peed the bed in the night and all the colors ran together. *shaking head* So sorry, Mom and Dad. I can't even imagine waking up to 4 wet beds in a morning. *pale*
8. I remember the year that I got my Nutcracker. The joy. I also remember the year before, when I didn't. I got a record player instead with a post-it note from Santa that said that they were OUT of nutcrackers. Bunch of malarky. Santa came through the next year, though. Big time. I still love my nutcracker, Oscar. I think this was the year Jenny got hand weights as a gift. (Really, Jen? Had you asked for those???)
7. I remember Grandma Jean's last Christmas, which was spent--happily--at our house. I remember her reading the scriptures for the nativity. And I remember her whispering in my ear never to let anyone tell me that I wasn't as pretty as Jen, which made me wonder who she'd been talking to, as I had quite a complex about that. I'm still grateful to her for that.
6. I remember going up to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's and receiving a box of Captain Vitamin. I remember, another year, that they gave me a little heart locket--which, although not nearly as beautiful as the locket I have from Mom and Dad, it still meant a lot. Especially compared to Captain Vitamin.
5. Who can forget the CHRISTMAS WE GOT IT ALL. That would've been... 1985. I think. Cabbage Patch dolls. Adam got a video game (Atari?). Ben got, if I remember, his horse, Peaches. Our wildest dreams come true. This is also the first year that I have a memory of The Oakridge Boys being an integral part of our Christmas joy. (Which, PS, as I was listening to this CD in the car the other day I wondered if we were the last people on earth still listening to this album. For real. Caleb loves it. He requests his COWBOY SONG all the time.)
4. My Christmas as a missionary was fairly memorable. A beautiful drive up into the alps for a baptism at a small branch. Falling snow and Christmas trees lit with real candles. Christmas carols sung in their original German. It was so surreal. Oh yeah. And being maced in the train station. That was a real high point. But, besides that, the day was beautiful.
3. My first married Christmas, when we got--what?--18 inches of snow? We were supposed to go see the Nutcracker ballet up in Salt Lake the day after and it was snowing too much to go. I gave Dave everything I could think of: Sunday shoes and a sleeping bag. What awesome gifts. It's no wonder that I've never been able to live up to them since. *roll eyes*
2. Coming home from Los Angeles for Christmas in 1999. I was thin, pretty, and had a gorgeous new gray wool coat. Adam picked me up at the airport and said I looked nice. It was the nicest thing I think he's ever said to me. The highlight of that Christmas was being given my temple dress and temple clothes for my endowment just a few days after Christmas. I loved that.
1. And what deserves the #1 slot? Well this sounds funny, but I loved the Christmas when Jen got her basketball hoop and her floppy duck. She was so excited that it was the first Christmas I remember being outside myself enough to really enjoy watching someone else be that excited. I also just remember it being a year when everyone seemed well, content, and happy. And together. Which sounds like the nicest thing in the world to me right now.
That was fun, even if it didn't make sense.
Maybe tomorrow I'll countdown my top 10 Christmas movie scenes....
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