Tuesday Tell All: Christmas Question and Answer

"Twelve Questions of Christmas"

Real or artificial tree? Artificial. Growing up we always had a real tree, but who didn't? I remember thinking that when I got married and put up a tree, I would always get a real one, but then we bought a fake tree and I saw many, many benefits. I love that it is easy to decorate, you can pull it out whenever is convenient and that it looks the same every year. After I burn some pine oil, my house smells like Christmas and I don't miss a real tree one bit.

Do you like eggnog? I love eggnog. The moment I see it in the store, I buy it until they stop selling it. It is a sign of the season. I never buy the light stuff and Rich often drinks his diluted with milk, but I like it full strength, but in small doses. A little sip goes a long way. That stuff can kill you! I love eggnog ice cream too. I need to go try Graeter's eggnog ice cream and I enjoyed a McDonald's eggnog shake the other day. The very best stuff was from Golden Swirl. They do not have a shop here in Kentucky. I loved their eggnog frozen yogurt. All the taste, non of the guilt!

Favorite gift received as a child? Talk about a hard question! I had such wonderful Christmases as a child, there in no way I could narrow it down to just one. When I was four I got a real Barbie Dream House. It was three stories high, had an elevator and I LOVED it! A few years later a newer version came along (triangle shaped, red roof, and balcony) and I really wanted that one. I left out my old house and Santa did a trade in. It was perfect. Later I found out that my mom's little sister Julie (just 2 years older than me) got my old one from Santa. It made both of us very happy on Christmas morning.

I loved my Cabbage Patch Dolls. Later I found out that my mom and dad had a real hard time finding one. My dad LOVES Christmas shopping and playing Santa and had the best time getting me a doll. They went to a Kmart store in Utah and were told there were dolls hidden around the store. When they let the shoppers in, there was a mad dash (I'm picturing an Easter egg hunt type mentality) as they searched for the hard to come by dolls. My dad was one of the lucky ones and found a doll. Her name was Kelly and she had on a white and purple sweatsuit, had two braids in her brown hair and had purple eyes. I loved her. The next year I asked for a boy doll and the very last present I opened (it was hiding behind the tree) I found my sandy blonde boy I named Kevin. His original name was just a bit too strange. I loved him too. Over the years I got a red headed doll named Amy that had a tooth and braids and got blonde fraternal twin girls that came in matching peach dresses. Who knew real twins would be in my future!

When I was about 7, Christmas fell on a Sunday. That year I had asked for a fur coat for Christmas. I was so excited to find a faux (I am totally allergic to real fur) tan and white fur coat by my stocking and a darling panda purse next to it. I felt like a princess going to church in such lovely gifts.

I also loved getting a PXL2000 video camera that took real black and white video. I think I was in Jr. High. Greg and I shared it and it was so much fun to take our very own movies. I'll have to see if we still have that in the loft and check out any remaining video footage.

I loved getting my cedar chest in high school and found the most lovely porcelain baby doll inside. She is on a shelf in my room in Salem. Other memorable gifts were Lladro pieces I got when I was older and various rings I was given over the years. Boy, I had some seriously great gifts! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Do you have a nativity scene? I fell in love with Eddie Walker collectibles when I got married. I saw this nativity at ZMCI and had to have it. It is made of resin and there are 13 pieces. It cost well over $100.00 and to me that was a lot of money for a Christmas decoration. I used store credit we got from wedding gifts to purchase it. My mom and mother-in-law each have one as well. I should have kept the Styrofoam box to pack it in, but we were living in a condo in Provo and I'm sure I thought that was a large box to store so I tossed it. Unfortunately the creche (manger) was shattered in our move to Louisville and the black wise man lost his head. After some strong super glue the wise man is decent, though he still has a large missing piece on his shoulder. And I was thrilled to find a new creche on eBay last year.

Hardest? Easiest person to buy for? The hardest would be my dad, but over the past few years I have been thrilled with what I found him. Two years ago I went to the St. James Art Festival in Louisville and found a photograph of a total eclipse of the sun. It was beautiful and I knew my dad would love it. Then last year was the best gift ever! His dad had a game called Dark Tower in the early 1980's. It was a fantastic game that had a tower that would light up and spin and tell you if you were going to battle, if you needed food or if you got the plague. It was so much fun to play. I found a like-new one on eBay and after some frantic bidding won the item. I was so excited for him to open it on Christmas. He really did love it and we played it many times while we were in town.

The easiest person I have to shop for is Matt. I could buy him anything and he'll scream up and down and exclaim that he loves it! I can walk through a store and find 50 things he would go nuts over, maybe see five that Trey would like and if I was lucky, get one thing Josh really wants.

Favorite Christmas movie? Elf. Love it. I laugh every time. Honorable mention goes to: It's a Wonderful Life, Rudolf, Frosty the Snowman and The Grinch who Stole Christmas (animated version). I loved watching those on TV growing up and was excited to purchase my own DVD's of my own as an adult.

White lights or colored lights? I love both. Growing up everyone always used colored. When I got married I used colored on our tree and outside on our balcony. After a few years, I changed our tree to white and slowly we became a white light family. I put white lights outside, up the banister and on the tree, but I still use colored on my mantle. I love colored lights outside the house. It reminds me of the glorious colors you find at Temple Square.

Favorite Christmas song? Another near impossible question to answer. The first thing that came to mind was Karen Carpenter singing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. I love the entire Carpenter Christmas album. I also love Roger Whittaker. Most of you have never heard of him, but he has the most lovely Christmas CD. It came out in 1978 and my parents heard one of his songs and fell in love. That record was played EVERY Christmas morning of my life as we opened gifts. My favorite songs are Darcy the Dragon, Mighty Like a Rose, Tiny Angels and Christmas is Here Again.

When I was in Hawaii I was introduced to Maria Carey's and Amy Grant's Christmas albums by my roommate Amanda and I love them. A few years ago my mom bought Donny Osmond's new album and while I thought it was impossible to find new favorite Christmas songs, I feel in love with his beautiful songs and soothing voice. They are now some of our must play songs.

I have such a love of Christmas music thanks to my mother. When I was small she sang in a singing group with women in our ward and I loved watching them perform at our ward parties and at other various events. I loved hearing them practice at the house and especially remember them singing the song about the Best Christmas Gift- having a tiny newborn baby. When I was older, she took it upon herself to make Christmas music tapes. She got out the paper and highlighted the songs she loved that were listed on 100 hours of Christmas play list. She would listen to the radio at the proper time and record the desired songs off the radio. It was so wonderful to have these songs we all loved on one tape. Later, she did the same thing again, but put the music on to CD's off the computer. She went through countless CD's and iTunes options and compiled at least 6 different Christmas CD's full of our favorite songs. They are priceless.

Also, when we were first married Rich saw a TimeLife Christmas Treasury for sale on the TV and told me we should buy it. Rich NEVER wants to buy anything, so I called and got it right away. It is a great collection of Christmas songs too.

Travel for Christmas or stay home? I have had to travel home to Utah almost every year since 1995. That makes for some serious packing as our family has grown over the years. My first Christmas that I flew home for was my freshman year in college when I was living in Hawaii. Even thought I had hit the mall, decorated our dorm with snowflakes and lights and listened to Christmas music non-stop (Maria and Amy Grant) it didn't feel like Christmas until I stepped off the plane and felt the crisp, dry Utah air.

In 1996 I flew back to California with Rich the day after Christmas to spend more time with him since he had basketball. It was wonderful to spend our first Christmas together with an engagement ring on my finger and knowing our wedding date was only 4 months away.

When we moved to Kentucky in 2000 it was the last of our travel free holidays. We have never gone back for Thanksgiving, but we always have gone home for Christmas. I know some year soon Rich will be on call and we'll have to stay and while that will be fine, I will miss being with the Jackson's on Christmas Eve eating soup and reading the Christmas story and spending Christmas morning in Salem opening presents in the family room and eating a turkey dinner on Christmas Day with my family. We love going home.

I really need to pull out the suitcases and see if its going to be humanly possible to fit Santa's sleigh into the back of the van and then lug it onto the airplane next Thursday. We'll see!

Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? We have never been ones who open gifts on Christmas Eve. There were a few times when we drew sibling names and we opened those on Christmas Eve, but it's not a tradition. One year my Grandma and Grandpa Nance gave us all PJ's on Christmas Eve when I was small and Rich's parents have given the kids PJ's a few times, but over all we don't have set gifts that night.

Since I have known Rich we spend Christmas Eve with his family and have soup in bread bowls and ham and eat dinner in the dinning room. After the meal, we read the Christmas story from the Bible. Then they stay up most of the night wrapping their presents.

Since I was about 8, Santa has wrapped all of our presents. Santa wraps my kid's gifts too. My family is up early on Christmas morning and then we have a turkey lunch around 1 PM. Often the grandparents drive over for the meal. It is so much fun to see family on Christmas.

Do you tell the Christmas story? We always read the Christmas story in Luke 2. It is a special time to reflect upon the real meaning of the holiday. At the Jackson's home at dinner on Christmas Eve we go around the table and say what we are grateful for. It's another perfect time to teach the children about Jesus.

Favorite Christmas tradition. For years we would drive up to Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square and spend the night at Little America. They have this awesome pool that is 1/2 indoor and 1/2 outdoor. We went up a few times with my dad's brother Dave and his family. We would eat dinner, see the lights, watch Mr. Kruger's Christmas at the visitors center, shop at Crossroads Mall and sometime even go on a carriage ride. It was a wonderful tradition and one I hope to start in our family when we move back to Utah in a few years.

Also when I was very young, we would always go see Santa at the ZCMI Center in SLC and sit on Santa's lap. We knew that this is where you could find the REAL Santa. All the other ones were simply just his helpers!

Merry Christmas!