Jessica's Christmas Memories

So, Mike wanted me to post my Christmas memories so it didn't look like this was just his blog. As far as gifts, I usually don't remember all that I got for Christmas since it's always a bit blurred with my birthday gifts as well. We always left the tree up until after my birthday, so all my memories of opening presents are memories of sitting in front of the tree and having snow outside and all that other Christmasy stuff. I do have a few memories I can share, however.

When I was 6 years old, I got a gift from "Santa" that was too big for my stocking. I found it sitting under my stocking on Christmas morning. It was a Cabbage Patch Kid! I was never in to dolls much, but for some reason, I really wanted one. Maybe because all my friends had large collections of them. I didn't care about having a bunch, I just wanted one, and there it was! She had long brown hair in pigtails and blue eyes and when I opened the box and read the birth certificate, I found out her name was Joletta Christine. It was a Christmas miracle!! A doll who's name already started with a "J" so I wouldn't have to change it! (Everyone in my family and even extended family is named with a "J" name.) My oldest brother James helped me with the adoption papers and had me swear an oath to take care of her. From that point on, I took that doll with me everywhere I went. My Great Grandma Rock pulled the pigtails down over Joletta's nose, making a mustache, and gave it the nick-name "George" when I went to visit her -- a joke that caught on quickly with my 2 great uncles Jim and Harland. Uncle Jim even made me a doll cradle that had the name George on it. It was my Uncle Harland who first transferred the name from the doll to me. He called me George from that point on. He even labeled our wedding present, "To: Mike and George."

Another year my brothers and I were welcomed with meows at our garage door. We shared a cat with our neighbors across the street, but it wasn't his meow. We opened the door and in walked an elegant Siamese cat. We let him in and closed the door behind him, but the meowing continued from the other side of the door. We opened the door once again and a scraggly tabby cat walked in. We named the cats Jarvis S. and Jarvis T. (the initials designated their breed) after our home teachers Bro. Jarvis and Bro. Jarvis. As an adult, I've often wondered how they felt about having cats named after them...

I remember trying to wake up every year before my youngest brother Joseph. It wasn't really a competition, but it bothered me that every Christmas morning, I'd wake up and he was already up and opening stocking stuffers. I swear, he never woke up early the whole time he lived with us! One year, he got Donkey Kong Country in his stocking, and since we had woken up so early, we got a few good hours of playtime before my mom woke up for presents.

Most of my Christmas memories are memories of playing board games with my family, listening to carols as we decorated the tree, singing around the piano as Jacob played, and just enjoying each other's company. Every year, we tried to sneak some small present into my mom's stocking as a gift from Santa. Then, of course, there was Christmas morning at my Grandma Sears's house with all the extended family while we were living in East Idaho. We were always late -- something that my grandma bothered my mom about endlessly even though we usually beat my Aunt Jane. Christmas morning at Grandma Sears's house was a tradition that Mike and I still carried on until we moved away. This year, like last, we will be spending Christmas alone. It's kind of difficult for me to be alone like this for the holidays since I'm so used to having family around. But it gives us the chance to try to establish some traditions of our own. Hyrum will be old enough this year to understand what's going on, so I'm excited. It should be a lot of fun for him, and whenever he's having fun, it makes me happy. It'll be a while still before Emily will care about Christmas, but I'm already looking forward to the years when my kids are older and can enjoy it as much as I did.