Christmas

“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love to the Son of God for all man kind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful. It is peace. . . It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. . . this is what Christmas is really about. -President Gordon B. Hinckley, Dec. 2, 1996 

 Grandma Strong remembers Christmas being very cold. There were no furnaces in those days so she would wait until her mother would get up and start the fire before she got up ran down the stairs and into the front room where the stove was. She remembers that her brothers would go and chop down a Christmas Tree and then she would string popcorn to hang on it. She got presents from her brothers and sisters and parents. Santa brought her a bike one year, and skates when she was twelve, the last present she remembers getting from Santa was a Scarlet O’Hare doll. She remembers going skating on the pond with her skates, everyone always skated, she liked her skates. For dinner they would always have a turkey or ham, and carrot pudding. 

Grandpa Strong remembers it too being cold, he doesn’t remember who started the fire but the only room it kept warm was the front room so they would stay there. He had ham on Christmas for dinner with Graham Cracker Pudding. His brothers would drop by to visit on Christmas. He says he got some of the coolest presents: a bow and arrow and his train (which still goes round the Christmas tree every year). He too would go ice skating, they went at Liberty Park’s pond. On Christmas he loved to watch the radio. He remembers them having the best programs; Figure Magee, Molly, Shadow Nose, and at Christmas time they always had Christmas shows. “It was better than television because you could picture it in your mind. Christmas lights were new when Grandpa was little so his Christmas tree had real lights on it but they still put candles on it, because his older brother’s never had real lights, they had candles to light the tree. When Daddio was young Christmas was a great time. In Daddio’s family everyone bought everyone presents. Dad said that they all spent about a dollar, so he would spend five to ten cents on each everyone in his family they would buy pencils or bouncy balls for each other. They were poor, but happy. On Christmas Eve they set out cookies for Santa, When Dad was older they started making M&M cookies for Santa. On Christmas they would wake up at 7:00 and go see what Santa brought, it wasn’t wrapped. In their socks they all ways had an orange and a tangerine along with some nuts. They would then open presents from each other. His parents always gave him clothes. When they were finished with presents they would go find something for breakfast; they didn’t eat breakfast together, nothing fancy. After breakfast they would go visit Uncle Tator and play with his really cool train. Then they would go to Uncle Bill’s. 

Grandma and Grandpa Martin I didn’t get to interview but My aunts have, so these stories will come from those. Christmas was not Grandpa Martin’s favorite holiday. Grandpa told my Aunt M, “When I was a boy we never had a Christmas tree. It was a long ways to where Christmas trees grew in Idaho. Our Christmas consisted of . . any clothes or anything like that (that we got) after September, usually it was put away to give to us for Christmas, because that’s about all that we got. Sometimes my father would make a sled out of boards, he’d saw runners and put tin on the bottom of the runners so they’d slide on the snow, and then nail boards across the top. Sometimes he’d make us some other little toy. Most of the time our Christmas consisted of a 25 cent book or something of that nature.” Socks always had an orange and hard candy and some nuts. Grandpa would have to hang his socks over the back of chair because they didn’t have a fire place. Grandpa remembers once “I went in the Woolworth’s store and bough a beautiful gold necklace—a little tiny thin chain, and on the end of it, it had a pendent that I thought was beautiful. I took that home, and nobody knew what I got her until Christmas morning. I brought it out, and gave it to her, and my father looked at it and he said, ‘What are you giving her that Catholic Cross for? She can’t wear a Catholic cross. We’re not Catholics. She’s not going to wear that. And he took it away from her and I never did see it again.” Grandpa was hurt. Grandma Martin remembered, “. . . we always had a Christmas tree when I was a child. But we didn’t have any electric lights on it. We had little kind of like clothespin pinchers that held candles, and we always had candles. We had the tree in the middle of the room, and before we lighted the candles we always had a bucket of water handy, and then we lighted the candles and we all stood around and ‘mmed’ and ‘ahhed’ about how beautiful they were.”

Aunt C recorded Grandma’s story about her first Christmas after her mother had died. “Victor Fernillious had been in the habit of cutting two trees and bringing one to Mother for years. Again this year he showed up with a tree for us, so we were obliged to decorate it. Then we decided we could find some paper and wrap up everything we had bought over the course of the year, the socks, and underwear, place them under the tree and award them to ourselves as Christmas gifts. Then as a gift to each other we milked the cow, mixed that milk with a little of the sugar we have saved and boiled it into caramels. Christmas that year fell on a Sunday. We were glad, because going to church would give us some structure on an otherwise insufferable day. Our plan was to get up early to get ready and do our chores, go to church, then return to ceremoniously open the gifts we had wrapped for ourselves, and eat our caramels. . . That Christmas morning dawned to be the kind you dream of. Snow had fallen through the orchard and drifted up against the side of the barn. The morning sun glistened on the snow like sequins on a lady’s dress. Shutting the kitchen door soundly behind us, we trudged through the snow, to worship and sing the carols of the season with our neighbors. In my mind there will always be a picture of coming home that day. As we approached the house we could see that something was wrong. The door was ajar, and the snow swept through the opening. All at once we broke loose and rushed to the house. Outside the house, we could hear some raucous noise coming through the kitchen door. Pushing the door open, we found on the floor a bushel basket full of a squawking chicken, its legs tied tightly together. On the kitchen table was a roast beef, some homemade bread and a fruit cake. Then we noticed the caramels, two of the caramels were missing and in their place was a note. Edward picked up the note and read: “Merry Christmas, thanks for the candy. Love, Santa.” 

When Mom was a kid they always opened their presents from each other on Christmas Eve. Then Santa would come during the night. He never wrapped their presents. Her parents never gave them presents, it all came from Santa. When Mom was a kid she got piles of stuff from Santa. Everything they would need for the rest of the year—underwear, clothes, pencils, etc. Most of it was JUNK from the DI that Grandma had saved up. Mom thinks that his would be a great new tradition to start herself. She thinks this made her more humble. She never had the latest or the greatest of anything. She just had what she needed and that was enough. Mom tells a story about the Christmas before she got married: “The Christmas before we got married I was an assistant teacher. The teacher I worked with made salt dough ornaments. One of the girls in my class brought Raggedy Ann & Andy cookie cutters. I made three Ann’s and three Andy’s. I decided since I knew we would be very poor I would make a whole tree of them for our tree the next year. The only problem was: I couldn’t find the cookie cutters anywhere. I looked at every Hallmark store I could think of. I even called stores in other cities (this was before the internet). I finally gave up. I was very disappointed. That year my mother gave me a set for Christmas. I don’t know where she ever found them. She would never tell me. She didn’t love to shop so I know it was a very hard thing for her to find. The Raggedy Ann & Andy decorations on our tree have increased. We have made new salt dough ones and some real ones and some wood ones and a skirt. Every year when we decorate our tree I think of my mom. Those cookie cutters are one of my favorite gifts I ever received because my mom tried so hard to make me happy. Raggedy Ann & Andy have become a tradition.” Many of our Christmas traditions have been carried over from grandparents and from our parents childhood. Sometime in November for family home evening we all sit down and make our Christmas Wish List. This includes everything we want from Santa, from Mother and Daddio, and from each other. We by no means are guaranteed to get everything or anything for that matter, off the list. But we put it on there anyhow. Many families divide up the kids in the family, draw names, or don’t give presents to each other at all. And though, we did have everything we needed, and were more spoiled then needs be, Mom and Dad felt as if it were important for us to give presents to everyone in our family, just like they did. Our love for each other shouldn’t be based upon who we draw out of a hat. We should love each other and we should express that love. Presents from brothers and sisters were often silly and of little worth. But they were fun. 

Daddio points out that Christmas at our house is the “GREATEST!” It starts the day after Thanksgiving with the ripping down of all the Thanksgiving decorations and the putting up of all the new Christmas ones. Brother J has always been a scrooge and refuses to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving is over, and no Christmas decorations can go up before Thanksgiving is over as well. Last year while he was at His Fiancé’s  house on Thanksgiving we all decided to take down Thanksgiving and put up Christmas. When he came home at two o’clock in the morning he took down the tree. He was not at all happy with us. Christmas Decorations are a huge part of Christmas! I think we have the coolest ones in the entire world. Mom made our socks. She Cross Stitched every last one of them, they are amazing. They each look different; each has a picture of a different room in Santa’s house. I have never seen such a fine work of art. They are my favorite decoration there is. Christmas time is my favorite because it is the most decorated; every room of the house is literally full of Christmas. And we finally convinced Daddio a couple of years ago to start putting Christmas lights up out side. We have tons and tons of Christmas stuffed animals, these line the stair ways and fill the toy trunk in the family room. We have a number of nativities that sit in various places throughout the house. The Christmas tree is covered in Raggedy Ann and Andy, homemade decorations and decorations that were presents from friends and neighbors.

 Every year the day after Thanksgiving Mom makes lots and lots of her candy to donate to the Festival of the Trees this is a HUGE charity auction, all the money made goes to Primary Children’s Medical Center to pay for children’s medical expenses that can’t afford it. This too has become a tradition. Anyone who wants to can help Mom make all her famous candy, mint sandwiches, turtles, pecan logs, toffee, popcorn balls, and fudge. It is great to work side by side with the world’s greatest candy maker and learn all her great tips! There isn’t a better way to start off the Christmas Season. This is also helpful, in reminding us that Christmas isn’t about getting and receiving but about making a difference in someone else’s life. 

Another family tradition associated with Christmas is Family Shopping. Since everyone buys for everyone, everyone has a lot of shopping to do. So we all go shopping together at least once. It is always an adventure hiding what you have found from everyone else, especially when you are trying not to make the security guards think you are trying to steal something. Wow! Christmas time is so full of traditions. 

The extended Strong family always has a Christmas party. We get together and eat dinner, and have some sort of cheesy Christmas program which each family has to sing a song, play an instrument or share some talent (if they have one). This can either be REALLY funny or extremely dull, but it happens every year. 

Sometime during the Christmas Season we will go to see the lights on Temple Square. There we stand and freeze while we listen to the Bible Christmas Story and watch the out door nativity scene. We walk around and see all the hundreds of Christmas lights. And vaguely remember the day when our family was small enough to all fit in one horse buggy ride so that we could actually go on one. 

Christmas Eve we set the Dining Room table for breakfast in the morning. We have to make M&M cookies for Santa Claus. In fact, we have to make a completely green M&M cookie for Santa, it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Green M&M’s are aphrodisiacs. At any rate, we then leave a plate of cookies and a glass out for Santa, Mom and Daddio always ensured us that Santa knew where to find the milk. Oh and we left a carrot out for his reindeer (we were so kind and thoughtful!). After we were finished making cookies we would then go have our own Family Christmas Program. When we were younger we would act out the Nativity Story, or do a puppet show or something. Now we simply sing some Christmas songs and read the Christmas story somewhere in the scriptures. Then we all head to bed, for what always seemed like the longest night ever!!!!!!!! I swear we would toss and turn all night long, but Mom and Dad promise we were always asleep by 10:00. It always felt like much later. Christmas Morning is the same every year, unless Brother J  throws some twist into it. We have a tradition that no one can wake up until 7:00 and then everyone in the entire family goes down the stairs together (Rosalie and I would have to go all the way upstairs from our basement bedrooms to wait at the top of the stairs for everyone else) to the dining room. In the dining room we have breakfast. The table has a pretty table cloth on it and pretty Christmas dishes. This is the only time during the year that we as an immediate family eat in the dining room, Christmas Morning Breakfast. For something so formal one would anticipate bacon and eggs for breakfast, but instead we have holiday cold cereal, such as Christmas Charms, red and green Rice Krispees, and what ever other holiday cereal mom finds. Mom threats over this every year, Christmas Cereal is becoming increasingly difficult to find, but with out it, Christmas just wouldn’t be the same.

 Brother N thinks that Christmas Morning traditions, (the waiting for everyone, the not waking up until 7:00, and the eating breakfast as a family) are the best part of our Family Christmas Traditions. He pointed out that it helps us remember that Christmas isn’t only about the presents, but it is about the people we are with, and the time we can spend with each other. It is one way of helping us keep the Christmas Spirit and not forget why we have Christmas. After EVERYONE has finished breakfast, we once again line up in single file line youngest to oldest to go into the family room to see all the treasures Santa brought us. The only time I remember any deviation from this Christmas Morning Tradition is when Brother J went into the little boys’ room and changed their clock back. We all got to sleep in until eight o’clock in the morning because the boys thought it wasn’t yet seven! It was grand. This has built a sense of mistrust between the little boys and Brother J, and now every year the little boys set the guards up for what practical jokes Brother J may play on them this year. We spend a half hour to and hour checking out what we got from Santa. We all get one main Christmas Gift from Santa, when we were little it was things like a doll for the girls and scouting stuff for the boys. As we have gotten older it still tends to be scouting stuff for the boys, and any thing Santa can figure out for his the not so easy to shop for girls. In our stockings we always get an Orange, a Nectarine, a tooth brush, Legos, lots of candy, and other small assorted toys or games. Once we all have finished scoping out what we got from Santa we head into the living room to slowly diminish the HUGE stack or presents not under, but around the Christmas tree. This stack tends to take over the entire room there are hundreds of presents to be opened. Well lets see nine times nine is 81 plus Mom and Daddio normally throw in a couple more packages so there is about 120 presents under the tree. Hey, no one ever said they were expensive, just 120! It is great fun to one buy one open the presents. Once again the order is youngest to oldest we open one present at a time. There are a few presents we can count on. All from Mom and Dad: Clothes for the next year, a ream of paper, a six pack of pop, and a book of some sort.