Mom always went out of her way to make Christmas a magical time of year. Lots of decorating and lots of baking. We three girls always enjoyed backing and decorating cookies together. I know my parents did not have much money (farmers don't have that much) but we always got presents that brought smiles to our faces and we felt like we got exactly what we wanted.
I remember this Christmas picture because there was a box under the tree with all our names on it and we couldn't imagine what it would be. When we opened it, it was a phone for upstairs. Back then we only had one phone and it was downstairs. At least having one upstairs gave us some privacy.
One of my favorite presents was a guitar. I knew that was alot of money for my parents to spend and it made me feel special.
One year my sister and I got a Fun Flower Factory. It had this liquid "Goop" that you would squeeze into these metal molds. The molds would bake the Goop into a rubbery flower. Then we would put them on a stem with leaves. We thought these were awesome. Our brothers got one that made bugs. Needless to say we were constantly being tormented with bugs showing up in our beds.
I always remember putting up the chimney. It was made of cardboard and had a lightbulb and fan behind the fire logs that made it look like it was a flickering fire. Mom had little candles she placed on the mantle. We couldn't actually hang our stockings from the mantle because they were too heavy so she made tiny felt ones to put on the mantle.
On Christmas morning Mom and Dad would make us sit on the stairs and wait until they checked things out to make sure everything was ready. Our stockings were filled with an orange, chocolate stars and other little things.
I remember going caroling with the youth from our church in Foosland. Our high school also had a Christmas program that was lots of fun and we would perform for local community groups.
We always traveled to Farmer City where both sets of grandparents lived. They were so different in lifestyles. My Meredith grandparents had money and meals were big and presents were really nice. My Burge grandparents were less affluent and after living through the depression they never were extravagant in their spending. Grandma Meredith made some amazing desserts for holidays and Grandma Burge was a star at making homemade noodles and rolls. We always got the same present every year, a head scarf. Even with the huge difference, we enjoyed the time we spent with them all.
