Day 23: You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

I know I have slacked a little bit on my goal to do 25 days of Christmas posts, but the last few days our Christmas mojo took a bit of a beating. On Friday afternoon, a week before Christmas, I got layed off from my job. It did not surprise me that they needed to make cuts since business has been slow for a very long time, but nonetheless it came as a big shock. I have felt the fear of getting layed off for most of this year, but since it had been months from the last round of cuts, my department only had two employees, and everyone believes business will begin to improve in 2010, I thought I was in the clear. I had survived! Apparently I was wrong. Friday afternoon brought words like severance, Cobra, termination, and I cleaned out my desk of 3.5 years where only hours earlier I ate treats from the office holiday desert party.

The days following the layoff have been a bit of a daze in dealing with the reality of being unemployed. Since I turned 16 I have always had a job with the exception of a month when I waited for a new job to start. Growing up my dad always had a job. I have always left a two weeks notice, and I've never been fired.

There have, however, been some bright spots. I get to spend the entire week with my husband who is on vacation from school. I'll have the chance to work on a number of projects around the house that I haven't had time for. I'll have time to bake. I haven't been very happy at my job for a long time and now I get the chance to find something else I'll enjoy more. Most of all it has been a great example of the importance of provident living. The preparations and habits we put in place have greatly lessened, though not completely removed, the stress of the situation, and since we faithfully pay our tithing, I know things will turn around soon. Six months from now we will look back on this and know it all happened for the best. Now I just hope that with Christmas Eve upon us, we can find a way to revive the holiday spirit.

Day 20: Where Are You Christmas

By, Nate
One story that continues to float around my family starts with shopping with my parents for Christmas presents. Early on when we were younger, my parents made a decent effort to keep our presents a secret from us, so they could only shop for whoever wasn’t there at the store with them.

One particular trip to the store, I was hanging on the cart, trying to help my dad find all of the things he had on his list of things to get. We were walking down an isle and he suddenly grabbed a stereo boombox and put it in the cart. Curiosity immediately got the best of me and I HAD to ask who it was for; he told me it was for my older brother.

What he may or may not have known, was that my brothers and I had an information sharing agreement, so after getting home I told him that he would be expecting a new stereo under the tree. So imagine his surprise when after all the fury had ended Christmas morning and all the presents were unwrapped and there was no stereo anywhere.

I tried to do the honorable thing, and pulled my dad aside and asked him where the stereo was. He and my mom looked at each other, and both said, “Oops.” They then explained that they had accidentally forgotten the stereo and it was still hidden…..and that it wasn’t actually for him, but for me. I didn’t know what to say. Just goes to show you what happens when there are secret combinations at work at Christmas time.

Day 19: Nuttin for Christmas

Part of the Christmas spirit is sharing with those around us who are in need. During my years in the YSA program, my ward partnered up with the Spanish speaking ward that met in our building to find a few families to help provide Christmas for them. For a Family Home Evening before Christmas we'd wrap up all the presents and make cards. The generosity of the single adults amazed me, one year we even had the ability to provide a few bikes for the kids.

Similarly my family has frequently made it a holiday tradition to share our many blessings with those around us. We would almost always pull tags from the Christmas Angel tree at school or church. Another year I can remember having a single mother whom my dad knew and her couple kids over to the house for Christmas dinner and we had a few presents for them. In recent years my parents have, with the help of their Bishop, picked a few families in their ward that could use a helping hand and then anonymously deliver a pre-loaded Visa gift card along with a treat at their home.

I appreciate the example of generosity and love that my parents have provided me. It has taught me much over the years to watch them look out for the welfare of others. I hope that I can continue this example with my own family one day to show gratitude for the many blessings we receive.

Day 18: Jolly Old St Nicholas

By, Nate

I think that I can contribute to my wife's effort to have 25 days of Christmas memories in here. One of my favorite memories of Christmas was the year I decided to leave a little snack for Santa. This was no ordinary snack...it was chocolates.
Let me explain. Every year, my family would cover the kitchen table in plastic, melt down about 50 pounds of chocolate, and make various kinds of truffles, nut clusters, haystacks, Turtles, peanut butter cups, peanut brittle, you name it we made it. We would then use these as Christmas presents for all of our family friends and relatives.
So on Christmas Eve, I got an assortment of chocolates set out for my offering to Santa (on the advice of my father there were a large amount of Turtles involved, his favorite). I set these out, and left a cup right next to the plate. Being the conscientious kid that I was, I didn't leave any milk out, but I did leave a note explaining to Santa that the chocolates were his, and where he could find the refrigerator and where the milk was within the refrigerator.
The next morning, when I awoke, to my surprise the chocolates were actually gone! I looked in the cup, and there was a milk ring at the bottom! He had actually eaten them! He had found the milk! I looked at the note that I had left him and there was a message from him thanking me for the snack. I remember having this note on the corkboard in my room for years afterwards, until one day that I noticed a similarity between Santa's handwriting and my Dad's. But I will always remember that I honestly thought that I had fed Santa.

Day 17: Home for the Holidays

My favorite part of our trip to Utah, by far, was time we got to spend with family in a way that we haven't done in quite a while. We saw numerous cousins and their spouses/fiances whom we haven't met before. The timing of our visit also worked out perfectly that we were able to attend the missionary homecoming talk of my cousin Ryan. Seeing the little boy I mostly remember up on the stand as a 6'4" return missionary was quite a change. Back at my aunt's house, the house was full of food, people, and conversation. It was reminiscent of our family gatherings of yore only instead of playing hide and seek we discussed politics, law, sports, and cousin Jessica's pharmacology/toxicology research. My how times have changed. Little kids are now adults but remain family and thus always a little bit of home.

Day 16: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

When we arrived in Utah we didn't have many firm plans on what we wanted to do other than see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. This was a must for our trip. I can remember getting bundled up to go see the lights when I was little, Tyler, however, was too young and does not. Of course a lot has changed at Temple Square since then. When I went to see the lights there was no Conference Center, and the temple was separated from the Joseph Smith Memorial building by a road not a square of gardens and fountains. Some things never change though...

the temple and the lights look beautiful...

it is a popular event with lots of people...

it gets a little cold out.

Day 15: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

A few months ago I received a notice in my email about Southwest Airlines' super sale on airfare. Shortly after I also received an email from my mother. "Did you see this? How about a trip to SLC as part of your Christmas gift?" The next thing I knew it was all planned out, the family was going on a weekend trip to Utah for our big Christmas event. It was the closest thing to a White Christmas that our family had experienced in ages, and the trip was just long enough that we left enjoying the snow instead of loathing it.

During the trip I had the chance to share with Nate a few of the things I loved when we lived in Utah. We drove down my old street and pointed out all the old houses we used to know then we drove by our old house, which looked pretty good for being as old as I am. Then we made our way to Lostwood Drive, where we stayed with Grandpa and Ellen. Ironically Ellen's house is two doors up from the house my Grandpa and Grandma lived in from the time I was about 7 or 8 up until after Grandma passed away. It felt strange to drive up the street and see an unfamiliar car pull into the drive way. Here we were on the same street, but not the same house, where many memories were made. Several days later I'm still trying to get my brain to compute this odd twist.

Saturday morning Ellen made us breakfast. A never ending breakfast. Apparently the cook at Hotel Jackson takes tips from the rodizio style of service, only there's no stopping. The plates refill faster than you can say no, or even when you do say no it doesn't matter, more food ends up on your plate. "Just one more piece," is Ellen's mantra. We found the only way to get the flow of food to stop was to quickly take our plates off the table, rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. Hmmm, maybe this is really all a ploy to get the dishes done.

After breakfast, Nate and I took a walk, after all we needed to work off the loaf of french toast we had just consumed and Ellen had a ham dinner planned for later in the afternoon. We walked down the hill to Dimple Dell recreation area where I had spent many an afternoon walking with my aunts and cousins when I was younger. Surrounded by mountains, the snow covered trails were quiet except for the sounds of a few birds and the barren trees creaking in the wind. I think we could have stayed out there for hours more though we got back to the house just in time to stop the search party (my mom and Tyler) from heading out.

Another fond memory of my visits to my grandparents' house was playing Foosball with my cousins. Whatever my grandparents paid for this table they definitely got their money's worth as it has provided hours of entertainment for...oh... probably 20 years. When I caught a glimpse of the table in the basement during our tour of the house I knew some serious game time would be involved. After a good amount of research the rankings are thus...

Nate v Jenny=fairly even match up. I think Nate came out on top overall but by a very narrow margin.

Matthews v Jacksons=Here the Matthews' teamwork comes out just too hard to beat. Tyler would tell you that Dad was more of a handicap.

Matthews v Tyler=Tough battle but Matthews edges out a win once again.

Tyler v Any Single Person= Tyler all the way as the ball speeds into the goal faster than one person can react. He puts all he has into the game and has the blister on his thumb to prove it.

Hours of family fun for everyone.