Ghost of Christmas Past

At dinner tonight, I asked Ryan: "What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?" From there, we did a lot of reminicing. Neither of us were there for any of the Christmases the other described, but it was still kind of fun. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, I felt like we were taking a look back to Christmas past. Except for us, it was pretty darn fun.

Ryan told about the Christmas morning when one of his siblings found a note in the tree: "Look behind the dirt pile." The family's gift—or should I say, gifts: two snowmobiles—were waiting behind the house on a trailer all ready to go.

I remembered coming downstairs to a brand new Super Nintendo, complete with Super Mario Brothers. I had been begging for it for weeks ("Mom, some games are even ONE PLAYER! I can play it by MYSELF!") and there it was, all ready for me.

Ryan also remembered the Christmas his family spent in Nauvoo and the year he got a Nintendo (generation one). Which is pretty impressive, considering how young he was (see photo above with awesome retro game console behind him).

I told Ryan about the year my family acted out the Nativity. I was Mary, and my nephew Devin was Joseph. We rode on my brother Mike, the donkey, into Bethlehem (the living room). My sister had stuffed a pompom up my Hawaiian girl dress (totally time-period accurate Mary attire) to make me look "great with child," but when I stood to show how big I was, the pompom fell out. We had to pause the performance while everyone got a grip—I remember my mom, through laughs, observing: "And she gave sudden birth!"

Looking to "Christmas past" made me even more excited for Christmas present and Christmas future—especially since our memories now will be shared. Merry Christmas past, present, and future to you all. And to all a good night.