Dec 20, 2010

Tell about your experiences with Santa Claus.

Santa would come to occasional parties at school and church. I sat on his lap each time and received the little bag of candy and nuts that he would hand out. Other than that I didn't have a lot of experience with him. I knew that mom and dad stayed up late each year and were very busy putting out things for us. You see in my childhood home I slept up stairs. It was an older home and there were two rooms upstairs where the girls would sleep in one and the boys in the other. In the girls closet there was a vent to the room downstairs. In the winter we would open it up so the heat from the old coal stove would be able to come up into the rooms to give a little heat to the rooms. The best part of that vent however was the fact that you could see down into the room and watch what was happening in that room.So on Christmas eve we would watch for a few minutes and knew what was happening. It never spoiled Santa for us however since we knew who he was and the presents were still just as great. He was the one that always brought the books and put into our stockings the ones that were signed or written in with:

"To Kent from Daddy and Mother with love- Xmas 1961"

"To Kent Dec 25, 1962"

"To Kent on Xmas 1964"

"Dec 1965 Love to Kent"

"Dec 25, 1966 Dear Kent, Here's resource material for your talks. Merry Christmas, Love Dad & Mother"

"Dec 25, 1969 Dear Kent, Sister Stewart says, beautifully, some things that mean so much to happiness. May you enjoy this little book and find inspiration and courage to live the life of happiness and joy that comes from living the principles of the gospel. Lovingly, Mother"
"To Kent with love, Dad & Mother Dec 25, 1971"

Dec 19, 2010

Tell about the worst Christmas present you ever received, as a child.

Under pants and socks. What to tell about that since they were always necessary but never very fun.I did appreciate them since they were pretty much the only clothes that I didn't receive as hand me downs. I did get new clothes but the majority of my clothes came from the older brothers who grew out of them before they wore them out.

Dec18, 2010

Tell about the best Christmas present you ever received as a child?

I received some very nice presents each year and, as I have mentioned before, there were always books in our stockings. I suppose they were the best present that I received since I got one practically every year and used them every time I had to give talks in church. I think I also used them when I talked at seminary graduation my senior year. There were other presents like clothes for school that I received every year and there were also toys, usually one a year. I remember a large tractor one year that we played with in an old tractor tire filled with sand. Along with some other toys that stayed there for several years. It was a lot f fun and we all enjoyed it.

There was one present however that remains in my memory or actually one present that I never got when I was young like I had expected. Each one of the older boys got a .22 single shot rifle when they turned about 14 years old. So I expected one as well. It was year after year that I was disappointed in that I never received one. In fact I went on my mission and had still not received one. I didn't ever really need one because I had one to use since dad owned one that I was always able to take. It wasn't until a few years later that I learned why I had never received a rifle for Christmas and it was because dad had always intended that I receive his rifle as an inheritance. The rifle no longer works well since the firing pin is worn down from all of it's use but it remains as the best present I didn't receive until I was suppose to in later years.

This was dad's brand bar triangle. Everything was marked with that brand.