January 2

I'm going to remember as much as I can about January 2.

2012. We all piled in the car to go to the children's museum at the Gateway. I thought Baby was adorable in his hat, but he was unhappy for some reason.

In the underground parking lot, David had to carry both Franklin and Nathaniel because they wouldn't let anyone else take them. David and my dad and I almost walked past the children's museum; my mom had to stop us before we crossed the street. I didn't want my flash to go off in the museum, so I ended up with a bunch of blurry pictures. The first place for the kids had balls that went through tubes all over the place. There was another kid named Preston there; we kept hearing his family saying his name. David took a picture of me and told me that in the picture my hair looked like his friend Michael Bishop's. Then we moved on in the museum. Franklin had fun building a foam building.

There was a water station with little smocks so that the kids wouldn't get wet. I thought Baby was adorable in his, and my mom agreed. I stayed with him and I heard another parent tell his daughter she needed to be nice to the little boy. Allie and Preston played in the supermarket area. Then we went upstairs, where there was a stop-motion video maker. Then we all left and realized that Preston wasn't with us, so I went back up the stairs and got him. Then we went to Chuck-a-Rama, where we were having our family New Year's dinner. We were sitting in the front, waiting for people for forever. Preston started crying because he was hungry and because he does stuff like that, so Ya-ping took him in. A little later Joey asked me where Preston was. I asked him if he was still installing windows. At dinner, my cousin's husband Cameron asked Jesse if he liked Katy Perry; Jesse said he preferred Ke$ha. Before we left, we were asking Baby to say everyone's names, and he did. The Chuck-a-Rama employees were cleaning up; it seemed to me they were hinting at us to leave, because some members of the family were too chatty and we'd been there a long time. Then we went home and I took down the lights that I had made say "12" on a fence outside.

2011. I think I drove home from my singles ward and I saw a house that already had Valentine's Day decorations up--hearts in the window and red and purple giant lollipops in the yard (they have lollipops for all sorts of holidays). That night I watched a Church movie--I think Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration--with my mom. Then my mom went to bad and was sad because I would be going back to Provo the next morning.

2010. In the morning, my brother-in-law Matt updated my sister's laptop to have Windows so that I could use it at school. I might have called my roommates--James didn't answer his phone, so I left a message. (James never returned my call because he hates everyone.) Then I called Jeff Anderson and he said I didn't need to take any pots and pans or dishes or anything. Then my parents and I loaded my stuff in the Suburban. Matt wished me good luck at the Y. Then we drove down to Provo. We parked in the Stratford Court parking lot. I took my bicycle down to the parking garage just as another girl was, and I started talking to her. We had to break into my apartment through the window. We took all my stuff up, and then we went out shopping. We ate dinner at Burger King, and Allie called me. I wasn't quite sure why she did. Then we went to Deseret Book to see if they had Cherie Call's new album Grace; they didn't. We looked at large spiral-bound hymnbooks. We wondered at the price differences between the red one and the green one. The cashier told us that the red one was made by Deseret Book and the green one was by the Church. She gave my mom a discount on the red one. Then we went to Kmart. We looked at nail clippers and my mom was debating which one to get; I asked why we couldn't get both. We bought some pillows, some milk, some ground beef, and some grape jelly. Then they dropped me off at my apartment. I was all alone. I connected to the internet at the desk in my bedroom and got on Facebook before I put away my stuff. Colin Barber, whose contract I had bought, stopped by with a girl. I wasn't accustomed to a college environment, so I didn't invite them to sit down, so we just stood. Colin liked the smiley faces on the Joe Boxer pillow. I went over to 306 and knocked on the door. I told them I was new in the ward and asked where church was; they told me I could just walk up with them, but that I shouldn't knock on the door--I should just walk in.

2009. I think this was the day we were having dinner with the Bowens, and they had invited some less-actives we had found to come to dinner. We went to dinner and Brother Bowen went to pick up the guests. He came back and said that no one answered, even though it seemed that there might have been someone home. Then he realized he had left his phone at that apartment complex (which had once been a hotel). Since that was a poor complex, he worried someone had stolen it. He left and came back. He had found his phone, and I think he said that someone at the complex had said that the people who were supposed to come to dinner were home. So we just had dinner with the Bowens. They asked typical questions. Elder Wilson told them that his father is an auctioneer. I think we complimented them for having a lot of cats but not smelling like it.

2006. We went to Golden Corral for dinner. As we were leaving, my uncle's wife Nancy was talking to us and Allie, and it came up that Allie really liked princesses. Then we went home and I had to buckle down and finish The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

2003. In the morning, my carpool, Ryan Jones and his mom, came to pick me up. Nadine said, "Happy New Year!" I didn't know if she was saying that of her own accord, or if she was saying it because my projector was on and you could still kind of see that it said "Happy New Year."

2001. In my sixth-grade class, we would get in a circle and go around and say things. On this day (I think--maybe it was a different day), we were talking about what we did on New Year's. I told them that my family had come over and we played with confetti over the stairs. Then I said, "So we have confetti all over our house." Then someone said, "You haven't cleaned it up?" I kind of felt embarrassed, because it made us seem like we were slobs.


Hmm. I remembered less about January 2 than I thought I would.

Related posts:
A year of holiday memories
Auld Lang Syne

Boxing Day

This time, I'm going to remember as many details about the day after Christmas as I can.

2011. I think I had Taylor Swift's Speak Now album on in the living room while we were taking down Christmas decorations. My dad said he wanted to keep the ornament lights that change color up, but I planned to take them down. My mom reproved me for wanting to take down the one thing my dad said he liked. Ya-ping called, so my mom turned the music off.

2010. I woke up to my mom telling Franklin to wake me up. He came and got on me and warmed up to me super fast. David said it was because I looked enough like my cousins. Church was cancelled that day in Tennessee because it snowed the day before. It was time for the boys to open the presents that we brought for them. Preston opened the toy that had the plastic pins that you can push in and make imprints, and he said, "I always wanted one of these!" My mom told me that I made a good choice in getting it for him. Franklin correctly identified my gift to him as a stingray. David asked the boys if they wanted to keep their Christmas tree up or take it down, and Preston said to keep it up. A little later, Franklin was playing with Preston's pin toy. One of the plastic pins was bent, so I pulled it out because it was interfering with some of the other pins. Franklin took the pin and was trying to put it back in. Preston came over and saw what he was doing. He said, completely distressed, "Franklin, no!" I told him that I had taken it out because it was bent. He started crying. I told him that he couldn't even notice that it was out, but he pointed to the hole and kept crying. David saved the day when he put the pin back in. A little later, David needed to go to his work (to feed fish?). He asked if I wanted to come with. I asked if the boys were going, but since they weren't, I didn't go.

2009. All ten of us in the family went to Chuck-A-Rama for lunch. After that, my mom took me to Deseret Book so I could pick a Cherie Call CD. I couldn't find her new album, Grace, so I picked Beneath These Stars instead. Then we drove home and I put in the CD. My mom told me that the CD was more upbeat than she expected of Cherie Call, but I thought it was less upbeat than some of her other stuff. I think I played a velcro ball game with Preston. Then I had to work on my homecoming talk and I stopped and put a status on Facebook: "I'm currently writing my homecoming talk for tomorrow but I get bored and distracted easily even if it's something interesting. (The curses of being a monotonous individual!)" It was my subtle way of letting everyone know I was giving my talk, but I don't think anyone came who didn't already know about it.

2008. We drove back to Ritzville that morning, and when we got there, one of the neighbors came out and gave us the Christmas packages that had been left on our doorstep. If I had my journal, I could look and better see what happened, but I don't right now.

2007. I think we had interviews with the mission president that day. The sisters gave us a ride, and we brought our boxes of cherry cordials. One of them fell on the concrete outside the church door, but Elder Chun picked it up and put it back in the box. Then we had to tell President Clark not to eat from that box. Interviews were really long. We watched a pioneer video, but I couldn't stay awake for most of it. President Clark asked me to come in with Elder Chun. That was the only time I ever went in with my companion. Elder Chun talked about how the members kept signing up for dinner appointments on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, when we were only supposed to eat with members if they had an investigator present on those days. President Clark was very forceful with Elder Chun that we weren't supposed to eat with members on those days. Then it was time for my individual interview. I told him how I felt bad for Elder Chun because I was always doing lots of stupid things. At the end of the interview, President said to me, "Elder Melville, will you check that your zipper is up? Will you just check?" It wasn't up, and I told him that showed how I was always doing stupid things.

2006. I think I drove to my counseling appointment while listening to the Beatles LOVE album that I got for Christmas. I liked "I Am the Walrus." 

2005. I remember cleaning the church. It was the day for the young men to clean the church, but I was the only young man who showed up. I remembering vacuuming a classroom while thinking about the "Have a Happy" song from Rudolph's Shiny New Year. 

2004. We drove to church and the radio was playing a Christmas song. I was a little annoyed, because Christmas was over. In Sunday School, Sister Olsen had a bunch of candy for us. One was a chocolate bar with almonds in it. Sister Lance said, "Oh, like a Mr. Goodbar?" When she was eating some, she said, "I love Mr. Goodbars," and I thought silently about how Mr. Goodbars have peanuts, not almonds. After Sunday School, Sister Olsen asked me about what I got for Christmas. I told her about all the Wario Game Boy games I got. Then for priesthood opening exercises, we sang "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and I was surprised Christian Ulmer picked that instead of "Ring Out Wild Bells."

2003. It had snowed a lot overnight, and our power was out. We might have tried to go sledding, but I can't remember. My mom had heated some water on a portable propane stove so we could have hot chocolate. As it got dark, my mom got into bed. I remember sitting in her bed and making an impromptu New-Year-themed story with shadows in a flashlight. David said something about a New Year tree from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I told him that there were only seven holiday trees in the movie, and there wasn't a New Year tree. He started making up that there was another grove of trees with other holidays, like Veterans Day--he said there was scary stuff in that tree. Then I remember being in the living room, doing weird exercises to try to keep warm. Ya-ping's friend Hui-Ru said "Frankfurt" in Chinese because she wanted me to hold baby Allie. Eventually the power came back on and I was really excited. David told me I shouldn't turn everything on until we were sure the power was going to stay on. When we were sure, I went downstairs and watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown.

2000. That morning we went and saw the Jim Carrey Grinch movie in the theater near Kmart (that isn't there anymore). We were just a little late, so we missed the trailers and some of the opening credits. Then I went home but my parents were out doing errands. I watched the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas! special while following along in the book. I was surprised at all the differences, such as "red thread" in the book and "black thread" in the special.

1996. I wonder if this was the time we were in Fillmore and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was on TV. At the part where Max's tail gets in the sewing machine, Sarena said, "Doesn't that just make you hurt?"

1993. I remember waking up in my grandparents' motor home as we drove into California, seeing all the palm trees. I think we picked a campsite and a nearby RV had Christmas decorations up. That night we went to a beach and there were little slugs all over the sand. At some point in the trip we went to a nearby gift shop and they had a decoration that was a melted snowman--a container of water with a little hat and other snowman accessories floating in it--but I don't remember if we went there the day after Christmas or if it was only on a different day. 

Merry Christmas!

Related post: 
 Yuletide by the Fireside, and Joyful Memories There

December 23

I'm going to remember as many details as possible about Christmas Eve Eve.

2011. I remember going out to ask my dad, who was in the garage, if he wanted to go to the temple, but he didn't. I went running, but it had been so long and it was cold and I didn't last long. Was this a day we went to Costco? I can't remember. I had a welcome home party for Hillary Ulmer. I think I was cutting up the pineapple while listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album. My parents were going someplace, so they took me with my tray of fruit to the Ulmers. I knocked on the door and Latecia answered. She let me in and Hillary saw me and said, "O M gosh," I guess because I looked so different than she was used to. Then we sat in the living room as more guests arrived. There were lots of people from high school there. One of them asked who I was, and when I told him he was surprised. I remember saying I hadn't been in the living room since elementary school. Brother and Sister Ulmer had erroneously believed that the party started later than it did, so they weren't ready. We had a potluck dinner with pork sandwiches and other things. I remember Hillary saying she loved the pineapple. She complained about the meals she had on her mission, that they were always tortillas and beans but they had different names even though they were the same thing. I asked Casey Opperman how she was. There was a lot of conversation about YouTube videos; Hillary was saying she liked "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" parts 1 and 2. Jenny Ord mentioned Weird Al's "Perform This Way" spoof of "Born This Way." Someone said something about Katy Perry and Jenny said she found her catchy, that she heard all those pop songs on the radio because her siblings set the presets to pop stations. On someone's phone they watched a video of "Vader Did You Know." Alexa said to Hillary, "I'll have to play you some of my Christina Perri songs." I said I liked Christina Perri, and someone said, "'Arms' is good, 'Jar of Hearts' is good," and someone else said it sounded like she just collected body parts. The Ulmers gave all of us guests the little gifts (maybe a box of Andes mints and an ornament?) they were giving to all the neighbors. Then I walked home with my empty fruit tray.

2009. My dad and Ya-ping and I went to the airport to pick up David. I was waiting by the escalators, and there were families there waiting for missionaries. They cheered when they saw them, and some punk teenager was booing. I heard someone else who had witnessed the event say, "That was pretty exciting." Then I got a call that David was already in the car. So I walked out to the car. David said he should start calling me "Sticks." Then we went home. Franklin was really excited to see his dad. Almost as soon as we got home, my dad asked David if he wanted to go see Avatar. He didn't seem to really like the idea of going to see a movie when he had barely seen his boys, but he went anyway. While they were gone, we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. When they got home, they said that Avatar was more of an experience than a movie. Later that night I was watching that terrible movie The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas. Preston kept asking questions like, "Why are they running away?" At the part where Santa belched and turned into a fruitcake, David said there were multiple things wrong with that. I knew some swearing was coming up, so I turned the volume down. Since the kids were kind of noisy, my mom asked me to turn the volume up. I said that there was swearing coming up. David said, "It's sad that Frankfurt has seen this so many times that he knows what part to turn down." I told him I had only seen it once, and he said it was crazy that I had such a photographic memory to know what part it was.

2007. During the Greenbluff ward's church, a little girl was running around during the sacrament with a jingle bell necklace on. Elder Chun was laughing and told me it was the Hokes' daughter. After sacrament meeting we met the woman who had been in a car accident and to whom we gave a blessing. After church, a member (Sister Raab?) gave us some gifts. There was a container of caramel corn and gift certificates to Pizza Hut ($15) and I think Taco Bell ($10) and someplace else ($10). That night we had dinner with the Hokes. Before we had dinner we went tracting, and we asked someone who wasn't interested who might be interested. He pointed to the Hokes.

2006. We went shopping at Smith's Marketplace; it was absolutely crazy. Then we had a hard time getting out of the parking lot. Then I think we went to Costco; Highway 89 was packed. My mom pulled out some Hershey's Special Darks that her friend Jackie had given her because she didn't like them. I remember saying that I wanted to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D the next year if I wasn't on my mission yet.

1999. I wonder if this was the time we had Christmas Runts, but I don't know. 

1997. I remember going to the Quilted Bear. I wanted candy bubbles; we got a bottle for me and a bottle for my young cousin Rachae. We got a three-inch nutcracker for me. I remember seeing bottles of candy pills, some of them relating to ages (like "Nifty Fifty"). Then we went to Shopko. For my mom, I found a VHS of the colorized version of It's a Wonderful Life. For my sister I got a Mary Higgins Clark book called Silent Night; I remember telling my brother later that it was either that one or an Anastasia one. He told me the Mary Higgins Clark book was a better choice, but I told him that the Anastasia book was also Mary Higgins Clark, so he said it didn't matter which one I got her.

Making this post made me remember some things about Christmas Eve, so I went and updated the years 2008 and 1998 on that post.

Christmas Eve

I'm going to remember as many details as possible about every Christmas Eve I can remember.

2011. That day we wanted to meet my sister's family at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We were about to get in the white Subaru, but it was leaking a red fluid, so we got in the Rav4 instead, listening to the Ring Christmas Bells Mormon Tabernacle Choir album. Susanne called me while we were driving and said that the Old Spaghetti Factory was closed. We pulled into the Atlantis Burger parking lot to discuss the situation. We ended up going to Olive Garden instead. I think I got some chicken entree. We got mints that I could eat. My mom apologized to the waitress for making her work on Christmas Eve, but she said she was working early in the day so that she didn't have to work that night. I remember backing out of our parking spot while my mom got a bag of candy from Susanne for Christmas morning. Then we drove past the apartment complex where my parents had lived when they were newly married. We even drove through the small parking lot. Then we went to the nearby Harmon's store. It was pretty busy. We were in one aisle, and I overheard a woman say, "If I pretend to like it, the cat will try it once." When we were out of earshot, I said to my mom, "Did you hear what I heard?" Then we stopped in the seasonal aisle. They had Christmas-shaped and -colored noodles. There were some that were bright colors and very Christmassy shapes, but we bought the ones that were a little more subdued and more generic winter shapes. I wanted to get candy canes, but surprisingly there weren't any peppermint ones. I didn't want fruit ones, so we ended up getting chocolate mint ones. I think toward the end of our shopping we went and got Cool Whip. We went home. That afternoon we watched White Christmas. Then that night my mom was making dessert for Christmas the next day. I offered to help, so she set me to work grating apples for the apple dessert. We might have listened to Michael Buble's Christmas album. I asked my mom what she wanted to listen to next, and she said she wanted to listen to Handel's Messiah. I talked about how the first disc (the one with the Christmas section) ended with ten minutes of "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Then I went downstairs to sleep, according to tradition. I looked for something to watch on TV. I found Home Alone 2 and I watched it for a time, surprised at how cheesy it was. But it didn't fit my standards, so I looked for something else. I found a really weird movie on BYUtv about a Hawaiian dad who couldn't make ends meet and a mysterious lady who sold wreaths.

2010. That morning I went to work wearing a Peanuts Christmas tree shirt. I was the only person from the AC (annual curriculum, i.e. temporary) crew working that day. We didn't have to use our headsets that morning. I had forgotten my pen in my locker and I didn't want to walk all the way back there, so I found a pen I could use. It was a pink gel pen. My coworker Melissa complimented me on my shirt. At some point our lead Heide came down and told me when I could go home. I asked her what I should do when I was done; she didn't realize it was my last day. Later she told me that if I wanted to work there again, I should definitely apply. I asked how I would go about doing that, and she told me to go through the same process as I did to get the job in the first place. (And the following August, I did!) When it was time to leave, I gathered all my stuff from my locker and went up the the "skybox" (offices) and gave Heide my key. My other coworkers said goodbye to me. Then I came home and I think I took a nap. Then I was playing Christmas songs on the piano when Susanne and Allie came over. Susanne pointed out the giant pink spot on my pants. I hadn't realized that the pink gel pen had soaked my pants, since it didn't have a lid. We had a turkey dinner at our small dining room table. Susanne and Allie left, and I got dressed to go running. I was wearing my bright green shirt, and my mom said she didn't remember I had one. I told her that she herself bought it for my birthday. (The reason she seemed so surprised was that she got me a bright green shirt for Christmas.) I went running, but since I had eaten so much, I got a bad sideache. I saw some women running and I felt dumb for wimping out. I had to quit after only like 10 minutes. I came home and my dad asked how my run was. I said it wasn't good. He said it was probably because it had been so long since I'd run, but I thought it was because of all the food. I'm sure we would have watched White Christmas but I don't specifically remember it. I went to bed downstairs. I found a high-number cable station that played soft-rock Christmas music. I listened to it for a time. They had some weird music, like one song about a red and green toy (it seemed loosely based on that old song "bop when it stopped, whirr when it stood still..."). I remember thinking I was a little sad that it wouldn't be a complete Christmas at home.

2009. I wore my glasses with the pink-ish lenses. In the morning my mom was making pies. My designated Christmas movie that morning was Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, which we watched while she made pies. Preston said something about having seen it before. Allie said, "You've never seen this," but I told her that I had shown it to him a few weeks earlier. When the characters talked about "Milton the flying ice cream man," David looked at the movie to see what was going on, but it made sense to him that he flew in a hot air balloon. When the villain explained his nefarious plot, David said it was "convoluted," but not as convoluted as one of the Batman movies. Allie and Preston and Franklin all wanted to help my mom make pies. There was a mishap and Allie fell of the chair she was standing on and ended up making a mess with the flour. My mom looked at me with an annoyed look and then said that the kids couldn't help anymore. Allie said it was Franklin's fault because he had knocked her off, so she should still be able to help. After the movie, my brother and dad and I took the kids up to the Eaglewood golf course to go sledding. My brother and dad picked a hill that had no other people, but I was a little skeptical because there was a parking lot at the bottom. Preston was being brattily stubborn and he had already made up his mind that he wasn't going to have fun, so he cried the whole time, even when he went down the hill. My dad had to take him home while David and I stayed with Allie and Franklin.

 Just when my dad got back, Allie wanted to go home. So we went home again. Later that night my grandparents and cousins came over. My grandparents brought some white fudge with cherries in it. I can't remember exactly what happened when everyone came. I think they were mostly interested in Franklin. After they left, we watched Miracle on 34th Street. Franklin was being adorable. He found a jumprope and bounced up and down while flailing it in front of him, as if he were jumping rope. (I took a video on my phone, but for some reason my phone deleted it without my permission.) He also made his mom wear some little kid glasses. When she tried to take them off, he forbade her, and went around humming "Jingle Bells." We all had looks on our faces of how cute and funny it was. I told David and Ya-ping that I was going to sleep downstairs, so they could sleep in my bed to be in the same room as the boys.

2008. In the morning I came upstairs and Elder Love was talking with the Herrons, the couple we stayed with. He had taken my Rejoice and Be Merry! album from the car and was listening to it on their stereo. At the end of the "I Saw Three Ships" organ solo, Sister Herron said the organist must have fallen on the keyboard. We were supposed to do our weekly planning that morning, but I can't remember if we did, because we heard that our zone leaders had gone to the South Hill to go sledding. We went and got haircuts at a little shop in town. While we were there, the barber got a call from a salesman and was quite rude. I became kind of scared of the guy. Then we went to the Davenport library. I emailed first. This is what my email said:
"I have to be brief today. I'm emailing today because our preparation day was switched to today for Christmas Eve. We are emailing at the Davenport library which is closed on Mondays because the Cheney library is closed today. There is only one computer so I don't have much time. We got our hair cut today at a good old-fashioned barber shop in town. It seemed a lot like Floyd's Barber Shop but not as friendly. It was cheaper than Great Clips.

Thanks for the Christmas package. I didn't realize you'd already sent it before I made my Christmas request. Today I'll be getting the package from Aunt Terri. I wanted to send out a lot of Christmas cards but I didn't have enough time and I was only able to send to you, Grandpa and Grandma, and Dave and Ya-ping, I think. I can't remember any more I sent.

I'm worried about the call home. We are going to be able to sleep in, and watch a Disney movie. The one we selected is nearly three hours long (guess which one it is!) so we had planned probably calling in the afternoon but we can probably move it up. Two o'clock there is one o'clock here so we may have to adjust our schedule a little bit.

It has continued to be cold and snowy. It was about sixteen degrees today and it feels very warm compared to the negative two we've had. On Saturday night we went to the Ritzville branch Christmas party. It was important for us because we had fourteen nonmembers and eight less-actives show up. We had to leave that night to Davenport before it got snowy and windy (the drifts here can be colossal) and we got about a half hour out of town when the newly-called first counselor of the branch presidency called because we had his keys. So, we had to turn around, and got home late. The next morning there were a lot of drifts. We had about twenty people at church. It was the third Sunday but the high counselor couldn't make it, so it was a short meeting. It was only worth having sacrament meeting. Davenport does a better job of clearing the roads than Spokane does, but the whole state of Washington is dumb. A bigger snowstorm in Utah wouldn't affect everything as much because they just plow and move on. But up here, it's like, "Oh, no! It snowed! What are we going to do? Guess we have to shut everything down." Last year they closed school for a week and I didn't see a plow until a week after the snowstorm. The Davenport Elementary School this week should have been closed because their boiler went out, so fish died, toilets froze, tiles broke, and cold ensued, but they merely started late, so everyone was mad.

My time is about up but I can talk to you more tomorrow.

Love,

Elder Melville." While Elder Love was emailing, I looked at books about religion. I found a book that said that the term "jack-Mormon" was an old pioneer term that derived from jackass because jack-Mormons brayed loudly but didn't pull their weight. I remember walking the streets of Davenport and telling that the Elder Love. I think we saw someone who said "Hi elders" but we didn't know him. That was surprising, because only members would talk like that and we didn't know him from our tiny branch. We left to go to Airway Heights. The snow was blowing across the road, and we saw a coyote.

 

We picked up Elder Colton and Elder Smith. I think they gave me a gift they had picked up for me at the mission office. It was from my aunt Terri; it was kind of a strange gift for a missionary, since it was a book of recipes to give to neighbors. But I think I looked through it and found a recipe for some candy I could easily make myself. We passed the Christmas tree lot, where they were giving away their trees for free. We went to Walmart, where it was packed. We went to the baking aisle so I could get white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semisweet chips for the candy I was going to make. After those errands, we headed out to Edwall to visit the Christensens for Christmas Eve. It was so foggy and snowy that it was hard to see where the ground ended and the sky started.

I can't exactly remember the sequence of events at the Christensens', but I think I kept saying we should leave because of the snow, but Elder Love didn't want to. But then it got to the point that Elder Love said, "You're going to be mad at me for this," and said that the snow was too deep for us to leave, since we were out in the middle of nowhere.Since the area was nothing but wheat fields, it meant that the snow was drifting really bad. So we prepared for an evening with the Christensens. Elder Love brought our presents in from the car. I played "Mary's Lullaby" on the piano, and Brother Christensen said that he was going to sing that song in sacrament meeting on Sunday but then the snow was too bad to go to church. Sister Christensen made eggnog and asked if we were weirded out by drinking raw eggs. I was a little bit, but not enough not to drink it. Elder Love really liked it, even though he generally didn't like eggnog. Sister Christensen made popcorn and gave us little bowls to eat them from while we played a dice game. Their toddler son/grandson got on my chair and sat next to me. It was funny. We did the nativity with the kids. Bailee (who was five) was Mary and Josh was Joseph and a doll was Jesus. Elder Love and I were shepherds. We sang songs, and I think I wanted to sing "Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus," which Bailee knew but Sister Christensen had never heard. I think we sang "We Three Kings." When we sang "Silent Night," Bailee was trying to sing fancy with lots of vibrato. BYUtv was showing past MoTab Christmas concerts; he was excited to see the King's Singers concert. I think he was also intrigued by the Sissel concert. I was interested in watching them too, but Bailee wanted me to play a pretending game with her. Eventually the kids had to go to bed. I got my P-day clothes from the car and changed into them. Sister Christensen liked my Snoopy shirt. I remember getting really hot that night and I didn't sleep very well on the Christensens' couch. I think Elder Love stayed up talking to Sister Christensen.

2007. That morning we went to the Regina building (stake center) so Elder Chun could play basketball. I stayed in the foyer and read scriptures; I read Luke 1 and 2. Elder Gammon came and was talking to me, asking me where I was from and what high school I went to and stuff. Then we rode with Elder Johnson and Elder Yarbrough to Walmart. They were listening to the Inside Out A Capella CD that had all the variations on "Once There Was a Snowman." I think Elder Johnson said the "Thriller" spoof was his favorite. Some members said hi to us at the store. That was my first P-day shopping experience, so I didn't know that was a common occurrence. Then we went to the Marxes', which is where the other elders lived and where Elder Chun had lived when he served in that area. I remember asking Elder Johnson if he could imagine one Steven Johnson serving a mission, but he said he had heard he was going to mission prep classes. The Marxes' family members started showing up, and they asked if we were staying for dinner. I didn't think we were. I didn't know why we were still there. Eventually we left to go to our dinner. It was a family in the Greenbluff Ward; I think their last name was Fisher. I think Elder Chun told the grandpa there that he liked his velcro shoes. I think we had a Mexican dish for dinner. I think we were in our car when Sister Fisher came out and gave us a bag of goodies. It was full of fruit and peanuts. We were glad it was healthy stuff, because we had plenty of candies and desserts. Then we went to the Joneses', a family in the Northpointe Ward. We had a little Christmas program with them, singing songs and such. They had a book they were going from; they had one of the stock Church nativity scene pictures in it. One of the activities was to sing "Away in a Manger"; I asked which version we were going to sing. They had a tradition of Santa ringing the doorbell and dropping of pajamas for everyone. They even got pajama pants for us. I think they gave Elder Chun mediums and me extra-large (maybe just large). All the kids were excited about their new pajamas, and they had to tell their son with mental deficiencies that he couldn't change his pants in front of everyone. Then we went to their kitchen and ate pumpkin pie (or maybe it was some other kind of pie). Brother Jones talked about the first Christmas on his mission, when he had to stay in his apartment listening to the Man from Snowy River soundtrack. He said that after that, whenever he would listen to it, all those homesick feelings he had would come back, so he couldn't listen to it.

2006. I wore Christmassy socks to church. After church we had a turkey dinner at our house and Susanne brought her boyfriend at the time, Darrin. I thought it was kind of an awkward dinner. That night I remember driving around someplace; I think we were giving out our neighbor gifts of Chex mix. My mom said she didn't like the lights some people had that said "Happy Birthday Jesus." Then we came home and Skyped with David, Ya-ping, and Preston.

2005. In the morning we went to Smith's Marketplace to buy food. Susanne was talking about a friend who didn't like shopping on Christmas Eve, but Susanne said she didn't see any problem with it during the day. I got a Disney Princess Sing-Along for Allie. Then we went home and made preparations for Christmas dinner while listening to Christmas CDs a student had given to my mom. Then we sat down to dinner. Later I made a Buche de Noel for my French class. I put a candy cane Lifesaver on top. After it was done, we all gathered in the living room and they let Allie open her gift from me. David asked Allie to show him so he could take a picture, but I don't think she did. Then I went down with Susanne and Allie to watch her new Sing-Along. Here are some random (some of them hilarious) pictures from the day.

2004. I wore my shirt with Snoopy in a Santa costume. My dad and I went to Shopko for some last-minute Christmas shopping. We looked at jewelry, and this might have been the time my dad got my mom ladybug earrings. Then we came home and my dad was thrilled that my sister-in-law's mother was gone. Sometime that night I made a Buche de Noel for French. I tried to smash some hard candies to sprinkle on top, but it didn't work out too well. (Now I think I'd be able to do it better.) I remember watching TV in Susanne's room. It was TV Land's Merrython, and they were showing the "Santa Visits and Stays and Stays" episode of Bewitched. I was carrying Allie when there was someone at the door. It was Hillary Ulmer. She gave me a Christmas present (a Charlie Brown ornament) and waved at Allie. I was watching Rankin/Bass specials on TV; I think David said "Oh no" when another one, Jack Frost, came on.

2003. At present, I can't remember anything from this year, even though I should. :(

2002. I remember eating pieces of a chocolate orange and watching A Bewitched Christmas (a VHS tape with two episodes of Bewitched) with my dad. Then that evening we took some homemade muffins to LDS Hospital and took them up to my sister, who was working. I remember being in the elevator and my mom offered some to other people working that night. Then my brother and I played Kirby Superstar on the Super Nintendo.

2001. I remember going with my dad to buy my mom's Christmas present. I wanted to get her Miracle on 34th Street. First we went to Kmart, but I think they only had VHS. Then we went to Shopko, but they were closed. I think we went to other closed places. We went to a video rental store (I don't remember if it was Blockbuster or Hollywood Video), where I bought a VHS copy of the movie since we couldn't find a DVD. When we got home, I think my mom was annoyed that we were doing her shopping on Christmas Eve. I wrapped the gift in toilet paper with green ribbon.

2000. We went to the homecoming of my cousin Cannon in Delta. We had a potluck dinner at some gym there. I think we had made M&M cookies with mint M&Ms. Then we drove home. It was really snowy, and we couldn't get up the driveway. I think we might have been listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. I think we made more cookies with the dough we had. I remember looking at the Mormonad cards in the New Era. Then we got in our hot tub.

1999. We had a turkey dinner with eggnog. I remember saying the eggnog (Southern Comfort?) was different, but David said it was probably more authentic. I was vegetarian, but I said, "It's winter," and I ate turkey. Everyone was shocked. Then I opened my Christmas present from the Ulmers. There were three keychains: Woody from Toy Story, a Pikachu and Pokeball, and a gorilla Pez dispenser. That night I was telling my sister about how I like to watch a non-Christmas movie so that I won't think about Christmas. I watched The Iron Giant.

1998. I started remembering all these events, but then I realized they probably happened on December 19. So I went and updated that post. On Christmas Eve morning, I was watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that I had borrowed from my grandparents. There was a knock at the door, and my little cousin Quin, who had spent the night, opened the door, and I was annoyed that he did, since it wasn't his house. It was Chantelle Christensen dropping off a present. 

1997. I think I set up my bed in the basement and turned on the battery-powered lights on the tree on top of the TV. I couldn't sleep well because I was so excited.

1996. This might have been the year that my siblings and I were downstairs looking at what was on TV. Channel 11 was showing Mr. Krueger's Christmas. They seemed kind of amused at the thought of watching it, but I think I did want to watch it. But maybe this was 1995.

1995. I remember my cousins coming over; I think when we came home, the wind had blown our door open. Our countdown Santa had its blocks as "01" and Jesse switched them around. He laughed when it said "10" but I remember thinking that it was exciting it was only one day. But I don't remember this happening on a Sunday, so maybe it was 1996.

1993. I remember cutting my foot on the place where our kitchen floor met the dining room carpet. I periodically cut myself there, and this was one of those times.

1988. Because of family videos, I know that we spent the night at my grandparents' house. But since I was less than three months old, I certainly don't actually remember this.

As always, I know I'll remember more things after I post this. Will I update this when I remember them? I don't know.

Related posts:
  Yuletide by the Fireside, and Joyful Memories There
A year of holiday memories
December 23

December 19

December 19 is the birthday of my sister-in-law Ya-ping and also the anniversary of my cousin Tammy. But not all of my memories have anything to do with those events.

2011. I went to my ward's Christmas party at our bishop's house; I parked on Eagleridge Drive because the bishop's culdesac was full. They had a really good meal provided by a ward member who's a professional caterer. Someone had also brought pretty Christmas sugar cookies. I talked to Isaac Wood, whom I hadn't seen since high school. He told me he was studying Linguistics at BYU, but he was wanting to be a coach. He said something about me being really smart, but I said we were equally smart. He said that might have been true in the past, but it wasn't anymore. Then he called me Kram Ellivlem, hailing back to our elementary school days. I think I brought a candle for my white elephant gift. A guy named Frank, who had been baptized in the Orchard 11th Ward many years earlier, came that night and played pool. Boyd Tschaggeny talked about just gathering random stuff he found in his car, like an air freshener, for his white elephant. I was worried that the white elephant exchange would take a really long time (like it did in 2009), but they had it arranged to go faster. Paul Castleberry picked a present that was a "Rise and Roar" BYU shirt. He wasn't too happy about it. When it was my turn, I went and took it from him, because I didn't know if I'd get a better present. He was glad I took it, until he opened his next present, which was a decoration of a basket with pinecones in it. He started saying he wanted the shirt back. He kept advertising "Pinecones! Pinecones!" to whoever's turn it was. That night, Kelton Gubler ended up with a disgusting children's book (perhaps one geared to encourage kids to become potty trained). I learned that the shirt I got was from Isaac, and another person in my ward told me he had considered taking the shirt from Paul. Lee Millard came downstairs dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. Our bishop talked about people sitting on Santa's lap; Peter Moosman said he would if Santa existed. I kind of wanted to get a candy cane from "Santa" but I didn't. I was putting on my shoes to leave and the bishop asked me if I had gotten one of the mugs the ward was giving as gifts, but I had gotten mine at church one Sunday.

2010. I attended both the family ward and the singles ward that day; I think they both had an organ and a piano play together during the closing hymn.

2009. In the morning I walked up to the corner of Raygene Way and Gary Way to help the elders quorum move in a new family. But no one was there, so after a while I went back home. Then my parents and I and Ya-ping and Preston and Franklin all got in the Suburban to go to Provo. I brought some MoTab CDs, Ring Christmas Bells and Spirit of the Season, to listen to. When I wanted to listen to Spirit of the Season, my mom said that Ya-ping didn't like that CD. We went to Campus Plaza because my mom had looked at an apartment for me there, but the place was already filled. So then she called someone at Jamestown on Condo Row, but that spot was taken. However, they gave us the number of one Colin Barber, who was selling his contract next door in Stratford Court. So she called Colin but he was going to a reception, so we would need to see the apartment later. While we waited, we went to the Bean Museum, where they got a musical hamster toy for Franklin. They went to get some bread for the boys to use at the duck pond while my dad and I went up to campus to look around. We went in the Wilk and I wanted to look at some things in the Bookstore. I was surprised they sold clothes and I saw them selling a Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly game. Then we went back to Stratford (we learned that a student had played with a ball with the boys at the pond) and went up to apartment 303. We met Colin and he showed me the apartment. Ya-ping kept talking about how clean the apartment was. Colin said they didn't do cleaning checks, which was false. Colin gave me the numbers for my roommates the Jeffs and James. Colin said something to Ya-ping in Chinese; he had learned some from visiting Taiwan. Preston strummed on a string on some instrument in the living room, which really annoyed me. I was further annoyed when we discovered that he was looking at Colin's phone--at five years old he had no respect for others' property. Franklin turned on his annoying hamster. I signed a contract, but I had to sign into MyMap to get my ID number. I've lived on Condo Row ever since. During the car ride home, Preston asked about Allie's family situation. Preston had been asking all that day when we were going to go home.

2008. I'm wondering if this was the time that it was really cold outside, like -3 degrees, but it didn't feel too cold to us because it wasn't windy. Elder Love and I walked to see one Rexa Moffett, who lived with a nonmember roommate. I think they gave us some dessert with pineapple. She talked about how we were wearing sweaters because of the cold. We probably asked her to provide a ride for our investigator Christol. I'm not sure if all of this happened this day. But this is what my journal says:
"I just reread the entry for this date from a year ago. Much has transpired. Then I was still in the 'wow' state. Now, today was just another day.

"It was actually a pretty good day, although our numbers didn't show it. After our sacred planning we shoveled the walkway for an old man in our complex [the man who owned a P.T. Cruiser]. Then we got a Christmas invitation from the Adamses, who are not members, and we were able to invite Christol and Michelle to the party tomorrow, and they want to come. Tonight the sign on the bank said it was -1."

2007. That day we got up in the morning and met the sisters at their house to get a ride to zone conference. We rode with a member from their ward. We drove to the South Hill stake center, which had Christmas decorations up. At zone conference I met Elder Johnson, whom I had known since preschool. He asked who my companion was, and when I told him Elder Chun, he said I was in his district. President Clark  announced that we could sleep in on both Christmas and New Year's Day and that we could watch a Disney movie on each of those days. Sister McNaughton asked if they could watch The Nativity Story, but we were watching that movie during zone conference. I pulled out my planner and decorated the page for Christmas with a garland. They gave us CDs as gifts. One was a piano CD, one was a burned CD of the BYU Men's Chorus singing "I Love the Lord" (three times), and one was a "Missionary Hymn Project," but there was only enough for each companionship. Then we broke off into our individual zones. We all introduced our companions, and I said something about being a newbie. President Clark was there and he said, "Isn't it wonderful?" that I was a brand new missionary. Then we went into the cultural hall to watch some things. We watched a clip of a narration from a MoTab concert about the WWII (WWI?) soldiers refusing to fight on Christmas. Then we watched The Nativity Story. After zone conference, we picked up my boxed bike and put it in the member's car. On the way home, Sister Shaw said she thought it was funny that the movie was in English but they sang a German song with Latin words ("Silent Night"). We passed a crematorium and had a conversation about cremation. We visited one Sister Stubbs, and then I think we might have assembled my bike.

2004. I can't remember if my cousin Terrill's farewell was on December 12 or December 19, so I'm going to include it here. We drove my grandma from Fillmore to Delta and my dad hit a bird with our car. I was sitting next to Allie, who was not quite seventeen months and who had just discovered how fun it was to tear the pages in her Shrek book. I discouraged her from doing so. A lady spoke before Terrill. She told that ridiculous story about Santa saying "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas." She put on a Santa hat, in the middle of sacrament meeting! I kind of laughed. But then she pulled out a little Christmas tree and decorated it as she told the story. It was really awkward and I couldn't believe she thought it was a good idea. Then after church, we went someplace and had dinner with those other Melvilles. Before leaving Delta, my dad stopped in a gas station and bought gas. He told us that the guy in the station asked him if he was Mike's dad. My mom said that was weird, because Mike looked older than my dad. We stopped someplace so I could take pictures for my photography class. It is this detail that indicates to me this occurred on December 12, but I just don't know. It could have happened a different day.

2003. During seminary, we did nothing but sing hymns. Pam Day (the piano player) asked to skip "Angels We Have Heard on High." Then I think during Spanish class, we had our white elephant party. Ben Driggs was unhappy with the gift I gave of green olives, but Mrs. Birdsall said she loved them. I got a plastic apple container that was filled with mints with Bible verses on them. On the bus home, a girl gave me some Ferrera Rocher chocolates. That afternoon, I studied the countries and capitals of Africa for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then when everyone got home, we went out and saw Elf in the theater. I thought it was funny, but I didn't like the language. Then we went to a Chinese restaurant for Ya-ping's birthday. The owner had some kids who were coloring at a table. As we were driving home, David translated that Ya-ping had said that she felt like Aladdin because she got all the wishes she wanted for her birthday.

1999. It was the Christmas program, and I was speaking. My grandparents came to our church. I had forgotten to take my scriptures up to the podium, so I skipped the part of my talk that quoted scriptures. I said that we too often think of the angels speaking matter-of-factly, when we should have them speaking enthusiastically. (That idea was stolen from one Dr. Edwards relaying a story about Madeleine L'Engle.) Later that day, Sister Stewart told me she liked that I said that gifts aren't called receifts, because we are supposed to give them. Then we had a family party at our house. The Thompsons brought a gallon (or two) of eggnog and laughed at us when we diluted it with milk. A Samoan family came and they were awed by our ten-foot tree. Susanne said, "But it's fake," and they said theirs was fake too. One of the Samoan kids was looking through a book of Christmas songs and called Good King Wenceslas "Good King Wencel."

1998. This might have been the day when my cousins were over and I got really mad at Joey for spoiling my "Mark's Corny Magic Show" act, but it might have been another December day. My friend David Christensen dropped off a gift for me. It was in a gift bag, and I peeked in and could tell it was Awesome Apple, one of the Nutra-Fruit Heroes. So I opened it early. (This may have been Christmas Eve.) I think my cousins and I watched The Witches. My dad had put up some more Christmas lights in our dining room windows. I was surprised to see that they had pink lights. 

1997. It was the last day of school before the break, and we third-graders sang variations of "Jingle Bells" for our program. That night it was Tammy's wedding, and my sister was sitting at the booth where everyone signs their name. It was a really nice venue, all decked out for Christmas. At that time, my cousin Todd and his girlfriend (now wife) Deanna liked to have me sing to them. I remember standing outside the place, singing to them (and I think Deanna's parents) all the "Jingle Bells" renditions we learned. I think Deanna's mom thought I was done before I was. I think they especially liked the cowboy version.

November 28, 2007, and November 30, 2009

Can you believe I've been home from my mission for three years!?

Wednesday, November 28, 2007. I remember getting the last of my stuff packed into my suitcase before we left the house. I remember thinking how crazy it was that I wouldn't be seeing the house again for two years! You know those little toys that are plastic screens that you write on and they stick to the surface underneath so you can draw on it? Well, I had a keychain of those that came with a small yellow piece of plastic to write with. Allie put the yellow thing in my suitcase. I almost told her not to do that, but then I realized it didn't really matter. I thought it was funny she thought it was something I should take with me. Then we went to Great Clips so I could get a haircut. I was all dressed up, of course, so the girl cutting my hair asked me where I was going. I told her I was going on a mission. Then we drove down to Provo. I think we played "I Spy" with Allie. We stopped at a restaurant--Winger's or something--for lunch. I remember sitting next to Allie and thinking that at four years old, she was still really cute, and I was going to miss her a lot. Then we went to the MTC. I went with my dad to drop off my luggage. I overheard one missionary tell another that he was so excited. I felt bad I didn't have those same feelings. Then we went in the meeting room. They showed the Mormon family commercials. I was a bit weepy. Allie needed to go to the bathroom. Then later she told her mom she wanted to leave. Susanne told her that they couldn't leave because they weren't going to see me for a long time. Eventually it came time to say our goodbyes. I was crying all over the place. Then I had to go get some shots. I was standing in line and an elder asked me where I was going and where I was from. He was going to the Salt Lake City North Mission, Spanish speaking. I thought of how lucky he was to be called foreign speaking. (I've still not completely gotten over that.) Then I got my luggage and lugged it up the stairs in the Dan Jones building. I went to my room and met the other missionaries, who were already there. My companion, Elder Hightower, had staked his claim on the bottom bunk, but I asked if I could have the bottom since I had a sprained ankle. He obliged, although I don't think he was too happy about it. I find it funny that we were companions, for we were exact opposites. Our zone leaders came in. One of them was Daniel Bitner from my home stake. He saw me and said excitedly, "Mark! I mean, Elder Melville!" I didn't mind him using my first name, but later in my mission I would have definitely minded. The other zone leader was from Australia. That evening, our zone leaders took us on a tour of all the places we needed to know at the MTC, and they told us we could move the stickers ("dork dots," I would later learn) from the front of our tags to the back.

Monday, November 30, 2009. We woke up at the Palmers' house and had breakfast before we left for the airport. I rode with Elder Hansen and the AP whose name I have forgotten. He told me I could pick a CD to listen to. I flipped through his CDs and picked a Hilary Weeks Christmas CD; he told me, "Good choice." I noticed he had a burned CD that was "The Best of Michelle Tumes." I asked him where he got it; he had gotten it from one Elder Jarman who had gone home earlier that year. Early in my mission I had bought a CD, The Very Best of Michelle Tumes, which I let my companion at the time burn. I wondered if that CD had spread through the mission as a result of me buying it. I was surprised that an AP would have some of the music he did. Then we got to the airport and we went through security. I saw one Brother Mears from my first area getting his shoes from security. He saw us, but I didn't know if he would recognize me, which was good, because he didn't like me. We saw the incoming missionaries. One of them told the other missionaries that they needed to make sure their suits were buttoned up; I had to laugh at all the rules that the MTC teaches you that aren't enforced in the field. I was wearing a sweater, but I thought it wise to take it off before the plane ride so I wouldn't be too hot. Elder Hansen told me that a lady was watching me take off my sweater. We got on the plane and the stewardesses told us there had been a bunch of us on the previous flight. I sat next to Elder Maxfield; he was getting my personal info and asked for my first name, but I wouldn't tell him. Then he remembered my name was Richard. I kept looking out the window, trying to guess where we were. I wondered if we had passed Lewiston. We flew over snow, but when we were in the Salt Lake Valley, I didn't see snow. I took some pictures of the Great Salt Lake. Then we landed. As we walked through the airport, people kept saying, "Hi elders." I remember standing on the moving walkway and a guy turned around and said something about how it must be nice to have everyone know you. I said it was better than the alternative, thinking of all the times people yelled at me on my mission. We got to escalators; I was going to get on last but Elder Maxfield told me to get on before him. As we descended, we heard cheers as we saw all our families waiting for us. My mom was rubbing her hands with excitement. My grandparents, my aunt, and some of my cousins were there as well. I thought it was excessive to have that many people there. I made my requisite hug rounds. I asked Allie how she was; she seemed shy around me. They had bought some balloons for me. One of them was a black pirate-themed balloon; they told me they bought it because I was "their treasure" and because it had a skull on it and I was known in the mission for having a skull pillowcase. One Elder Dickerson had come to welcome his buddy Elder Hightower home. I said goodbye to the other missionaries while we waited for my bags to come to the baggage claim. We wondered where they would be; Allie said she saw a sign that said Spokane, and I was surprised she could read that. We got my bags and we went to the Suburban. I pulled my Cherie Call The Ocean in Me CD out of my suitcase and asked if we could listen to it in the car. As the title track played, Nan said she didn't like the ringing sound in the background. My mom said they were bells, and Allie backed her up. I think in the car they told me that my nephews were going to come visit; they would be arriving Saturday. Allie told me that Preston would wake up with a frowny face. As we got up the hill, Allie told me I needed to look out the window. At the intersection of Lacey and Marialana, I saw the banner that said, "Welcome Home Elder Mark." I said I was disappointed it didn't say "Letter Mark," as Allie had long misinterpreted "Elder," but my mom and sister said Allie had insisted on "Elder" for the sign instead of "Letter." We all got home and I brought my stuff inside. I was surprised to see our new "granite" countertops. (Now I know they're actually gabbro; you can even see the olivine in them.) Jesse and Peter were going out to get Little Caesars. They asked me if I remembered Bountiful, but I didn't really want to go with them. My mom said she would cook dinner later. There were a lot of conversations that happened that day. I remember Sue mentioning something about the baby David and Ya-ping were having. I said, "They're having another one?" and my mom was shocked that she hadn't told me yet. I later talked to Ya-ping on the phone. I talked to Franklin; he didn't respond to anything I said. I talked to Preston, but I couldn't understand a lot of what he said. He did say that he wanted to talk to my mom, but I wanted him to talk to me. He sang the song about the ants marching out of the rain. At one point Peter said that his school had played the Green Acres theme over the intercom and said that even they were celebrating that I was coming home that week. I remember sitting on the floor with Jesse and Peter and showing them the Ocean in Me CD, pointing out Antelope Island in the pictures of the "ocean." Jesse asked me if Cherie Call was good; I said that I liked her, but some of my companions didn't. My grandpa took a picture of us three as if we were three wise monkeys. The womenfolk went into the kitchen to make Hawaiian haystacks; while they were doing so, my grandpa talked about missionaries in his ward tracting out "losers" (his word, not mine) who just wanted to see what the Church could do for them. I showed him pictures of the Michael Piquet family and told him their story. I remember reading funny scriptures, like Jeremiah 24:2 and Jeremiah 5:8, and I heard my mom laughing in the kitchen. My grandpa said now he knew what scriptures he could share for his Sunday meetings. Eventually everyone left. That evening I talked to David. I was surprised he talked so much about movies. He asked me if Corpse Bride had come out before my mission; I was surprised he didn't remember me loving it before my mission. He told me I would really like Coraline, that it was gothic and right up my alley. (I watched part of it a few weeks later, but it didn't fit my standards.) Then Dana Clark, a member of the stake president who had been bishop when I left, came over to release me. Allie was wearing her pajamas, including a tank top. President Clark said he was selfish but he wanted to release me (instead of the stake president releasing me) since he had sent me out. He said he would go around the room and ask my family to bear their testimonies, and then it would be my turn, and when I was done, I would be released. I was super sad and nervous. When it was my dad's turn, he said, "We're glad to have you back," which wasn't a testimony. When it was my turn, I said that it was the saddest day of my life, but I didn't know why, because I didn't like knocking on doors or having people yell at me and things like that, and therefore I knew the only reason I would be so sad was because I was doing God's will. Then he left and I went to bed. It sure was weird going to sleep in a room by myself.

The Day after Thanksgiving

I don't like the term "Black Friday" because of the commercial and negative connotations, although I still use it sometimes. But I do really like the day after Thanksgiving.

2011. I went to work, very early in the morning, wearing a Christmassy Peanuts shirt. I remember stuffing envelopes with my middle-aged coworker Arlene; she was saying that they didn't usually have to work on the day after Thanksgiving, but I pointed out that the year before we had to. Someone had turned on a Christmas radio station, and my coworker Kayleigh said, annoyed, "Why are we listening to this?" But I remember at another point she said she couldn't be depressed because of my shirt. In the afternoon, I asked if they needed me. They said I could go home, but I could stay if I wanted. I went home to go to the temple with my parents. It seems like my dad had talk radio on in the car we drove to the temple, and then my parents changed it to FM 100. I think I started talking about how the people who decided it's a good idea to play "Christmas Canon" should be slowly tortured. My mom told me it wasn't good to be talking about torturing people on the way to the temple, but I said it wasn't good to be listening to songs about hippopotamuses for Christmas on the way to the temple. After the temple, we went to a boutique by Kmart (we couldn't justify going to Arctic Circle since we had gone the day before Thanksgiving). While we were driving there, the radio played Cherie Call's version of  "The First Noel," and I was annoyed that of all the songs she has on her Christmas album, they chose one of the few songs that wasn't an original song, especially since Cherie Call's not as good when she sings songs that aren't her own. I remember them playing "Christmas Canon" when we went inside, and I was annoyed. We found a Ty beanie baby walrus, which was the only thing we ended up buying. Then we went home and I think my mom made the fall-shaped noodles we had bought the previous Saturday and we had spaghetti with vegetarian "meat"balls. I put my Christmas music in my playlist, downloaded some Spanish Christmas songs from LDS.org, and ripped the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer soundtrack to my computer. Then I went downstairs to work on my talk for Sunday.

2010. In the morning I drove to Winegar's grocery store to buy something for the barbecue at work. I bought a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. I also bought some Christmas Tic-Tacs. I took my chips to my locker at work, but when it was time for our barbecue, I didn't feel like walking all the way to my locker, especially since there were already the same kind of Doritos on the table. I remember my lead Skyler saying he wanted us to be done early because he wanted to buy a Christmas tree with his wife. We finished pretty early. I stopped in the Distribution store and bought some things, such as a New Testament manual for my mom and some MoTab CDs (The Wonder of Christmas and Spirit of America, one for Christmas and one for the Fourth of July). I took my Doritos home.

2009. The other Lewiston elders picked us up in the morning. Elder Robinson gave me a jar of ashes that said "Elder Melville's Mission"; he also had one for our zone leader, Elder Hansen, who had come out with me. We took a bunch of pictures after district meeting. I was wearing a tie I had traded from Elder Masten because of its Christmas colors, and he commented on it.

Then we went to Jeffrey's for lunch, and then Elder Critchfield wanted me to watch Labor of Love, but the stake center didn't have it, so we went to our building. Elder Masten and Elder Tamblyn didn't want to come inside, so they waited in the car and listened to Christmas music while Elder Critchfield and I watched Labor of Love in the library. I told him that I didn't see the thumbs up everyone talked about, but he said it was in there. Elder Tamblyn would later tell me that he didn't realize we were watching the video there; he thought we were just checking it out and would watch it at the stake center. I think we gave Elder Masten back his bike. We listened to the Ring Christmas Bells MoTab album as we drove out to Lapwai for my last time (after having a lesson with Shaun). It seems like we might have seen the LaMere family in Lapwai and they had a Christmas tree up. Eventually we met George Sabin to head out to the Sanfords' for dinner. Word had already gotten to them that I was going home in a few days. They were reheating Thanksgiving leftovers on their special stove that didn't get hot; it only heated the pans (and then the pans would make the stove hot).

2008.  After our alarm went off, Elder Love started humming "Jingle Bells" because I had been so insistent that Christmas didn't start until after Thanksgiving, and he was excited for it. For personal study, I erased my Thanksgiving scripture from the whiteboard and wrote this instead:

It took the full hour of personal study, which probably wasn't a good use of my time. That morning we went and visited Lucrecia, who was watching her grandson Edward. We were shocked at how much calmer Edward was than when he was with his mom. We went and saw our investigator Amber, who lived on Broadway Ave. When we were walking from her house, we heard some cats fighting. We looked up and saw two cats on a roof. One cat approached the other, and the other backed up, backing right off the edge of the roof! Most houses on the street only had one story, but that one had two. Elder Love and I started laughing, shocked, but we were concerned about the welfare of that cat. The people who lived in that house were Jewish and were good friends of Amber's. Elder Love had met them before, so we knocked on the door and told the lady what had happened and asked if we could look in her side yard. There was no sign of the cat, so we assumed (and hoped) that the cat was unharmed. It was a hilarious experience. Then we went home for lunch. During lunch break I took down the orange lights and put up Christmas lights that we had in the closet. I plugged in one set and noticed the lights flickering. I found the problematic bulb and saw that it had had some electric failure and got so hot that it melted the plastic. I was glad I had noticed the problem before it caught on fire. After that we went to Lind; I think we listened to Christmas CDs, trying to get in the spirit. We visited the less-active member who was married to a member of the former RLDS Church. It was rainy, which wasn't the best way to make it feel Christmassy. When we were driving back to Ritzville, Elder Hansen called us and told us to park the car. I told him we couldn't, because we were driving back to Ritzville and we were on the freeway. He was mostly kidding; he was just passing on word from the mission president that we should be careful about driving in snow. I asked him if it was snowing in Cheney; he said it was (it was only raining where we were). We went home and then decided to walk to Zip's for dinner. It was my year mark, so I wanted to celebrate, but I also wanted to get an eggnog shake, since I had seen that the Zip's in Cheney was advertising eggnog shakes. But Ritzville didn't have any, so I couldn't get one. We ate there and were, as usual, disappointed with the quality of the food. We walked home, talking about how we didn't understand how Zip's stayed in business. That night I wanted to talk to Elder Hansen when we made our nightly call. I told him that I had met him exactly one year before, and he said, "It was love at first sight."

2007. I remember hobbling around on my sprained ankle, putting up Christmas window clings. This might have been the time I put up the downstairs Christmas tree while watching Christmas episodes of The Flying Nun and The Andy Griffith Show, but that might have been Saturday.

2006. We were in Fillmore and my niece Allie and my cousin Alex were watching stuff on the portable DVD player; I was a little sad I hadn't brought any Christmas DVDs to get in the spirit. Then we drove home. I think we turned on a Christmas radio station when we could. When we finally arrived home, it was dusk, and my inflatable turkey was on and up. I remember thinking that it was great that usually Christmas intrudes on Thanksgiving's territory, but with the turkey being up, it was Thanksgiving intruding on Christmas's territory for a change. I put a Christmas tree nightlight in the bathroom and took a bath (instead of a shower) with nothing but the nightlight on.

2005. I can remember some things, but I think they happened on the Saturday, not the Friday, after Thanksgiving. If it was the Friday, we went to Target and I bought a dollar DVD of The Beverly Hillbillies because it had a Thanksgiving episode ("Elly's First Date").

2004. For my designated naptime that day, I decided to watch I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, since I had only watched it once. My family had done Black Friday shopping and I think my mom bought Clay Aiken's new Christmas album. Later that day we went to Target. I got a t-shirt that had Snoopy dressed as Santa with a comic strip behind it, and I think I also bought some Snoopy Christmas pajamas. We also bought Christmas mint Skittles. That night we went to the theater by Shopko to see The Incredibles; I didn't like the language in it so I started calling it The Incredibly Evils. My brother David looked at my new shirt and he said he initially thought the comic strip was dollar bills. 

2003. This might have been the day my dad and brother went to the store in the evening and bought some eggnog. It had a picture of a cow in a Santa hat, but I looked at it wrong and thought the cow's nostrils were eyes, and I thought it was some weird Nightmare Before Christmas-esque creature.

2002. There's something I can remember, but it might embarrass some people, so I don't think I should share it. This might have been the time my mom and sister had to stop at Inkley's, but I waited in the car, looking at my Charlie Brown Christmas CD, but maybe that was 2003. I watched a woman at a stoplight or a bus stop or something pull a new Santa hat out of a bag and put it on. This also might have been the time my parents and I went test driving SUVs. We drove to our house and talked to David but he didn't want to come with us; my mom told the dealer employee that he had just come home from a mission, and we learned that the employee had also served in Taiwan before missionary work took off.

2001. I remember driving home from Fillmore in our white Subaru, munching on the little Thanksgiving candies I had made two days before. My mom found a tape that had lots of old Christmas music on it, like "There's No Place like Home for the Holidays" and Julie Andrews singing "I Saw Three Ships." I think that later that day we went to Cancun Cafe with my cousin April and her boyfriend. They usually had peppermints, but this time they had candy canes, which I thought was fitting.

2000. I remember some tiny snowflakes falling as I was outside changing our porch lights to red and green. I remember putting out our wooden carolers and Mary and Joseph while whistling the theme song to The Brady Bunch. Later my aunt and cousins came; Chancey seemed very concerned about the small patches of ice on our driveway, since he had had surgery a few weeks earlier. We went to Shopko and I think we bought candy canes. I remember sitting outside Chuck-A-Rama for some reason. They had paintings on the windows about "Happy Thanksgiving" and Joey was saying they shouldn't have them because Thanksgiving was over. I pointed out that Thanksgiving was only the day before, but he didn't seem to think that was a valid reason. Then we went home and I turned on the TV in the kitchen to watch Bewitched; it was the episode when Sarena brings Tabatha's toys to life.

1999. I remember getting up and taking down Thanksgiving decorations; I put the gourds outside. That morning we went to the theater by Shopko to see Toy Story 2. The employees were wearing Santa hats. There was one kid who was very animated when he watched the movie; he kept gasping and yelling and cheering. There was a gawky girl with glasses who was staring at him. After that we went to Winegar's; on our way there, I remember seeing the inhabitant of an apartment putting white Christmas window clings in her window. I wanted to get mint M&Ms, and when David was putting them from the cart to the checkout, he held them by the corner like it was something nasty, I think to make a point.Then I remember David and my dad pulling up our Christmas tree.

1998. I had had a sleepover with my cousin Jesse. He got up and ate breakfast while I slept in. Our moms went to RC Willey, where they were giving out free nutcrackers. They gave one to each of us. The rest of the Thompsons came that day and I was putting up a Christmas garland on our stairs, and Quin saw it and said excitedly, "They have Christmas stuff!" My mom told me that night that when my cousins went home, they pulled out their Christmas stuff.

1997. I remember getting up in the morning and seeing that my parents had left a note for me on the hallway mirror. The mirror had a "Turn off the violence" window cling, which is what they used to secure the note to the mirror. I went to the living room and turned on the Carpenters Christmas CD while taking down Thanksgiving stuff. I think this was also the day that I was walking up to the Gublers' with my mom because they had asked me to feed their cats. We saw my sister's friend Shan putting up Christmas window clings in her window. I asked my mom what déjà vu meant.Then I made a little rhyme, "Déjà vu, I love you." I laughed because I thought I was funny, but I really wasn't. I think I wanted to play with my friend David Christensen.

1996. This year I also turned on the Carpenters' Christmas Portrait album to undecorate.

1994. I remember my aunt and cousins coming over. My aunt asked why we had Halloween stuff up. I just hadn't realized that we had left one decoration (one of those ghosts that goes "Ooooo") in the window and forgot about it because it was behind the blinds. I think we had three holidays up--that forgotten Halloween decoration, Thanksgiving decorations, and the Christmas decorations I had started putting up the night before. I remember putting up a little wooden tree our neighbors had used to give us cookies the year before, and I think I put a Santa hat on it.

1993. It's very possible this wasn't the day after Thanksgiving, but I remember playing with the next door neighbor Taryn Pay, and then we came to my house, where we were decorating for Christmas. Taryn found some wreaths and suggested we put them around our faces. I resented the fact that she took the soft cloth one and I had to use the poky wicker one.

Related posts: 
Remember Every Detail, Volume Three: Thanksgiving
A Year of Holiday Memories

The Day Before Thanksgiving

I'm going to try to remember as much as I can about Thanksgiving Eves as I can.

2011. When I went on my break in the morning, I was happy to see that there were pumpkin cookies in the vending machine, so I bought one. Then during my lunch break, I went to Port of Subs and got a Pilgrim Griller sandwich. I took it back to our break room, and I remember telling my coworkers about all the overtime I was working, which was why I could afford a ten-dollar sandwich. When I got back to work, the radio was playing a Kohl's Black Friday commercial that was a parody of Rebecca Black's "Friday." Some of my coworkers, including Jose, starting singing "Friday." Then I went home, listening to the terrible Hymns CD on the way. I got home and my dad told me I shouldn't see what my mom had done. She had found a recipe on Pinterest for Rice Krispies turkeys that used candy corn. But she was unable to find regular candy corn, so she bought Christmas-colored candy corn instead. Then we talked about what we should have for dinner--should we have our fall-shaped noodles, or should we go to Arctic Circle and get pumpkin shakes (plus dinner)? We decided on Arctic Circle. I was dismayed to see a house with a lit Christmas tree outside. After Arctic Circle, the radio was playing "Bulletproof" by La Roux, and I told my mom about how when that song would come on Pandora, the sounds would alternate in each of my earbuds. We might have stopped at Winegar's; I was skeptical that there was no candy corn, but that was in fact the case.

2010. I remember driving to work with there being snow on the freeway. I was going to work a little early, and we thought there would be a lot of work, since the snow had cancelled work the previous day, but we actually ended relatively early. I think my coworker Stephanie was saying, "How on earth are we done?" I think this was the day my coworker Brittany came just as I was finishing up some boxes; I told her she could finish up what I was doing so she could get some hours--or minutes--in. Then I went home and we watched the "Turkey Day" episode of The Beverly Hillbillies; I think my mom said she liked it more than the "Elly's First Date" episode we watched the day before.

2009. In the morning, we went and helped Sister Carter, an elderly sister in our ward, as we did every week. But she had forgotten about us. She let us rake leaves, and she made some canned soup for us. She was conducting piano lessons. I left a note thanking her for the last time. That evening we went around seeing different people. We stopped at a potential investigator's house who had seemed nice when I saw her in May or June; on this night, she was less friendly and said that it seemed like missionaries stopped by every three months. I knew that wasn't true, because it had been at least five months since I had been there before. We stopped at another potential, whom we had tried to contact ever since I had been there. We actually found them both home that night, and they let us in briefly. The man asked how much longer we had before we went home. I told him about five days. Then we went to the Coopers', a struggling family whose daughters were getting baptized. One of the daughters (Katelyn) wasn't there, but another was. We watched The Testaments, and the daughter who was there (Megan) had seen it from the missionaries in California. The movie started with the "great-with-child" Mary riding a donkey, and one of the five-year-old boys knew exactly what was going on. After seeing the Coopers, we had a lesson with Britt Beck, a less-active who was getting active again. He was baking pies and we talked with him in his kitchen. I think he told us that a pastor told him about reading Proverbs every month because there are thirty-one of them.

2008. In the morning we drove out from Davenport up to the stake center near Cheney. I brought out all my Thanksgiving candy and put it on the table in the Relief Society room where we were having district meeting. Elder Maurer was excited because he liked candy corn. Elder Hansen announced that we were singing hymn 140, "Did You Think to Pray?," but I said, "We sang that last week!" I said I wanted to sing a Thanksgiving song (as I had requested to Elder Hansen the night before), and he said we would at the end. But then some dummy said, "Let's sing a Christmas song." I strongly objected, but they went ahead with singing "Angels We Have Heard on High." But I refused to sing it, so instead I was singing "Father Thy Children to Thee Now Raise." Our zone leader, Elder Payne, was playing the piano, and he stopped and was busting out laughing because I was singing something different. Sister Tervola, a visiting Hawaiian sister from Temple Square, said, "What are you singing?" Then we sang "Come Ye Thankful People" for the closing hymn. Then we went back to Ritzville by way of Edwall. I remember having a lesson with Lucrecia, the excommunicated member who had used a little too much meth in her life. We talked about the Word of Wisdom, and I used President Packer's thought that a drunkard can't feel the still, small voice. While we were visiting, our phone vibrated. Elder Love checked it and said it was a text from Christol (Lucrecia's daughter), talking about Thanksgiving. (I looked at it later and it was one of those mass pass-it-on texts). As we were walking home, I remember improvising a poem: "'Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and through the apartment, all the creatures were in every compartment." (Or something like that.) I turned on my orange lights and I kept them on, but Elder Love turned them off after we were in bed because he couldn't sleep. This is my journal entry for that night: "Today at district meeting I was hoping both of our songs would be Thanksgiving songs. None of us were happy when Elder Hansen announced 140, 'Did You Think to Pray,' because we sang that last week. Some corrupt person suggested a Christmas song, and Elder Payne suggested 'Angels We Have Heard on High.' I said if we sang that I would throw the hymnbook at him, because I was still vying for a Thanksgiving song. I didn't throw the book, but while they sang the Christmas song, I sang 'Father Thy Children to Thee Now Raise" and "For the Beauty of the Earth." It caused Elder Payne to stop playing and Sister Tervola to ask what I was singing. I was glad when our closing song was 'Come Ye Thankful People.'

"It was a blah day. Our only QGI was the wife of Bruce, a less-active we found in Edwall. We came here, saw Adriana briefly, had dinner at Sharon's [I'm sure this means I had a pumpkin shake], saw the Johnsons for dinner tomorrow, then had a lesson with Lucrecia and Wanda. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and I presented it in a way I hadn't before, using 1 Kings 19:11-12, to show that we have to be able to hear the still small voice, and 1 Nephi 3:7."

2007. My memories of the Tuesday and Wednesday that week kind of run together. I'm pretty sure I was watching a lot of Green Acres (since I had a sprained ankle), and my mom had bought some Christmas chocolates, including Cadbury balls (like the mini eggs). It's possible this was the day I watched a bread delivery guy not put his truck in park and it went and crashed into a sign, but I think that was on Tuesday.

2006. I know my parents went to Fillmore this day, but I actually can't really remember anything about this day. :(

2005. During the day I spent a lot of time cleaning my room. I remember my mom and Ya-ping being impressed with what I had done. I did it for the purposes of an assignment, but I was glad to have it done. We had cinnamon- and wintergreen-flavored Christmas nougats, which I put on my dresser. That night we watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, having recently watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory several times. I remember asking which was better; my sister said they were too different to compare.

2004. I'm fairly certain I was wearing an orange polo and a red tie. We would have headed to Fillmore, but I can't remember much about that trip. I think we stopped in Provo to say hi to David and his family. My mom and I might have gone to the Legion Hall that night to start setting up, but maybe not.

2003. Since I couldn't find brown socks (!), I wanted to get some red socks to wear for Thanksgiving. I asked my dad if he had some. He pulled out some Christmassy ones, and I told him that those were Christmas socks. He said he thought that was why I wanted them. I remember sitting in my room, drawing little Thanksgiving pictures and labeling them with Spanish words. When we left to go to Fillmore, I took my Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits CD in the car, as well as a plastic bag so that I could clean papers out of my binders. I think this was the time we were listening to my sister's radio station of choice, and someone called in and requested a song. This song had some very inappropriate content that I was surprised was allowed on the radio, and my mom said it was time to change the station. (Maybe that was 2004.) We picked up David and Ya-ping. We were listening to my CD; I knew we had to skip the atrocious sixth track, and I said we could also skip the fifth track, so David skipped both. Then at another place, we had to stop the car, I think so that Nan could feed Allie. I remember saying that if I could see, I'm sure it would be beautiful outside. My mom said it wouldn't be, because it was the middle of nowhere with only sagebrush, but I said that was beautiful.

2001. While my mom was in the kitchen making pies, I was making red and yellow (and maybe orange) Thanksgiving candies with my Thanksgiving mold while watching I Love Lucy.

2000. We went to Shopko in the day and bought the new VHS of Chicken Run. I was dismayed at Bountiful's Christmas decorations. The four of us--me, my parents, and Susanne--all went down to Fillmore. We stopped at Duane's grocery store. I was impressed that this store actually had Thanksgiving decorations up, instead of jumping straight to Christmas, and I wondered why all stores couldn't be that way. But despite my aversion to Christmas decorations, at that time I didn't mind eating Christmas things (a strange difference from today), so we bought Christmas tree brownies, along with some beef jerky and other snacks. Then we went back to my grandparents' to watch Chicken Run. I ate some snacks, and at one point I was going for the snack bag. My mom told me I'd eaten too much bad stuff, but I told her I just wanted some jerky, and she was fine with that.

1999. The night before I had had a sleepover with my friend David Christensen. In the morning we yet again watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and pretended to be the characters, performing the same actions they did. We even did that when we were rewinding it. I remember playing in the snow and looking at all the little seed-leaf things. Then we went to David's house for lunch. While there, David said the "Little Birdie" song on A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was his favorite song. His brother Caleb was excited to tell him that he had finished buying his Christmas presents. That night, I wanted to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving again. My brother David objected. He said I should watch The Nightmare Before Christmas because it was more Thanksgiving-y because it was between Halloween and Christmas. I think I thought of an elaborate analogy using colored water to explain how wrong he was, but I didn't tell it to him. He had friends over, and they watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but I only know that because I found the box the next morning.

Related posts:

A Year of Holiday Memories
Remember Every Detail, Volume 3: Thanksgiving