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.