We’ve reached the 80s! Pretty much only 2 more decades to go and I will have documented all of my Christmases. What a big project this is! But I’m so glad I’ve taken it on because it has given me such a new appreciation for so many holiday memories. If you want to go back and read any of my previous posts, or just want a central location to access this series, here’s a list of all my Memories of Christmas posts.
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1989 – I was a college student living away from home. I love this picture of my Dad giving me a big kiss (he was just trying to be funny for the camera). And bless his heart, he’s wearing a really itchy and sort of tight sweater I bought for him in Scotland on my study abroad trip. The Santas on the fireplace mantel were hand-painted by my Mom. They are still one of my very favorite Christmas decorations.
My brother Zach joined our family in 1988 so he was about 18 months old here. He was such a cute baby! This was a fun Christmas for him. Check out all the presents under the tree – my Mom always did Christmas up right!
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1988 – This year I was a college student living at home. This is the first year that my brother Zach was with us for Christmas. It was fun to have a baby in the house again! This is me with Zach and Mike. We are all pretty spread out in age, but we are also quite close to each other. Oh, and check out my awesome red cowboy boots. Seriously, they were my most favorite boots I have ever owned. I wish I still had them!
This was the year that my Mom started me off on a collection of Christmas China. This is my “Oh I’m so surprised!” face.
I now have 4 place settings of Mikasa Ribbon Holly china. They discontinued this pattern years ago which is a huge shame because I love these! I guess I will have to stalk ebay one of these days. This is the only china I currently own. We aren’t really fancy dishes kind of people around here, but I have to admit that I enjoy a nicely set table.
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1987- I was a college student at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Logan is a very cold place in the winter so everyone gave me quilts, sweaters, warm pajamas, slippers, etc. The funny thing is that our dorm was kept super warm by a heating system we couldn’t control. We had a hard time sleeping with a lot of covers. I lived in that hot dorm and then would go out in the freezing cold to walk to class. I got sick a lot that winter because I think my body was very confused!
This is me with some morning hair. I have to tell you that this is mild compared to what my morning hair usually looks like. I often wake up with a Flock Of Seagulls hairdo. I kid you not.
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1986 – The Christmas of my senior year in high school. I always decorated cookies with my little brother Mike each year. We always dipped pretzels also. Those are fun memories.
One tradition I started with Mike was to let him sleepover in my room each Christmas Eve. We would get out the sleeping bags and we always had a lot of fun. My Mom had a rule that you couldn’t get up before 7 a.m. so we would set the alarm for 6:59 just to be silly.
(I dyed my hair just a few days before Christmas. That’s why it is so much darker in the next photo.)
I didn’t have any siblings until I was 12 years old so I felt like I had some lost time to catch up on. I’m so glad now that I took the time to make those memories with Mike.
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Want to play along? What memories do you have of the holiday seasons when you were a young adult? As a college and/or high school student did you enjoy being home with your family? Did you celebrate in other places? What traditions do you remember the most?
