Written by Paige Dawson
Ahh…the holiday season. You know what they say (or sing, rather): “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Here at MPD, we’ve been reminiscing about some of our holiday memories and traditions and want to share our favorites with you.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
It’s always been Christmas Eve—where we attend candlelight service, have a family dinner, open a few gifts, and play old-school board games. (The latter gets pretty competitive among the grownups.)
My sisters and I also were quite sneaky, or so we believed. Before Christmas if any gifts were under the tree, I would sneak one into the bathroom and very carefully peel back enough tape to know the contents while my sisters were stationed on look out duty to watch for Mom. And, on Christmas Eve, we would all sleep in Liz’s room with our heads at the foot of her bed…she had the closest view to the tree so we positioned ourselves there for the best viewing to catch Santa.
Do you do most of your shopping online or in stores?
A combination. Primarily small business to support local stores—including The Toy Maven, North Haven Gardens, The Maddox Shop, and St. Michael’s Woman’s Exchange, as well as online for basics.
Talana with her little sister, Cindy.
What is your favorite Christmas gift you received as a child?
Cabbage Patch doll
What is your favorite holiday memory?
Santa delivered new, personalized bicycles to me and my sister on Christmas Eve. We got to visit for a bit, and I gave him Old Spice deodorant samples we had as a thank you.
Love or hate Christmas music?
Love it! I start listening in early November. Growing up our tradition was to decorate the Christmas tree while listening to Christmas with the Chipmunks and Bing Crosby White Christmas vinyl records.
What is your favorite Christmas gift you received as a child?
Aside from the GI Joe action figure that I broke in about 10 minutes when I thought his propellor backpack would actually make him fly and I threw him in the air above our driveway, my favorite was probably the electric slot car racetrack I received when I was about eight or nine. I spent HOURS racing cars around the track!
What is your favorite holiday memory?
Probably coming home for Christmas after my first semester of college…I was just happy to be home and spend time with family and friends.
How do you plan to celebrate the holidays this year?
We will just be here in town with our family, including our oldest daughter who will be home from HER first semester at college!
Love or hate Christmas movies? If love, what is your favorite?
Love…either “Charlie Brown Christmas” or “Elf.”
Love or hate Christmas movies? If love, what is your favorite?
LOVE them. “Christmas in Connecticut” – 1945
What is your favorite holiday memory?
I was the youngest of six siblings. Every Christmas Eve, my sister, the oldest among us who was 12-years my senior, would pile me and my four brothers into the old family station wagon to drive us around to ostensibly “look at Christmas lights” while my exhausted parents put together bikes, trikes, and other toys that Santa would deliver the next morning. My sister would keep us out until we were all nearly asleep and then drive us home where we were too tired to notice anything.
Of course, I knew the drives to see Christmas lights in a much-different and rural-like Phoenix, Arizona in those days was a ruse–from the earliest of ages–but I’m no dummy. First, I didn’t want to ruin any of Santa’s plans. Secondly, I would never miss a moment with my sister, who was, functionally, my mother. Third, I would never want to disappoint my parents, who were Kansas-poor Depression-era children who never received the gifts they worked so hard to provide us. For me, Christmas has always been about relationships, and my memories of those times with the six of us in that old station wagon looking for Christmas lights in the Arizona desert are among my favorite.
Karla’s sons, Jarod and Tristan, opening presents.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
Watching my boys’ faces light up Christmas morning when they were little. They were SO darn cute. Pictures anyone?
How do you plan to celebrate the holidays this year?
I plan to spend part of it in New Mexico with my sweetheart, exploring the lights in Santa Fe and maybe playing in some snow. Then I plan on hanging with my boys. I’m not sure I’m prepared for them to both be out on their own this time next year, so I’m going to get as much time with them as I can this holiday season!
Love or hate Christmas music?
I LOVE the Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers “Once Upon a Christmas.” I would listen to it OVER and OVER again when I was a kid. All the rest, I could take it or leave it.
Jamie (middle) and family – Christmas 2016.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
We celebrate Christmas with Mom’s side of the family every year on Christmas Eve. The kids go into a drawing for gifts and the adults play “Dirty Santa.” Every year since I can remember, my cousins and I have been given sweaters from our grandparents—lovingly called “Grandma Sweaters”—and before the gift exchanging begins, the whole family takes a moment to sing Christmas carols together. One year Granddad, who has since passed away, read the story of the birth of Jesus to us all—which was quite a special moment. We’re somewhere in the ballpark of 50 people now and the laughter, love, and joy are special to me…and growing every year.
Love or hate Christmas music?
LOVE. I’m a sucker for some Bing Crosby Christmas music.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
Christmas lights and Stollen. Both are reoccurring traditions in my family. On Christmas Eve, we search for the best Christmas lights, and on Christmas morning, we eat dessert for breakfast—Stollen, a German Christmas bread that my grandmother handmakes.
Love or hate Christmas movies? If love, what is your favorite?
Love. “Elf” is always on our TV during the holidays!
Wishing you the happiest of holidays from all of us here at MPD Ventures. May you make many new memories and traditions during the 2017 holiday season.
