I have many favorite memories of Christmas as a child. We were very poor growing up in the 60's. Seven kids, one parent working, one managing the family and very few presents under the tree but we made our own fun making up games with what we had. The anticipation of Christmas coming was almost to much to handle because we knew that this was the only time we would have ribbon candy, a bowl of mixed nuts with the special nutcracker. We would sit in front of the black & white TV, crack nuts & watch Rudolph. Back then if you missed Rudolph, you didn't see it again for another year! And of course there was pumpkin pie, that was a treat.

Today I have 2 teenage children. My husband & I are blessed to have such loving, caring kids who reach out to others not just at Christmas, but all year round. This year will be our BEST Christmas. We wanted to show our kids that having "stuff" is not what life is all about. It's family, memories & giving to others is what life should be about. We all agreed that each one of us will have only $125 each to spend on the other 3. We will need to use our imagination & be creative.

So what I plan to do to make this Christmas the most special is to "surprise" them with totes of all their old toys from when they were little. I saved many of their favorite toys in put them away in the crawl space years ago. I can't wait to sit in front of the Green Valley Luxist Noble Fir, laugh & share memories of the Christmases gone by remembering when "Santa" brought them these toys. Merry Christmas to everyone!!

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