Decorating for Christmas

When did your family decorate for Christmas?

With Thanksgiving weekend just past many people have started decorating for Christmas.  It is fun to drive by houses that are lit up with lights.  I appreciate the generosity of those who are willing to put up lights and pay the electric bill to share some beauty during this time of year.  

How did your family decorate for Christmas when you were young?  Did your family put up lights outside as well as decorating a Christmas tree?  When did your family start decorating?  Did your family start right after Thanksgiving or did you wait till closer to Christmas?  Did you take down the decorations right after Christmas or did you leave them up until New Years or maybe even longer?  What did you like best about the decorations?  What kind of decorations did your community have?  Did your family make any special trips to see certain Christmas lights or displays?

When I was young our family put up a tree and hung a few outdoor lights about a week before Christmas and then we kept them up until New Year's Day. We always had a live Christmas tree which was decorated with icicles, ornaments and lights.  When I was about ten years old, I got a nativity scene.  It was made from cardboard, but I really liked it because it reminded me of the Christmas story.

With my own children we lived in Salt Lake City and made a annual trek to Temple Square for the Christmas lights.   We decorated a Christmas tree, first real ones and later an artificial one, and outlined the windows with lights.  I put up my nativity scene each year.  I have good memories.  I hope my family has good memories too.

Temple Reflected Posters by BlueRojo
More Utah Posters

Sharing how you and your family decorated adds to your story.  Record your memories.  Then write down how you decorated this year.

Ornaments Uniquely Personalized for Christmas
by Family Story Keeper

What Kind of Candy Do You Remember?

Here's another question for your life story:

With kind of candy do you remember?

Growing up I remember penny candy at the small store in our town.  You could get one or two pieces of candy for a penny.  If you had a nickel, you could buy 5 to 10 pieces of candy. You could buy candy bars for 3 cents or for 5 cents. 

In the summer time to remember the pioneers, my mother would make honey candy.  We would pull and stretch the candy just like taffy.  It reminded us of how nice it was to have candy we could buy.

Trick or Treat candy at Halloween were a variety of different candies.  Today most of the candy handed out seems to be mini chocolate candy bars. 

Homemade candy was a part of getting ready for Christmas.  Standing and stirring a pan full of fudge to prevent it from turning to sugar was a lot of work, but the results were wonderful tasting.  Beating the egg whites and adding the hot syrup to make divinity was fun to do.  Testing the consistency of the syrup in a cup of water was fun and delicious too as you got to eat the tested portion.  Pouring hot syrup over peanuts to make peanut brittle was fun too.  Sometimes the candy didn't come out just right, yet we would eat it any way.  When it turned out just right, it was so good.

At a dinner with friends some started talking about the kind of candy they had when they went to the movies.  They would buy the long lasting kind of candy so it would last through most of the movie.

When my daughters came to visit this year, they brought ingredients for making good for you chocolate.  It was a lot of work melting the cocoa butter at a very low temperature.  Then we added different ingredients like nuts and fruits.  The best ones had lots of nuts and fruits in them.   

Writing down your memories of making candy or buying or receiving candy is a part of your story.  Write down the people who gave you the candy or who made the candy.  Did you have a certain kind of candy at certain times of the year?  Have your tried to make candy that is better for you or have you banned candy from your life?  Record your experience with candy and add another interesting chapter to your story.