Christmas Eve at my Grandparent's House
On Christmas Eve we would travel from Brookville to Arcanum to visit my Grandparents. This was only a 16 mile trek down Rt. 49, but it seemed like it took forever to get there. And of course Father Lincoln would begin listening to weather forecasts because if any snow was hinted for that evening, we didn't get to go.
We would sing Christmas carols in the car, nudging each other if we saw a farmhouse decorated with lights. Father Lincoln would tell us to shut up sometimes. He didn't really feel the Christmasy excitement like we felt it.
And then we finally arrived in Arcanum and turned down Grandma's street. And we would get so excited to see their house all decorated with Christmas lights. My Uncle Sonny recently posted these pics of their house. I'm glad someone took some pictures.
Sometimes the house would have lots of blue lights and other years white lights. I loved it when it was colorful. Grandpa would get creative on how he wrapped the lights around the house.
The house would be filled with my Aunts, Uncles and my cousins and of course my Grandma and Grandpa. We would try to hurry to get out of the car because we could see everyone through the windows.
We were always excited to just get in that house. To see the tree, to smell that fresh pine, to smell Grandma's baked ham, and to see the long string of candy canes that Grandpa strung up on the hutch for everyone there.
Grandma C makes the best baked ham. She would purchase sweet hamburger buns from a local baker and she would create these ham sandwiches that would just melt in your mouth. The table would be overflowing with food... and then the desserts would come out. It was a feast fit for royalty.
Then after we ate, we would gather in the living room and presents were distributed to the grandchildren. I think we always went by age. This photo is from the late 60's. Father Lincoln is smoking his pipe, and Mom is doing something... and I'm directly behind her with the short hair (just look how thick it was).
I don't really recall the gifts we got. For me that wasn't the important part of the night. It was just being there.
Grandpa had a Polaroid instant camera and he would gather the family groups together to snap their pictures. And of course there was always a lot of picture waving until the image magically appeared. I have no idea whatever happened to all those pictures.
And before we left for the night, we had to go out to the kitchen and Grandpa would give us our big candy cane.
This was a magical night. A night filled with excitement and love. As I mentioned I don't even recall the gifts that we received there, but I'll always remember the feeling of being there and being part of a family that came together on Christmas eve.
Thanks to Sonny for posting the pics of the house and for Melinda for posting the pics of Christmas eve night at Grandmas.
We would sing Christmas carols in the car, nudging each other if we saw a farmhouse decorated with lights. Father Lincoln would tell us to shut up sometimes. He didn't really feel the Christmasy excitement like we felt it.
And then we finally arrived in Arcanum and turned down Grandma's street. And we would get so excited to see their house all decorated with Christmas lights. My Uncle Sonny recently posted these pics of their house. I'm glad someone took some pictures.
Sometimes the house would have lots of blue lights and other years white lights. I loved it when it was colorful. Grandpa would get creative on how he wrapped the lights around the house.
The house would be filled with my Aunts, Uncles and my cousins and of course my Grandma and Grandpa. We would try to hurry to get out of the car because we could see everyone through the windows.
We were always excited to just get in that house. To see the tree, to smell that fresh pine, to smell Grandma's baked ham, and to see the long string of candy canes that Grandpa strung up on the hutch for everyone there.
Grandma C makes the best baked ham. She would purchase sweet hamburger buns from a local baker and she would create these ham sandwiches that would just melt in your mouth. The table would be overflowing with food... and then the desserts would come out. It was a feast fit for royalty.
Then after we ate, we would gather in the living room and presents were distributed to the grandchildren. I think we always went by age. This photo is from the late 60's. Father Lincoln is smoking his pipe, and Mom is doing something... and I'm directly behind her with the short hair (just look how thick it was).
I don't really recall the gifts we got. For me that wasn't the important part of the night. It was just being there.
Grandpa had a Polaroid instant camera and he would gather the family groups together to snap their pictures. And of course there was always a lot of picture waving until the image magically appeared. I have no idea whatever happened to all those pictures.
And before we left for the night, we had to go out to the kitchen and Grandpa would give us our big candy cane.
This was a magical night. A night filled with excitement and love. As I mentioned I don't even recall the gifts that we received there, but I'll always remember the feeling of being there and being part of a family that came together on Christmas eve.
Thanks to Sonny for posting the pics of the house and for Melinda for posting the pics of Christmas eve night at Grandmas.
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