The best thing about Christmas is always coming Home.

Christmas this year was pretty good, but then I can’t recall ever having a “bad” Christmas. Santa came to Palmer on the 17th, riding as usual on the back of the fire engine. Since the turnout was less than normal due to the snowstorm, everyone got a bag of peanuts and candy this year, instead of just the kids, which is how it usually is. Since it was too cold to have the prize drawing outside around the Christmas tree in the middle of the main intersection of town, we had it inside the café instead. Mom won a gallon of antifreeze and I won a telephone, which I sold to a neighbor because his phone was going bad. Turned out to be a pretty good deal for me, because, while I don’t have any use for a landline phone, I do have many uses for $25.

On the 24th we went to the Christmas Eve service at church (the kids did a wonderful job with the program even though the congregation struggled with some of the unfamiliar songs) and then headed down to Grandma’s to open presents there. It was a little tough because it was our first Christmas without Grandpa, but we all had a fairly good time I think. Kristi made a piñata, which we broke while waiting for some of the family to arrive. We had done this once when we were little and so we thought we’d bring back the tradition this year. We also all chipped in to buy my uncle the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story and it was as tacky as we had all hoped it would be. Fantastic.



On Christmas morning, Dad revealed the nativity set he had bought for Mom the crèche he had made the day before. I think it turned out quite nicely and looks a lot better than the crèche we saw in the store. We then went back to Grandma’s for dinner and napping and in the evening we (“we” consisting of 3 uncles and a motley assortment of cousins) played basketball at the old grade school gym. Suffice to say my calves and shoulders were still sore on Wednesday.

To sum things up in the words of The Linn-Palmer Record Social Happenings report:
“A good time was had by all.”