earlier Christmas memories

... because I'm bored out of my skull from doing conference paperwork, I am back to pester you all yet again.

What I remember of Christmas is a bit different than the younger kids. When I was little, with Eric and Jared, and Tawnia may remember some of this too, we always had a fake tree. I don't think we had a real one until I was in college. We always made the tree about half as tall as it was supposed to be so we could put it, and all the presents, up on a table to keep them away from all the small hands and mouths that liked to get into things. The year Grandpa died, Aunt Cheryl and crew, Uncle Gary, Grandma, and I think Aunt Sylvia (??) stayed for Christmas because it was just a couple of weeks after the funeral. The tree was up on a table that year, like usual. There were so many presents that they were stacked under the table clear up to the tabletop, and spread out into the room. THAT was a lot of presents.

One of my most prominent over-all memories of Christmas is definitely the smell of opening that trunk to get the decorations. I've never smelled anything else like it. And going to Mom and Dad's room to wake them up, sitting on their bed waiting for Dad to set up the camera, and marching out the bedroom door in order of age to whatever music was playing at the time.