Thursday, December 23, 2010

Spirit of Christmas: Day 29

Christmas with the Morris Family

My mom grew up a Morris, not a Raymond.  Just like I grew up a Raymond, not a Hamilton.  When we were talking about her favorite memories from Christmas she got a little sparkle in her eye as she talked about my grandpa's workshop.  I never got to meet my Grandpa Morris, but my whole family tells me what an amazing carpenter he was.  He built scale models of forests and camps.  He ties lots of fishing ties.  He also made lots of awesome homemade Christmas gifts.

My mom remembers that from Thanksgiving to Christmas none of the kids were allowed in the workshop.  She said that it was always so exciting to come down on Christmas morning and see what her dad had made for them.  At their house it was a rule that Santa and Dad left the presents unwrapped.  They were opened and ready to be played with as soon as the kids came down for Christmas morning.  My mom remembers one specific Christmas where they were visiting a family member quite a ways from home and she hadn't seen any presents loaded into the trunk or packed.  On Christmas morning she still came down the stairs to find an amazing wooden baby cradle and doll set.

Another important part of Morris family Christmas morning was breakfast.  Every year they had ruby red grapefruit with sugar on top.  It was extra special though because my grandparents would slice the grapefruit the night before and let the sugar completely crystallize on top.  My mom still thinks this is an special treat, but she usually adds the sugar in the morning now.

For our final day of Christmas, let's visit the Raymond family one more time.

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