Christmas 1960

 Mom doesn't really have that many photos in her album. She has the older ones in a binder taped to construction paper in sheet protector pages. I wish that she had put them in a regular album. I could try taking them out of this and doing so myself but I am afraid that even if I am being careful that I will mess them up. That did happen to a tiny part of one of my grandpa.

These are the few photos that she has of Christmas 1960. I wonder what type of camera and film were used for this. They are such small photos. None of her or grandpa and just one of grandma in the kitchen. The others are of Aunt Jo and her kids

O Christmas Tree- 1980s

 

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

We had a live Christmas tree every year during this decade. It was so much fun going to pick out one.

O Christmas Tree- 1969 and 1970s

 I thought that we had more photos of just the tree from the 1970s but it turns out that we didn't. We started getting a live tree in 1978 which is earlier than I remembered. I had thought that it was 1979. We don't really have any good photos of the tree from 1970-1973. We don't have any Christmas photos from 1975 which is disappointing.

1969- Uncle Mike

1969- Me under the tree

1974

The tree looks different in the first photo than in the other 2- like there is tinsel as well as garland on it. I know for sure that it is the right year; maybe we took the tinsel off. It would be kind of unusual to have both things on a tree, right?

1976

Decorating the tree

Christmas morning

1977

I didn't have any photos from this year until I came across some Polaroids in a box of Dad's photos

1978

Grandma, Mark, and me. I wish that this photo hadn't been cut.

1979

Halloween 1971

I wish that we still had those holiday decorations. I have some similar ones now but they aren't made as nice and well as those from the 1970s.
 

Some 1980s Hallmark Christmas Decorations

Stocking hanger

Mom's ornaments

The reindeer stuffed animal in the middle of photo 5 might be another brand, as is the mouse (second from the left) in photo 3.

 

March 13, 2016- Easter

Easter is early this year, just 2 weeks away. Hopefully, our cousins Tony and Debbie will be coming over then. They have been doing so for the past couple of years.

   I remember that it snowed a little on this holiday one time in the early 80s. Mom made a hen and it’s chicks in ceramics. We still have this and most of the other decorations, including 2 bunnies made by Cindy and Jessica’s mother.

   We celebrated it at Grandma Next- Door’s house. She liked giving us gifts like bunny banks and stuffed animals, like the Bunny family – Mr. and Mrs., Peter and CT (Cotton Tail). We got the first 2 one year and the other the next. I wish that I still had them.

   My brother and I would usually pick candy as the item that we would give up for Lent, the 40 days before Easter. We were pretty good at sticking to this. We were so glad when we could start eating it again.

   We did the no meat on Fridays thing then too. I forget when we stopped doing that; maybe 1984. Mom made us meals like noodles with cottage cheese or breaded flounder. We would usually have tuna fish or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.

    My brother and I liked getting the Gertrude Hawk candy. I preferred the dark chocolate. The peanut butter Smidgens were so good. We sometimes got the white chocolate crosses. My favorite jelly beans were the pink and purple ones. Mom liked the Russell Stover Maple Cream eggs.

   Our meal was always ham, kielbasa, Farmers Cheese, dyed hard boiled eggs, babka (bread), beets with horseradish, potato salad and coleslaw.

   We’d use the Paas egg dye kit most of the time. We dyed eggs with Cindy and Jessica at their grandparent’s house once.  Mike reminded me about this. I think that we have a picture of us doing so. It was fun looking for the hidden eggs. I would always try to find more than my brother.

    Dad would always go back into the church for extra palms on Palm Sunday. We had some of the palms in our nativity set.

   I know that we used to watch the Peanuts special but I can’t really remember it. I should watch it next Easter. There were a couple of other specials too; I think that one was called “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” which is also a song.

 

 

1975

1985

Mr. Bunny

Mrs. Bunny

Bunny Bank

Babka

 

Kielbasa with horseradish and beets

 

Note- These photos are from the internet- bunny bank, Here Comes Peter Cottontail VHS, Babka, and other food after that.