ghost of Christmas past

As most of you know, my brother and his wife live in Madagascar.  Last week, he was preparing to give a talk on Christmas in America and asked my mom to send him some old photos from our Christmas' growing up.  They were way too good not to share!  

my mom used to do an amazing job of decorating our entire home for

Christmas.  pretty sure my love of white lights came from her :)

ha...love the mantle...and the curtains, wall color, couches, etc

yes, the gifts are outrageous.  my parents, family, friends, etc. 

were all so generous.  and i love the tree.  the tree was probably 

my favorite decoration. all of the ornaments have a story.

we'd decorate while listening to Christmas music, and dad would 

conveniently pop in just in time to put the angel on top of the tree.  

my brother and i sitting on santa's lap (who I'm pretty sure is my Papa).

and i'm pretty sure my mom made the dress i'm wearing.

one of our official Santa visits at the Augusta Mall.  definitely

sure my mom made at least all of her daughters' outfits.

we made gingerbread houses every year for as long as i can remember.

and these were from scratch.  no kits.  we made the dough, used homemade

stencils, homemade icing, and rolled out for all the little men, women, and trees!

a few years in a row, my mom and her friends went nuts with the

gingerbread house making.  pretty sure we were featured in augusta

magazine, and they were all sold for a charity.  but it was crazy!

the gingerbread house-making process

and another one

and every year, the augusta ballet put on the nutcracker.  (that's me, 

as a sheep, 2nd from the right...i think).  i tried the ballet thing for a few

years, and never could figure out why i wasn't ever a party child or toy 

soldier like all my friends.  then, i realized it was because i was 5 ft tall

at age 10, and not the most graceful person you'd ever met.  :)

speaking of nutcrackers, this is from one Christmas when the parents 

took Andy + I to NYC in early December. somehow Jennifer and RA got 

their own trips, but I was happy to share the experience with Andy (well, 

probably not at the time, but you know...).  also this was during my

lipstick wearing phase in middle school.  yes, i was in middle school 

in the photo.  i was always "mature looking" for my age. 

my mom (whose back of the head is in the forefront of this photo)

directed one of our childrens' choirs at church for as long as i can remember. 

and every Christmas we put on a lovely Christmas play.  little sister, Robin

Anne, is the one in the long brown shepherds' tunic, 3rd from the left.

and without fail, even up until today!, we would visit the nativity

at a local hospital.  we thought it was the coolest thing because the wise

men started out about 100 ft from the stable, and every day they'd get a

little closer.  until, finally, on Christmas, they'd arrive.  Jesus didn't debut

until Christmas morning either.  here we are with our best friends, the

Goldsmith family.  Kathryn and I are on the far right.

and finally, i'll leave you with this lovely family Christmas card.  my 

mom has never missed the opportunity for a Christmas card picture, and

we're still doing them today!  and as my friend, ansley pointed out,

she gets them out by the beginning of December, without fail!