Memories of the Memorable Christmases Past

I mentioned yesterday that I would share some great Christmas memories. And there's no better way to really appreciate the season, friends and family by remembering the great Christmases of yore. (Yes, I said yore. Dorky, eh?) Here are a few worth remembering.

My best Christmas of all time--ALL TIME--was the week in December 1993 I spent in Yecora, Sonora, Mexico, helping to build dormitories for an orphanage. Just a group of people from college in Alberta who drove down in vans to Mexico and helped out. Most of us were acquainted, and several were friends. By the way, I don't recommend driving in vans with lots of people for 4 days. I think it took 4 days... memories of the drive are hazy. Probably best it was blocked out, because you know how boring and crazy people can get after days in a car, driving almost non-stop, except for at night to sleep in church basements along the way.

The night we arrived (yes, it was after dark) it was raining. And we were planning on sleeping in tents. Because even though it was December, it was Mexico! and we figured Mexico! would be tropical paradise. We were wrong. We had nothing to do but set up our tents and sleep. In the rain. And it was cold enough for there to be a skim of ice on the water in the morning, but here I'm getting just a bit ahead of myself.

My tentmate and I awoke in the morning to find that we had pitched our tent on an area that had turned into a small river in the middle of the rainy night. Needless to say we were damp. That is, our tent, sleeping bags and belongings were damp, but our spirits weren't. We started work right away, constructing buildings, and the week sped by in a flurry of sawing wood, pounding nails, eating some very authentic wonderful Mexican food (of course there they just call it "food"), and playing with the resident children in the evening. Despite our language differences, we got on like peas and carrots. The kids followed us around and were willing to just hang out and giggle. It was awesome. There's nothing like sitting around a campfire at night singing "Feliz Navidad" over and over. And then of course the pinata and gift giving. Awesome awesomeness.

See the tents in the distance? Ours! See the smiling kids? We loved them! THEY gave US an unforgettable Christmas with their openness, lovingness and beautiful bright smiles every day.

Another favorite Christmas memory involved visiting friends mid-December in a city far away. Since they were not planning on being home on Christmas day, they decided not to put up a tree. But my good friend Nat and I were slightly rankled at the inability to express our Christmas spirit. So we did the next best thing. I believe the picture below speaks for itself, when I say we were out of our minds with holiday cheer. Behold--the Christmas Vacuum:

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