You know, we're getting so close to christmas I thought it was time to get a bit nostalgic and share our favorite...

You know, we're getting so close to christmas I thought it was time to get a bit nostalgic and share our favorite Christmas memories from when we were kids.
I'll start us off, but I would love to hear what your favorite memory was too, so do join in below in the comments. I guarantee it will bring smiles to us all.

My most vivid memory was one Christmas Eve when I was quite small. My Father said he had a headache and needed to go upstairs and lay down.

He wasn't in the living room with us when later, we all heard the jingle jangle of sleigh bells coming from above. Nor was he there to protect us when we heard heavy footsteps start to come down the stairs and a deep "Ho, ho, ho, ho!" from behind the door that led from the enclosed staircase to the room we were in.

Of course, the four of us kids being 4, 5, 7 and 9, all ran to our mother who was wide eyed and feigning surprise, "Who could be in our house?" she wondered with all the flair of an actress in dismay, "Could that be Saint Nicholas?"

The stair door opened a crack, and we heard the clatter of bells again, I was by this time behind my mother and just about climbing up her back I was so totally afraid and yet excited over what was happening. You see, my mom and dad had both been laying the groundwork for this moment all day by talking about Christmas coming, baking cookies, singing Christmas Carols and telling stories of Santa's elves and encounters they had with Santa.

The door was pushed open with a flourish and the sound of bells, and in stepped a total stranger with a feed sack over his shoulder. He had a huge belly and was covered from head to toe in red flannel and grey rabbit fur, even on his hat! His face was covered in a white beard, and you could see his rosy cheeks were read from being out in the cold.

The memory of meeting Santa Clause for the first time is indelible! Years later I learned that our Mother had sewn the costume, and dad had been saving the pelts of the rabbits he trapped out in the fields of our farm so mom could add all the trim in fur. Dad had also bought a fantastic rubber Santa mask and beard for the occasion and from his first appearance to the last, I never knew it was our dad. Except I do remember remarking to mother that he had a ring on his finger that looked just like daddy's, and boots just like his too.

Later when our father re emerged from upstairs we kids all clamored to tell him who had been here and why didn't he come down? Dad said he heard the sleigh land on the roof and he went up through the attic to the roof to see what it was.
He told us that he was surprised to see him so early in the evening, but Santa explained that his team was hungry, and wondered if he could have some of our cattle feed for them. So dad told us that he was busy tending to the reindeer, all eight of them and that took some time.

I couldn't tell you what I got for my gift that year, and it doesn't matter anyway. Mom and Dad gave me the best memory a child could have.

(postcard is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy)