Who can forget going Christmas caroling every year. I'm not sure if Mom was the driving force behind that or not, it might have been Dad that really wanted us to go and Mom that was supportive.
And I'm not sure if we did that as a Christmas Eve activity or other nights before Christmas. But I do remember Mom putting together small to large (depending on the family size where we were going) tins of homemade cinnamon rolls ready to cook and we would leave it at the carollee's house for their Christmas morning enjoyment. We would vary the songs we would perform at each family's house, maybe we'd do Rudolph if there were little kids and different special songs depending on the audience. We would always end the performance with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".
Hopefully, we wouldn't be invited inside because that was always a bit awkward, although standing there singing and people watching us from their doorstep was not exactly unawkward. It's the kind of thing you would only do in a group, right? But it's a great memory, thanks to Mom.
Maybe most unforgettable would be the times we went to the Blades and always sang Silent Night so Oma could sing along in German. Mom: "Oma loves that".
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What a great memory. And I remember during the earlier years at least, that mom made 'orange rolls' to take...so yummy. And we always personalized the "We wish you a merry Christmas" to, "We wish the Blades a merry christmas," etc.
ReplyDeleteI remember ending up at the Freemans and eating a full-course meal. Our tradition has remained the same as we end our caroling at each home, w/2 vs's of We wish...As our family has gotten smaller, we have enlisted others to help, but I am proud to keep the tradition alive, thanks to mom & dad.
ReplyDeleteWho can forget: Like a lightbulb, or Christopher Columbus...to rudolf. If memory serves me, wasn't that a Cherylism?
Hey....maybe that is correct...can't quite remember where I learned that....maybe college?
ReplyDeleteI loved going and singing Christmas carols....each of us kids got to choose a family to go sing to as I remember....we had fun....yet at times we were freezing and could hardly wait to run back to the warm car!
ReplyDeleteWow, did I love this night. I loved when just the girls sang Silver Bells. Funny how that memory sticks out even though we probably didn't do it that way very often.Remember that obnoxious bird on the Freeman's tree?
ReplyDeleteI can't say I looked forward to singing Christmas carols as a young boy. We practiced in the car before we got to each home and I was always stuffed in the back of the car.
ReplyDeleteThen I couldn't stop laughing when someone would hit a wrong note (Dad) during one of our numbers and would get yelled at for making Andy laugh. In fact, I think we were both banished from ever singing at the Blades house for finding O'Ma's german funny during Silent Night.
One night in Payson, Utah, the Ewell family came to Mom & Dad's and sang Christmas carols to all of us. They sang harmony and brought instruments along as well. They were AWESOME. I immediately felt bad for all the New Jersey families we sang to back in the day.
O boy.
Joel, you're so funny! I was reading your comments out loud to Rex last night off his blackberry while we were driving, so I could only see a little part at a time. Right at the beginning I asked Rex if he remembered the Ewells coming to sing to us in Payson. They were amazing I thought with their beautiful voices and harmonizing with several parts. Rex doesn't remember that, but he wasn't comparing it to all our caroling over the years.
ReplyDeleteI continued to read and then laughed out loud when Joel started talking aobut the Ewells, too!
I have to laugh when Joel says he didn't look forward to this. I regarded it as almost pure torture, but nonetheless necessary to stay on Santa's good list. Doesn't mean it isn't a great memory but for a teenage boy to go singing to other people -- that's difficult :-)
ReplyDeleteI always liked Christmas Caroling the best when others joined in with us. I still like it that way. The heck with just standing there while someone else is singing. That's why I always asked Oma to stand by me and sing Silent Night in German. She had too hard a time to sing in English.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I can't see why all of you boys had such a hard time of it: enjoying caroling. You all have great voices and can harmonize easily. The families that we caroled to told me how much they appreciated us coming. The Geddes' for one. Their family was having an arguing noisy evening till we showed up. Then the whole tone of their home changed. Do you remember going to the hospital Christmas afternoon. We were all feeling dumpy or down after the gifts were done. I called the hospital to see if we could come over and carol to a ward member there at the time. When we started singing they piped us into each of the rooms.
Plus: do you remember going to Dale Olson's house that was a trailer WAY out in the woods. They could not figure out how we ever found their place. And so happy that we did. My feelings and approach to caroling was: It was a good thing for our family to do and made Christmas time a little more filled with sharing than would normally be. I never figured that we had such a great talent(like the Ewells) that everyone had to stand there and listen to us. But they loved to join in!!
Joel, you are too funny! I have smiling memories of dad being off key and you and Andrew trying to stifle your laughing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I did have to tell you not to sing Silent Night at Blades' home. I was too afraid that Oma would have her feelings hurt. You couldn't even do that without smirking.,