Christmas Memories

As I was slipping through old photos while visiting my parents, I came across this gem:

One of the few times I was on TV - AFKN (Armed Forces Korea Network) in Seoul, Korea. I had to be either in kindergarten or first grade. I don't know who the heck is interviewing me but I remember that I asked Santa (on the TV screen) for a Care Bear for Christmas - specifically, Cheer Bear.

What I got instead was Love-A-Lot Bear:

My Dad was always in charge of getting the Santa gifts and I'm sure to the poor guy, one pink Care Bear looked exactly like the other.

The other things I remember about "Santa" was that he always left his gifts unwrapped and that he preferred beer and crackers over cookies and milk (this is what my Dad assured me and Amy). Apparently, he was right, as the beer and crackers were always gone on Christmas morning.

This is a picture I found that shows our butt-ugly (but beloved) aluminum Christmas tree that we grew up with. It was old even back in the eighties, since my parents inherited when they got married in 1971 from my Dad's aunt. We loved that tree, even though it could scratch you if you weren't careful. My Dad finally threw it out a few years back without telling the rest of us. It took Mom and Amy a while to forgive him for it.

I think this picture was taken in 1990 as it must be the year we lived in Hawaii based on how tanned Amy and I look. Amy was in the third grade and I was in the fifth grade. The white spot is from my flash since this is a picture of a picture, but I think you can still make out my favorite part of the picture - Amy's expression of excitement!