Skip to main content

Retro Thursday: Christmas Edition

Another trip down memory lane, via a one-horse open sleigh.

We spent every Christmas Eve at my Grannie and Granddad Renner's house. Every year, someone received, in a gaily wrapped box, a picture of a truly hideous old man. "It's the picture!" the recipient would howl, and everyone would laugh and laugh. Grannie was obviously the gotcha this year. The child in the too-short dress and the bow on her head, to the extreme right of the photo, would be me.



1973. Granddad made, by hand, a dollhouse for Jana and a cradle for me.



1975. I used to be blonde! Note my dress, which, like all my Christmas outfits, was sewn by my mother. I wish I had a picture of the matching, quilted dresses she made for herself, me and Jana when I was around three. They were something. The baby in this picture is my cousin Annie. Also, in the background is the wooden church that Granddad also made by hand, which was brought out every Christmas. I don't know where it is now.



1977. Awww. Please realize that my mother must have made these dresses while she was either vastly pregnant with twins, or the mother of newborn twins. The mind boggles. Also made by hand, by my mother (although not that year): the sequin-y stockings and the advent calendar. I LOVE that advent calendar.



1978. Another Christmas Eve, another Christmas dress, a Dorothy Hamill haircut. I was handing out gifts, a coveted task at Grannie's house. That's my Granddad in the plaid pants, and half of my cousin Caleb.



Best Christmas present ever:



Until this:



1990. My siblings will love me for this one. Aimee is obviously the only one happy to be up so early.



Doesn't that get you in the Christmas spirit?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have to say that the too short dress was not too short in 1973! It was just right!! Also I think that Grandma Lavon made the dresses in 1977 because I think that Annie and Michelle also had dresses like that. Granddad's plaid pants are really hideous in retrospect!

Mom
aimee said…
I loved that church. I would stare at it every Christmas Eve. I hope it is still in good condition somewhere.

I was happy to be awake. It was Christmas! :)

Popular posts from this blog

A Picture Post

A poster Chris drew for the annual Harvest Day Bake Sale, proceeds to benefit Mallory's preschool: A poster Chris drew for Mallory's class. What did Phoebe say when she saw it? "El-mo!" She's good at spotting that little red monster, even when he's not red. Our beautiful new chair! Which actually matches our beautiful new couch! Phoebe looking pretty. Mallory looking goofy. My girls.

The Golf Course

There was a miniature golf course in my grandparent’s house. There were, in fact, lots of cool-if-kitschy things in my grandparents’ house. There were swinging saloon doors between the kitchen and the master suite. There was a toilet seat made of transparent plastic, with ticket stubs from horse races embedded therein. There was a globe wine bar (pictured!). There was a mounted goat head (the goat was named Bucky) on whose antlers my granddad hung his golf caps. There was a stuffed pheasant whose chest feathers were smooth as silk. There was a kitchen bar of green marbled formica and swively kitchen chairs of red pleather. There was an automatic ice dispenser on the refrigerator, which was a rare and awe-inspiring thing in the 1970’s. There was a mirrored tray holding bejeweled perfume bottles with atomizers in the guest bathroom. There were two huge oil paintings – one of my aunt, with beautifully frosted hair, holding a Pug, one of my older sister as a toddler sitting on a John De

Crafty Update

I've made a whopping total of two things this summer. A puppy for Phoebe's birthday: And a cell phone case for me: The case needs a bit of tweaking; I'm not happy with the strap. But it was way easier than making a stuffed animal, I'll tell you that much. The girls were on etsy with me last night looking at crochet patterns. Now I have a list of requests a mile long. I'm not sure when I'll have time to get to these new projects, but I'll keep you posted. Because I know you care.