Do you have fond memories of Christmas past? I certainly do. In my younger days, my family lived in Kansas. My mother's parents and siblings lived in Oklahoma. We always made the trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the holidays. Dad was always prepared with snow chains, as we usually would have a white Christmas. We would arrive a day or two before Christmas Eve. Sometimes everyone would gather at my grandparents or we would go to one of mom's sister's on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas Eve, one or more of my uncles would have firecrackers in their pockets and would pass them out for all of the kids to set them off. I remember one year, I held that firecracker a little too long. I tell you I thought I had blown my finger off, but I realized it was still there, throbbing away, oh man did it hurt. I would not let on how bad it hurt; as I was afraid, I would not get another one. I just had to suck it up. My grandparents lived in a very small one-bedroom house. There was always a bed in the kitchen or if there was a dining room, the spare bed was there. My grandmother wanted to make sure there was a place for any guest to have a restful stay.

I was an only child, so I had it pretty good Christmas morning. Santa was very generous. You could say I was spoiled, and I would have to agree in that respect. Christmas Day was reserved for my grandparents to have everyone over for the day. My mom had five sisters and two brothers. I had 27 cousins. On Christmas day there was usually about 44 people in that small home. Therefore, naturally you could say we had a large crowd. I never felt there were too many people and I do not think any of the women in the kitchen felt that way either. They were very busy and always laughing and talking while preparing the Christmas meal. All of the men were either in the living room talking or out on the front porch. In addition, all of us kids were running in and out of the house. You see, my grandparents did not have a television.

Just remembering those times makes me feel very warm and cozy inside. I also remember those times were much simpler than they are today. I guess being a child, I had no worries and my parents made sure that I was protected from anything bad that was going on. Maybe you can reflect back on when you were young and have those same fuzzy memories, I certainly hope so.

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Farmington Elementary School will be holding its annual Christmas Program, Thursday, December 15 at 12:45 p.m. and on Friday, December 16, Santa Claus is going to stop for a visit with all of the children. School will be closed for Christmas vacation starting Monday, December 19th and will return to classes on Tuesday, January 2, 2012.

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Farmington United Methodist Church invites the Community to its Christmas Candlelight Service on Tuesday, December 20th. The evening begins with a Free Christmas Dinner in Stephens Hall at 6:00 pm. A program will follow at 7:00 pm, featuring the Christmas story from the Bible, a special children's story, and favorite Christmas Carols. The church is located at 25626 East Elm Street in Farmington.

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Happy Birthday to Marvin Lawrence, he will be 14 on Monday, December 19th. With love 'Pooter Man' from Memmie, Papa, Renee, Rick and Daniel. Belated Happy Birthday goes to Leona Boone who celebrated her 94th birthday, Thursday, December 8th. Her family surprised her with a birthday party.

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Please contact me either by e-mail farmingtonnews@gmail.com or phone 896-6697