Christmas Eve Night---Spent in a Tent

The start of this story goes way back to when I was pregnant with Bridger.  Jay and I bought a tent from Cabella's.  We thought it was the neatest thing ever.  We didn't have the money to buy a trailer, so we bought this huge tent with a fireplace in it...Yes...a fireplace.  We have many fun memories involving this tent.  We thought it would be fun to share some of these memories with our kids, so we brought back our very first tradition that we started as a newly married couple--sleep outside in the tent on Christmas Eve.

The first time Jay and I slept out on Christmas Eve the temperature dropped to negative 14.  We stayed plenty warm, but Jay had to get up every couple of hours and put more wood on the fire.  So we figured that the kids would all stay warm and we decided to attempt it again as a family of 6. 

We set up the tent (with many people driving by really slowly...I can only imagine what they were thinking!)  and then headed to Jay's parents to get some wood for the fire.  

We got back around 7 (after a fun Christmas Eve party with Jay's family) and started the fire up to warm up the tent...it didn't take long until the tent was nice and toasty warm. 

We got the beds all made and got the kids dressed in their new christmas pjs and headed out to our little adventure.  (Another tradition we have is every year I sew us all matching pajamas, the kids are are close to the same size, so I started putting their initial on their shirts...it doesn't spell anything)

We put a TV out there and bought the kids the Hannah Montana movie and we watched that and ate popcorn.  By the time the movie was over the bed Jay and I was on had slowly deflated and we were laying on ground.  We pumped it up again, but it didn't last long.  Jay switched over to the kids bed and we put Macie in bed with me.   We stayed plenty warm, but since the bed was flat me and Macie were pretty much laying on the tent floor and it was cold from the ground below us, so our backs were super cold, but our fronts were nice and warm.  We made it until about 5am and then we packed up the kids and headed inside to our comfy beds. 

We just told the kids that we didn't know if Santa had come yet so hurry and get in bed so he will still come (they actually walked past everything Santa had brought, but we wanted a little bit more sleep before we dug into all of that!).  They did great and headed right to bed so Santa could still come, and we woke up at 7. 

It was a fun night...and fairly warm for the most part.  In fact it was so warm, that the side of the TV that was closest to the fire actually melted. 

It was a lot of work, but I am sure the kids will always remember it.  Macie cried for a long time the next night because she wanted to sleep in the tent again.  I am sure this is something we will continue doing for many years.

Most Memorable Christmas

When I was in third grade what I thought was going to be the worst Christmas ever turned out to be my favorite.
I could tell something was wrong. It was Christmas Eve and I could hear my parents saying things like "maybe it was stolen" or "are you sure you put it there" and "what are we going to do if we don't find them". After a while all of us kids caught on that they had lost some presents. I was the youngest of five kids, the next oldest was in sixth grade. I thought that they lost some presents for each of us, but as the night went on I realized it was just my presents. My mom pulled me aside and let me know that they couldn't find my presents. They had hid them at my Grandma's house, who was on a mission, and the presents were no longer there.
I remember sitting on her lap and crying and she was crying too. I wasn't sure at the time if Santa was real or not and I remember telling my mom that if I told her that I still think Santa is real will he bring my presents. She informed me what I had feared, Santa wasn't real, and I wouldn't be getting any presents. Since it was Christmas Eve all the stores were closed. It was what I thought was the worst news ever.
I went to bed crying and I remember praying for presents.
When we woke up the next morning, every one was so excited to see what they were getting. I was surprised to see a small present under the tree with my name on it. I opened it up and it was several hand written "Love Coupons" from my mom.
She had made me several different coupons to use when ever I wanted. They ranged from her sewing me a new outfit to having two good listening ears any time I needed to talk and several other different kinds of coupons to redeem any time I chose. I sat on the floor and cried. I felt so selfish for how I had acted the night before. I looked up and my mom was sitting on the floor surrounded by her unopened presents crying. She gave me a big hug and reassured me that in the morning we could go shopping and buy me some Christmas presents to replace the ones that were lost.

I used up some of the coupons right away but I saved the most important one. I never used the one that was good for two listening ears. I never needed to use it. She was always there any time I needed someone to to talk to. I saved it in my top drawer and would look at it a couple times a year and would remember how loved I felt that Christmas morning. My mom is one of my best friends and is always there to talk to.

Well, in the spring my Grandma came home from her mission and did a little bit of spring cleaning. She found the presents in the same closet that my parents had put them in...maybe they never were supposed to find them!