Wednesday 20 December 2023

Day 20 of the Advent CalendaršŸŽ„

 Welcome to day...

I hope you've been following along with 
Jo @Serendipitous Stitching's Online Advent Calendar this year! I need to catch up with them all myself, I've been trying to finish up some stitching before Christmas so that's been keeping me busy.

This year is "Santa Stories", sharing our favourite Santa traditions and customs from our family or our home town.


I guess I should start with the big guy himself, Santa/Father Christmas.
Growing up we didn't really visit him, he came to visit all us kids during my parents holiday party.
I'm sure I was telling him about all the Barbies I wanted. 


When we had the boys, it was their turn to visit him at the mall. I guess the Gmen really had to think if they'd been good that year.


When they were younger, every Christmas Eve while they were in the bath, Santa would come by with a small tree and leave presents for them - new pajamas and a small ornament.


You can see how happy Nathan was to have his! The Gmen in their teenage years, not so much.


This was probably the last year for them (maybe that's why they're smiling?!) although Nathan still enjoyed it for a while longer.


When I was a teenager, I made the mistake one year to watch/help bring the gifts out and put them around the tree. The next morning, I was so disappointed not to be surprised. Ever since then, I help bring out the presents, but DH ultimately finishes up so I can be surprised in the morning too. He makes such a wonderful Santa!
Or maybe, it's truly the real Santa doing it after all?!


And here I leave you with a couple of the Prairie Schooler Santas I've done. I have ten finished so far, but still need to fully finish nine of them.


"I choose to believe in Santa Claus. He is more than a gift-giving spirit. Santa is the magic of Christmas that spreads joy and happiness around the world."

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas, making memories and sharing the joy with family and friends.

12 comments:

Stasi said...

Love your Santa stories....handsome sons you have there! Merry Christmas!

jocondine said...

Nice stories, great to have the picture of Santa himself visiting your home! How do you plan to finish your Santa stitchings? Joyeuses fĆŖtes de NoĆ«l ! xxx

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Thanks for taking part in the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year. Lovely Santa designs, I think I will feature them on my post rather than the smiley G-Men photo!
It was a nice tradition while it lasted anyway.

A Patchwork of Crafts said...

What a nice collection of Santa's and your stories of your Christmases past were delightful. This is the first year for a long time I am not rushing at the last moment to finish up some gift stitching for Christmas.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Our boys (38 and 40 now) still both appreciate the sleep pants I make for them, as does one of our daughters-in-love. Our boys can't buy them long enough in the stores so the 'Mom-Made' versions are what they want. This year our grandsons are getting PJ's which will become an every-year thing from now on.
When our boys came of age to start to not believe in Santa we always told them that he is the 'spirit of Christmas'. We also always told them that the Santas at the mall and elsewhere were actually his helpers because he himself was too busy at the North Pole. Come to think of it, I guess we lie to our kids over things like Santa and the tooth fairy.
Have a wonderful Christmas!

Claudette497 said...

Lovely traditions, and what a good looking family you have! Thanks for sharing!

Clare-Aimetu said...

What lovely traditions, lovely to see your boys over time. Beautiful stitching as always, Merry Christmas šŸŽ„

Leonore Winterer said...

It really is a shame how much of the magic of Christmas wears off once you are responsible to create it yourself. I still try to enjoy it wherever I can! Thank you for sharing your stories, and Merry Christmas.

Sheryl said...

I enjoyed your post and seeing your photos and the pretty stitched Santas. Happy Christmas

Faith... said...

Love your Santa stories. The Gmen looks like they were really wondering if they were good or not when most kids would just say YES! I hope you, your family and your Dad had a wonderfully blessed Christmas today!

Shelly said...

Aww, what a fun Advent post. Had to laugh about the Gmen! Merry Christmas!

Katie said...

Wonderful Santa stories. Thanks for sharing.