A Christmas Survey

I uploaded this picture for Joe. I found it while I was getting some of my many pictures transferred from clogging my hard drive to a CD. It's Darby in 1999. We do miss these babies.
I recently encountered this Christmas survey and accepted the blogger's challenge. Here goes:
Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate, hands down. One bout of egg nog is enough for me. Our favorite is Swiss Miss.
Does Santa wrap presents or put them under the tree? I wish Santa did wrap the presents because I'm terrible at it. Most presents are wrapped.
Colored lights on tree or white? An elderly gentleman recently asked me this question. When I told him colored lights, he gave me the thumbs up. I put colored lights because that's what I have, but I don't mind the others.
When do you put your decorations up? I usually begin with my village right after Thanksgiving. The village takes almost a week. It gets bigger and bigger. Every year someone (including myself) adds more pieces. Cynthia and Derlyn gave me a cute, cute quilt shop this year. This year we started way early, but I think it's because we probably won't be doing much decorating next year.
What is your favorite dish (excluding dessert)? No contest, turkey! I love turkey.
When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm not sure since I'm now so old! But I think it was when Julia spilled the beans to my brother Joe because she had just found out herself.
Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Not usually. When the kids were little and we had pajamas they were allowed to open those for pictures the next day.
How do you decorate your tree? With as much help as I can. This year our tree is loaded with ornaments and balls. I usually have someone else do it if I can talk them into it. Grandpa did help with the lights this year and helped get Santa to go forward around the top instead of flying by the seat of his pants.
Snow! Love it or Dread it? I dread it and I definitely don't like playing in it. I don't mind watching it fall or even enjoying its beauty as long as I'm inside and warm. I keep fearing that we'll be in some place like Buffalo, NY next winter.
Can you ice skate? No. I never had the opportunity to learn. I went with a roommate once in Provo, but I was a real klutz at it. No sense of balance. I remember that Arlo often talked about how much he loved ice skating.
Do you remember your favorite gift? I wasn't sure if this meant as a child. My favorite gift as a child was a Bible. My sweet Mother made many, many gifts for me over the years. I particularly remember some aprons she made for me from some well-worn gathered skirts she'd made for me as a teenager.
What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Another easy question to answer--family. I love having our family and friends here. We especially miss Janeen and her family when they can't be here. Family is why I like nativities so much because they're the reminder that a tiny, holy baby came to Earth to intercede for us and to be our Savior. My family is the reminder that I need to try to be as kind and loving as I can because they are all so good to me.
What's your favorite holiday dessert? Fudge. My mother never was able to make fudge very well (nor do I) and we most often ate it with a spoon. When I was visiting Julia recently she was going to attend a recipe exchange luncheon and I suggested we make fudge and take them all spoons. Recently, we've enjoyed the trifle (spelling?) that Steve has made for us. I also like chocolate covered cherries. My dad always gave his mother a boxful for Christmas.
Which do you prefer: Giving or Receiving? Giving. We often chuckled at some of the gifts my mother made for us or gave us from The Big Store (inside joke. My mother's boyfriend was a garbage collector and items were rescued from his collections. Thus, the Big Store) Remember the flowered pajamas, Jeff? The fact is that we loved Mother so much for her sweet giving. She never missed giving everyone a present. From her, I received the need to make presents for my family.
What is your favorite Christmas song? I don't have just one favorite: O Holy Night, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Silent Night
Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I like them. I gave them for so many years to students that I like to have them around. I'm not crazy about all the new flavors.

Now I challenge you to blog this or if you don't have a blog--send us an e-mail.