Have I ever told you about . . . My Santas?

I am in love with Santa.  I've always been one of his biggest fans, whether he be in the mall, on the bus, peddling with a sack on the corner, or carved from wood and sitting on my mantle.  Any tall man with a broad face and a little round belly who has a beard white as snow fits the bill.

My love is so complete, that I began collecting versions of his likeness at the turn of the century.  I will buy my 14th this year. Although none can compete with the warm lap of the real guy, these little gems give my droll little mouth something to grin about.

Each is selected carefully, sometimes taking months to make our acquaintance.  None sneaks in without taking a little piece of my heart. The year is discretely added in silver Sharpie, forever etching the beginning of our love affair.  They all receive a special name, although none are  terribly creative.

These much-loved treasures were the first things in our family to be 'claimed.'  My family has had a tradition of 'putting our name' on anything we want to take ownership of after our folks head off to their version of heaven.  Yes, I have designated that some things will go to one child or the other - Sarah gets the wedding ring, Brian will get Dave's fancy old car.  But, they've never actually asked for anything.  Until this year.

Before we even started decorating, Brian asked, rather out-of-the-blue, 'Mom, who gets your Santa collection after you die?'  It was a bittersweet moment.  Bitter, because I will die.  Sweet, because someone seems to understand the worth of  my collection and will (hopefully) continue it for his own children.  I told him that whichever of the kids wanted the Santas could have them.  He eagerly volunteered.  My little elf.

So, let me introduce you to our Santas:

Blue Santa – 2000

Gift Bag Santa – 2001

Green and Gold Santa – 2002

Teddy Bear Santa – 2003

Woodland Santa – 2004

Rocking Chair Santa – 2005

Stick Santa – 2006

 Golden Santa – 2007

 Mini Felt Santa – 2008

Fisherman Santa – 2009

Big Felt Santa – 2010

Lighted Santa – 2011

Punta Cana Santa – 2012

And now, let me introduce you to the latest love in my life, this year’s addition.  I didn’t know he was the one I was looking for.  A likeness, sure.  A representation that Santa recognized the reason for celebrating Christmas, definitely.  I found just what I wanted it in a painting by Greg Olsen called The Spirit of Christmas in which Santa is standing by the Christmas tree next to a red cloth draped table that honorably held the family’s nativity scene.  He was tenderly holding the ceramic baby Jesus.  A reproduction of the painting was available at Hobby Lobby, of all places, last year but, cheapskate me wouldn’t spent the $200+ on it.  That falls outside my typical Santa budget.  I sneakily decided that, since I had already purchased Punta Cana Santa on a recent trip to the so-named resort town as my 2013 addition, I would wait until just after Christmas, purchase the painting when all things Christmas went on sale just after the holiday.  Surely, I would be able to score the masterpiece for less than a hundred bucks.  But, alas, they were either all sold out or greedily hidden from those of us who refuse to pay full price for anything.  Either way, I was unable to purchase my beloved painting.  

So, the year-long search commenced in which I was sure I would find something much less heartfelt, but special nonetheless.  That search ended one day before my target date for having Christmas preparation done – one day before my knee surgery (that’s another post).  As I was strolling through Hobby Lobby finding special wrapping for the gifts I would be taking to my nieces and nephews at the annual Gibson Holiday Party, This beautiful Santa caught my eye, and my breath.  Not only was he admiring baby Jesus in a manger scene, he was kneeling by the manger, next to the Star of David, holding his hat in reverence to the King!  It was much more perfect than I could ever have imagined and quickly made its way into my cart.  Lucky for me, this $80 gem was already on sale, a welcomed site for the one who never pays full . . . oh, well, you get it.  Although, after laying my eyes on my newest love, he quickly became priceless.

And, so begins the quest for the 2014 addition to the Gibson Santa Collection.

It’s Criminal ~ The Violation of Puffy

In August, Dave saw a news report that a rash of thefts of Honda Accords had been solved, with the presumed-innocent behind bars.  This story was of particular interest to us because that’s what Sarah drives.  The next day, as we enjoyed our favorite summertime evening activity – a cocktail on the patio – Sarah called and said, “I think my car was stolen.”  Sho ‘nuff.  After searching the employee lot at Intermountain Medical Center where she works, including a quick ride-along in the security guard’s golf cart, Sarah notified the police that her sweet baby Puffy had, indeed, been ripped off.

Thus commenced two crazy weeks with test drives, financial discussions, and phone calls to and from police, insurance and each other.  Want to read the gory details?  Check out the timeline.

And then the call came.   The Davis County Police had pulled over someone driving the car.  Those smarties were taken to jail, and the car was towed to an impound lot.  Dave and Sarah headed to Kaysville to pick up Puff, which was relatively intact, but had been sorely violated.

If you recognize any of the 'stuff' below, please let me know!

55/75 - A weekend in the trees

For mom and dad's 55th wedding anniversary and to celebrate mom's 75th birthday, three of the four kids and our better halves sort-of surprised them with a weekend in the trees at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah.  Elizabeth and Meher & Gary and Jodie all flew in, and we headed up to Park City.  Gary, Jodie, Dave and I had fun stopping for coffee and to do some shopping on Main Street on our way up, hitting a little pub and the olive oil store.  It was so much fun to meet Jodie for the first time.  She's awesome, and will be a welcomed new friend.