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Show Volume IX Issue V THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 5 December 15, 2003 Christmas Memories By Drienie Hattingh “I made this candy cane ornament the first year I was married. We did not have a lot of money, but we got a tree for free because my husband worked at a Christmas tree farm. And I made a dozen simple ornaments and strung popcorn and cranberries for decorations. It was simple but simply wonderful!” Hope Bruggink with two daughters, Sierra and Stephanie. Hope Bruggink from Liberty held up the simple home made Christmas ornament. She had a flush on her face and a sparkle in her light blue eyes as she told us about her first Christmas with her husband when they were poor and had to make do. Today, after many years of marriage Hope decorates her Christmas tree beautifully with lots of expensive ornaments but she still puts her “simple” candy cane ornaments, a bit tattered now, between the glitz and glamour. And she will never forget that long ago Christmas when two young people celebrated their first Christmas together and when everything was “simply wonderful!” *********************** It was a lovely, cold clear December day in the Valley when I drove to our church in Liberty. As usual, I enjoyed the winding drive through the horse ranches and barns and farmhouses from Eden to Liberty. I was excited because I was going to go to my first Cookie Exchange at our new church. Each of us had to bring four dozen cookies. The aroma of freshly baked peanut butter cookies filled my car. I used my Ouma Stolz’s recipe that she always used. I couldn’t wait to see all the cookies my friends made, and then there was the promise of going home with an assortment of all those cookies! We also had to bring an item that had a special Christmas meaning to us—we each would get a turn to share our Christmas memories. I brought three pictures from long ago and far away when I was small, and Christmas trees were tall and when Christmas Day was spent on the beach in Durban, South Africa. We spent a wonderful morning singing Christmas carols and sharing our Christmas memories at the Fellowship Bible Church in Liberty. Every now and again I looked through the arched windows to the snowcapped mountains, and I felt blessed beyond words to live in this Valley and be part of this church. While I sat there listening to all the heart warming, sometimes funny and sometimes melancholy memories, I just knew that I had to share it with everyone in the Valley! Here are some of those memories. Chris Miller from Liberty remembered one of her first Christmases as a Mom. She made gingerbread men to hang in the Christmas tree. She wasn’t sure if her little girl would like the sharp taste of the ginger cookies. But then one day, several days after she had decorated the tree, she discovered that the tree had half eaten gingerbread men all around the Christmas tree, at least as high as her little girl could reach! “It is about food of course!” Nancy Echols, from Eden—originally from Texas—called out. “All Italian memories tend to revolve around food!” she said with some irony in her voice. Nancy, who grew up in Andrews (close to Odessa), Texas, remembers how her Italian mother made “Christmas Roses” and “Olive Cheese Puffs” every year for their family reunions two weeks before Christmas. Today, about 35 years later, Nancy still makes these treats, but has added a new tradition; she and her children make doughnuts on Christmas Eve. One day they too will have special Christmas memories of their own. Making doughnuts on Christmas Eve with their mother in Eden, Utah! Vicki Byrk from Liberty held up a wooden Christmas Ornament in the form of a Christmas stocking painted in bright green and red colors. She explained that her mother made it and gave it to her on Christmas Eve when she was seven years old. Every time she holds this childhood memory in her hands she remembers that Christmas Eve when her mother placed the ornament in her small hands. She remembers marveling at it, then looking out the window and seeing the North Star in a clear black sky—as bright as she had ever seen it. A warm feeling of wonder came over her and now, many, many years later, Vicki gets that same warm feeling every time she takes the ornament out to display it in her home in the Valley. Rhonda Ransom from Liberty has a nativity set that was given to her about 15 years ago by an elderly lady that came into their lives when her children were still small. She had hand made the set in a ceramics class when she was quite old. “When she gave me the set she explained that it took her many, many weeks to complete because of the size and the number of pieces. She told me that her favorite piece was the Christ Child, and said that she spent extra time on it. I display this every Christmas. And although you can tell the pieces were painted by a shaky, elderly, hand; and the colors are not colors I would have chosen, it means so much to me—that she did it all especially for me! And you know what? My favorite piece is also the Christ Child, and when I set this nativity set, I always think of my dear friend and how much Christ meant to her.” Trina Phillips from Promontory Point remembers how her whole family sat around the table in her childhood home in Colorado and painted their own ceramic Christmas Ornament. Now, 28 years later, she held up her Teddy bear that she made that long ago day. “I can still feel the warmth and happiness when I sat around the table with my family. I was nine years old then, and now, as I decorate my own home every year, my teddy bear is one of the first decorations I put up.” Meg Italiano from Nordic moved here from Japan. She says that she will always remember the Christmas in Israel when she and her family lived there. They walked where Jesus walked and visited the place where the manger stood more than 2,000 years ago. The petite young woman with the pretty smile and long black hair was quiet for a moment as her thoughts went back to that Christmas in the holiest of lands. She then said with awe in her voice: “I will never forget that day.” MEMORIES cont. on page 12 CELEBRATE The Cookie Exchange at the Fellowship Bible Church in Liberty. Join us for Candlelight NEW YEAR’S EVE AT WOLF CREEK RESORT Christmas Eve Wednesday, December 31 Service 7 p.m. - 1 a.m. December 24 at 6:00 p.m. at the FELLOWSHIP BIBLE CHURCH 4783 N. Hwy. 261, Liberty Everyone is invited! For more information call 745-1090 CE SPA ED! T I LIM $50 per person* Four Course Gourmet Dinner Dancing to DJ “Cindy Sue” Party Favors & New Year’s Toast Cash Bar HOLIDAY ATTIRE SUGGESTED Wolf Creek Grille 3900 N. Wolf Creek Drive Eden, UT RESERVATIONS: Call Ashley Wright at (801) 745-3737 ext. 114 or email awright@wolfcreekresort.com *If reservation is made by 12/23/03. Thereafter price is $75 per person. Tables of 10 are $450. Credit Cards Accepted MAKE IT A GETAWAY - consider staying in one of our lovely condominiums. Call Taylee Lundin for details at (801) 745-3737 ext. 117 or tlundin@wolfcreekresort.com The Wolf Creek Grille will be closed to the public on New Year’s Eve. |