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Show i By Valerie Tnorne Press Intern The best Christmas gift I ever received came in the form of a little bundle of curly, black fur, the tiniest wet nose, and a "yap" unbelievably unbe-lievably loud for a body three inches tall and weighing a grand total of seven ounces. I first met Jemima on the Christmas of 1998, when Mom walked in the front door with her that morning. All wrapped up in a baby blanket too big for her, she was shivering from being outside for die ten feet it takes to get from the car to the house. The first thing she did upon entering her new home was race around the Christmas Christ-mas tree a few times before promptly falling asleep on my lap, completely exhausted from her five-minute playtime. play-time. As I watched her snooze away that Christmas morning, I knew that my my newfound friend would soon grow to be another member of the family: fami-ly: everyone's little Christmas puppy. 0 The next Christmas rolled around, and Jemima clearly knew mere was something special about the holiday. She would follow family members around the house as they decorated, sniff at the presents, and, on Christmas morning, sit on my lap and watch the gift-opening process pro-cess as if in awe. She became very good at opening packages (mis came back to haunt me when candy bars were left sitting on the floor), and everyone adored the tiny red and green ribbons she wore on her ears during the holiday season. By Christmas of 2002, Jemima was a full-grown adult, weighing in at a whole five and a half pounds. Despite being a refined and mature grown-up, she still loved sitting on the couch and listening as family members played Christmas songs on the piano, or waiting wait-ing patiently in the kitchen for fudge or candy cane bits to fall on the floor. Jemima was also the first one to sense the excitement of Christmas r i day that year, racing around the house and barking as we tiredly trudged up the stairs to see the spoils Santa Claus had left for us the previous night. Jemima showed us the spirit of Christmas in a way only a dear family pet can. She passed away last week, falling only two weeks short of spending her fifth Christmas Christ-mas with our family. We'll miss her confused enthusiasm for the holidays, but we won't forget it as we celebrate Christmas this year. It sounds silly, but we could all share the innocent outlook of our pets this Christmas. Instead of getting so caught up in the hustle and bustle this season tends to bring, we could sit for just a short while, admiring the beauty of our Christmas tree, take the time to sit back and eat a large brick of fudge, or fall asleep listening to our favorite fa-vorite holiday CD. These are things we could all do well with mis season, and I'm sure the "Jemimas" in all our homes would agree. f) K 1 A s PROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS- HoJpJbope it's marry, wherever ym go. We really appreciate your visits. as well as your business. (i Frowaflof ms at (1 Kim, LDHe;Mm&$ Spewce, Spawn & Ellen 341 0. 100 W. - Spricsvffis 480-0242 111 ' 'l') December 25, 2003 The Springville Herald - Pa-e Fhre, Section Three VJhyllove Christmas By Steve Hardman In real life, there are two things people don't like: confrontations con-frontations and salutations. Unfortunately, they mistake one for die . other. Its funny, people simply want to pass quietly qui-etly by and not be disturbed. If you speak to someone, it must mean that you are either a quart low or selhng something. You see, I talk. A lot. My wife says that I will talk to a fence post if it will hold still long enough. Maybe its genetic, I'm not sure.. But I love to talk to people peo-ple and find out where they're from, where they're going, what do they want to be when they grow up and what makes them dck. Any subject will do - sports, business, religion, politics, families, even shopping shop-ping - it doesn't really matter. The discovery is the fun. That's why I love Christmas. Christ-mas. Not only do I get to sing carols all day alta voz, but I greet people to my heart's content and they don't look at me like I haven't showered in a week. For a few brief weeks every year, people aren't afraid to be friendly, to say hello. Isn't it sad that we need a reason to engage in such eccentricities. eccen-tricities. I mean, now hard is it to recognize our fellow men? I know that most folks aren't hard-hearted or mean, but why do they treat a simple "hello" as suspect - like a telemarketer tele-marketer at suppertime - as if that greeting is pushy and rude somehow. And that's why I love Christmas. People are unfettered unfet-tered and free to give and love. So if you see this merry gentleman wandering the streets, don't be afraid to say "hello." I won't mind. But be prepared to talk. Brookside School's second through fifth grade students presented pre-sented a Christmas Around the World program Tuesday, Dec. 2, at SpringviDe High School. The program featured songs and traditions from many different countries. Misty Jones, Brook-side Brook-side art and musk teacher, did an excellent Job putting the program together and helping the students learn their parts and songs. It was a great start to the holiday season. Pktured are, back: Jones and Brookside Principal Ron Jensen. Front: McKenna Jenkins, Lily Girot and Kyhe Antonino. Mrs. Santa Claus visited Westside School Friday, Dec. 12, and spent an hour reading with the kindergarten students She shared her favorite Christmas stories, including some written and illustrated by her very own children. Students loved sharing this time with their special Christmas visitor. V qary lee price mm a studios, inc. ( Lifting the human spirit through sculpture." 9 ) 'a 'ON THE WINGS OF FREEDOM" $49.99 r LIMITED HOLIDAY OFFER 20 OFF ALL SCULPTURES H GARY LEE PRICE STUDIOS 38 WEST 200 SOUTH SPRINGVILLE, UT 84663 www.garyleeprice.com 801.489.6852 CATALOG $10 CATALOG AND DVD S20 a is |