7th Day of Christmas Memories

The Christmas of 1994 was definitely one worth remembering for both good and bad reasons.

That was the first Christmas that our whole family wasn't together because my oldest brother Mick was on his mission. But we had extra company that Christmas, too. On December 21st, my older half-sister Lisa and her husband Mack, flew out from Virginia to spend a week with us. It was the only Christmas I've ever had with Mack, and the first time I'd seen him since their wedding three and a half years earlier.

The day after they arrived, Lisa and Mack went skiing in Logan Canyon. The next day they went skiing again, but this time they took me and Tawna with them. I was so excited that my parents would let me sluff school to go skiing! Although I wasn't very good at skiing, I loved participating in the sport. I had taken lessons when I went skiing with the junior high school, and I also usually went skiing once a year at the ward Night-Ski, so I felt pretty competent in my skills. Lisa and Mack took turns alternating between Tawna and I to ride the ski lift with, and it was fun to get to know them better! Mack was amazing at the sport, especially since he'd never gone until just the day before!  His abilities definitely surpassed mine, but he was gracious and Lisa was kind. The 4 of us had so much fun together that day!

On Christmas Eve day, the whole family took a trip to Logan to go to the Hardware Ranch, a wildlife management area where herds of wild Rocky Mountain Elk live. It is up Blacksmith Fork Canyon, and once we arrived there, we rode a horse-drawn wagon on the property amidst the animals. I remember being in awe at the sight of hundreds of elk. I had never seen so many before!

After we left the Elk Ranch, we went to dinner at the Mongolian BBQ restaurant. I always loved eating there, and watching them grill my food I'd picked. As we were driving home, I remember our vehicle crossing over railroad tracks, and my dad wincing and complaining that going over the tracks made his stomache hurt.

When we arrived home that evening, we did our usual Christmas Eve traditions of reading the Luke 2 story, reading the book "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and leaving cookies & milk out for Santa before going to bed.

In the middle of the night, my dad went to the e.r. with abdominal pains, where the Dr. diagnosed him with appendicitis, and he had his appendix removed that night.

The next morning, Christmas day, was Sunday. We awoke to receive the news from Mom that Dad was in the hospital. It was weird that he wasn't at home on Christmas morning. Mom and I decided to still go to church (only Sacrament meeting that day), and Lisa and Mack came with us. Lisa and Mack belong to a different faith, and I remember the speakers that day were our neighbors the Greer's. Brother Greer spoke about Samuel the Lamanite's prophesies of Jesus, and I remember thinking that Lisa and Mack must feel completely lost about what he was saying over the pulpit.

After church, we opened gifts and went to visit Dad in the hospital that afternoon. Christmas really didn't feel like Christmas that year. {And apparently the family photo book feels like that, too. There's a big void in 1994's photo album. There were absolutely NO Christmas photos taken that year! Not a single photo was taken the entire week that Lisa and Mack spent with us!}

On Monday evening (the following day), Dad was released from the hospital. On Tuesday, we all went down to Salt Lake City together (except for Cody who was gone to a camp reunion). We had a short visit with my Great-Grandpa Perkins. Then we watched the movie "Legacy" in the Joseph Smith building at Temple Square.Then we went to eat at the restaurant "Dela Fontana" which is where my parents had their wedding breakfast. It was such a formal restaurant, and we had a 7-course meal, and I remember there was so much silverware that I had no idea what to do with! After dinner, we found a hotel room for Mack and Lisa to stay that night, since their flight back to Virginia was leaving early the next morning. Then we drove back to Temple Square, and walked around looking at all the lights. I remember listening to the conversation between Lisa, Mack, and my dad. They were discussing the design of the temple, and the significance of the sun, moon, and stars that are entricately carved into the temple's granite exterior. After we were all done walking around Temple Square, we said our good-byes in the parking lot; they drove to their hotel, and we drove home to Tremonton. I felt sad when they left. I'd really enjoyed having them in our home that Christmas season.

There were so many different unrelated circumstances that occurred during that one-week time period, but when combined all together, they complete my memories of the singular event of Christmas 1994.