Every year newspapers look for feel-good stories, stories that talk about home and family and real holiday spirit. Sometimes we ask the people at the paper, folks who write for a living, to recount their favorite memories. Other times we write about just one person or one family’s traditions.
This year we asked a class of middle-school students to share their favorite holiday memories or traditions with us. Here are the stories we received from Ray Birks’ seventh-grade language arts class at Lake Stevens Middle School.
My favorite holiday memory was Christmas in 1998 when I lived in Arizona. It was my favorite because I celebrated it with my whole family, including my aunties, uncles, cousins and grandmas and grandpas because they all lived close by. I got a cool little jeep that I could ride around the house and outside that year. My brother, Reagan, was also born that year so it was his first Christmas. That Christmas night, I looked out the front window and saw some baby coyotes outside, about 10 feet away. It was pretty neat. After we were done watching the baby coyotes, we went outside in our backyard and listened to the coyotes for a while. My dad, mom, sister, baby brother and I all had a great Christmas. It was also our last Christmas in Arizona.
Hayden Petka, age 12
My best holiday ever was two years ago on Christmas when I went to Idaho to see my little brother I also got to see my Grandma, Grandpa and my cousin Mike. We did a couple of things when we were in Idaho we went to the falls and went to the movies. I had a lot of fun up there I got to see all my friends and family. I also got to go to a water park with water slides and everything else. It was like wild waves. It was really fun to hang out with my family and it was the greatest present ever.
Kristin Crull, age 13
My best Christmas story is when my family and I spent our last Christmas with my older brother before he left to go to the Marines. We got what everyone wanted, especially my older brother. What we got was a play station 2. My older sister got some yucky smelling perfume and she still has it. That year my younger brother got a scooter and he would always fall off of it. How? I don’t know. That was one of my best holidays because everyone got what they wanted. I still don’t remember what I had received that Christmas.
Zaira Benavente, age 12
My favorite holiday memory was, when I was a little kid I thought I heard reindeer. I ran to my mom and dad’s room and they said ok we will look. My dad went on the roof and said there’s Santa, so I ran to the roof and he said that he was gone, so I went to sleep and I heard it again, but this time I said ok now I know that is Santa real. Then in the morning all the food was gone but the carrots. There was a note and it said the reindeer were hungry and I started to cry and my mom ate the carrots and said that the reindeer had come back and ate them. I saw her and stopped crying and said why did you do that and she said I like them. So I said ok then I went to sleep. In the morning I went to my grandpa’s house and opened all my presents and the rest of the day was good.
Taylor McElhose, age 13
My favorite holiday memory takes place where there are no flashes; no streaks of light crossed the sky, no loud cracks or booms. The holiday was 4th of July at Yellowstone National Park. Most people remember the fireworks but I remember the animals.
Earlier that morning I bummed out that I got no fireworks. We pulled in to camp and I saw a herd of wild buffalo. I had heard that they can be mean so I was scared. Later that night I was sitting around the campfire when I heard a sound in the bushes. Suddenly a buffalo walked out and I ran. I was so scared. Now that was better than fireworks.
Nick Lathrop, age 12
My best Christmas ever is when I was eight years old. It started off by Christmas Eve. We always open one present every year. Then when I open one for me, my family opened one for themselves. After that we eat dinner. We have mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, salads, also soup, and stir fry noodles. For dessert we have cake, fruit salad, fruits, ice cream Sunday, and pumpkin pie with whip cream. Then we talk about what we might get or eat candy canes on the Christmas tree. Then we go to sleep and wait till Christmas. We wake up everyone in the house to open Christmas presents. Then we ripped and pulled our presents to open them. That day we all go to a restaurant to go eat lunch. But we didn’t eat breakfast. After that we go to a park or ride in the car. Then we go home and have the rest of the day to play or wear our gifts. That’s how my Christmas year goes.
Sunny Thongdynalay, age 13
It’s when I found out that big jolly man that goes ho ho ho Merry Christmas wasn’t real. The night before I had got a good look at my presents, so on Christmas morning I got up early and immediately opened one of my presents that said from Santa. But when I opened it, it was one of the ones my mom got me. In fact they were all from my mother and none were from Santa. So that was the Christmas I found out that big jolly man wasn’t real!
Natasha Foster, age 12
My favorite holiday is Christmas, when I was 4 and I still remember it. It was at church where I read my lines and there was a big Santa and I knocked it down, it fell, and then I started to cry for my mommy. My mom came and she had to stand by me and then I saw people laughing at me so I screamed my lungs out that I was so angry. So after I got mad at everyone and I know my cousins make fun of me when they remember it so when Christmas comes this year my cousins tease me really bad and it’s funny.
Nadia Kravchuk, age 12
I have had many good holidays but I think this one will be the best because it will be the first Christmas in our new house. I will probably not get many presents because I just got a really nice $1,500.00 computer. But hopefully I will get a few things to go with the computer. Like an mp3 player and behind the ear headphones. I also hope I get a game controller and maybe a game or two. The thing I am really excited about is going skiing on Christmas break. I got a season pass and leased skis for the year. So I can go skiing at least twice a week during the holidays. I can’t wait to go night skiing and ski down my favorite run Skyline and have a great time skiing. Skiing is my favorite thing to do I couldn’t ask for a better holiday. Another thing I really like to do is have a Christmas breakfast with my whole family. The whole family comes over right after I open presents and we have Christmas breakfast together and a party. For breakfast we usually have a honey-baked ham from the honey baked ham store, sausages, eggs, pancakes, rolls, pastries, eggnog, and tons of different Christmas cookies. There’s usually so much food I can’t eat it all. I really like Christmas. I like the smell of the tree, the presents, the lights, the food, the parties, and all the good times around the holidays. And that’s why I think this will be my best holiday ever.
Colby McCormick, age 12
My favorite holiday would be Christmas of 1995. That year we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. Because we did that, we went to grandma’s house to have Christmas there. I remember that Christmas real well ‘cause my whole family was there together in our own little world. I can’t remember all that much but I know that everyone had a smile on their face. My favorite gift I received that year was the stocking that my grandma had given me with my name printed on it. I thought that was the best and the most coolest present ever! Today I still have it to hang over the fireplace on Christmas to remember her by. When we went home that night I had loads of presents to bring home that night. But, I remembered that Christmas is about spending time with your family!
Lacey Moen, age 13
My best holiday ever was last year. It’s my best holiday last year because that’s when I got two horses and got two more dogs. My horses’ names are Vendy and Star, and my dogs’ names are Bosco and Annie. They are really cool dogs. That was my best present ever and my favorite day. Another thing, I like Christmas because my family is together and we get to eat good food. Another cool present I got last year is a new snowboard and snowboard gear. I also got a new dirt bike the colors of my dirt bike are green and white and blue and I got a new helmet that says FOX RACING on it. CHRISTMAS IS AWESOME.
Yesenia Sanabria, age 13
My best memory about Christmas is last year. Last year was my best year, because I went to California. My dad, mom, my little sister and I went to California and the rest stayed home because my mom and dad don’t let too much people go. The whole point why we went there was that we went to visit my cousins, my mom’s cousin, and to go to the "Fresno New Year." The best part about it was that I went to the New Year and it was a lot of fun. It was my first year going to California, so I was really excited to go. I wish I can go again but my mom say that we will be going back in two years. Which was in a very long time. The best part about the New Year is that, peoples sell movies, clothes, Hmong clothes, foods, drinks, and even concert tickets. They sell all sorts of things and my favorite drink is sugarcane juice. I went to the concert and it was so cool. I get to see the three most popular singers and some other singers that I don’t know. The worst thing is that we have to sleep at my mom’s cousin’s house and some other peoples house too. It was bad because my little sister and me don’t know them, so we’re kind of shy talking to them. I don’t really understand what they are saying because there are all sorts of Hmong peoples and the same language, but they speak differently.
Kristy Xiong, age 13
My favorite holiday is Christmas, a specific Christmas. This Christmas was in the year 2002. That’s the year I had Christmas at my house. My mom had got a present for my baby cousin Coltin. He’s four now so then he was three. When we had the whole family over and we were opening presents Coltin’s present started to make noise, it was some type of toy cash register. And so he opened it up so we could get it to stop but we couldn’t figure out how it worked. So there we were our whole family trying to figure out some toy from the store.
Ben Williams, age13
When I was really little around 6 to 10 every year for Christmas when I was living at my great grandparents house we always had a lot of people over, my great grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, my Nana, my two sisters, and my mom. It was always fun, because now I never have so many people over, just my mom, sisters and nana. I liked it with more people, well because more people more presents. My uncle once got my sister a big box. When she opened it there were a bunch of plastic bags and newspaper. About a half a minute later, after she started to dig, my cousins started to throw the stuff out of the box to help. About a half a minute later she finally got to the bottom. There was a small monkey. The box was huge too. So he got a huge box for a small monkey. It was funny to watch. It always seemed like we had two Christmases. In the morning when we woke up we ate breakfast then opened some presents. Later when the rest of the family came over and we would open up much more presents. I loved it. Then we would eat dinner and my sisters, and cousins would watch a movie in my mom’s room. That’s basically how the day went. That’s probably the best holiday memory. But in my new house I like holidays there too.
Starla Johnson, age 12
My best holiday ever, was when I got a stereo for Christmas. The reason why that’s my best holiday experience is because I got it from my uncle Eric and I don’t get to see him a lot because he is always at work and I don’t get to talk to him much because he is not home, sometimes he goes on business trips. He gets prepaid trips every year; he gets to go to Hawaii. I want to go with him someday. But back to what I was talking about, I think I’m going to ask him for another stereo because the one I have now does not have a remote, I would like one with a remote so I think I will just ask him for a whole new one. The other stereo that I had broke and then I threw it away, The one I have now does not have a remote and I cannot turn it on and off from my bed. So that really sucks.
Samantha Morgan, age 14
My best holiday ever is when I was ten and my dad had to be at work at 6:00 am so we got up at 4:00 to start opening presents. After we opened all our presents we went and ate our cinnamon rolls and had some hot cocoa. Then my dad had to get ready for work and we all said goodbye to him. At about ten later that day my grandparents came over and gave us some of our presents. They left and my dad called and said we could come to his work, Boeing, where he works as a firefighter. There were only 2 people working that day, my dad and another firefighter, so we got to have a tour. We saw everything and everything was great. After about an hour we went home and rested. Then we went to another party, at my grandparent’s house. All of my cousins came and we all had presents for each other. We soon went home to get some sleep; after all it was almost 10. That was my best holiday ever!
Anna Fowler, age 13
It started off good on Christmas Eve and we had a big dinner. After dinner we went to sleep early so we could wake up early. Then the next morning I awoke to the very annoying sound of my dog’s bark. I ran out into the living room and looked for my plate of cookies and milk that I left for Santa the night before. They were all gone. Not one drop of milk or crumb of cookie was left. Finally the best part: I opened my stocking presents. After that I started to look for my present under the tree. I looked everywhere; it was nowhere to be seen. So I went and sat on the couch. Then I started to cry. I knew my mom wouldn’t be up for hours, and I knew I couldn’t wake her. So for three hours I just cried. Then my mom came out and showed me that it was under some other presents. I was so happy that I didn’t care what it was. I was glad I got anything. It ended up being a snowboard. This would be my first year boarding. I loved it. But my mom only let me go down Daisy. That was my best Christmas ever.
Cam Kurtz, age 13
My best holiday was about 3 or 4 years ago when I went out to my half-sisters for Christmas with my dad and there was three feet of snow and we got a speed sleigh and we got to go to a really big hill that we were sledding all the way down, but after about the 5th time I spun and flipped but it tickled. I laughed and so did my dad. It was fun because it was Christmas and Christmas should always be fun. Later that day we got to open more gifts and I got a bike. I still ride them today. I want to be good at biking when I get older.
Jeremy Ball , age12
My favorite holiday is Christmas. I like Christmas because we get to open presents and see our friends and family. My favorite memory is on Christmas Eve. Some of my friends and family come over. We are allowed to open one present. We do that almost every year. I also liked when me and my cousins and my sisters had a gift exchange. My grandma was there too. That year we all got to build gingerbread houses. My grandma bought a lot of supplies to make them. Mine was the only one that lasted the whole night without falling. The next morning I thought that the frosting was dry and I picked it up. I went to show my sisters and it broke right away. That was my favorite holiday memory.
Jayda Cissell, age 12
My most memorable holiday memory was when I was 5. It was Christmas, not snowy but rainy, and about 7:00 o’clock in the morning. I remember seeing all the presents wrapped around the tree like a big blanket, and my stocking filled to the rim. Now in my family we always look through our stockings first, so as I darted down the stairs and tore down my stocking I noticed a Disney song along tape popping out of the top. And I guess being five made me ignorant to the fact that I had other presents because at that moment I flew down the stairs, popped the tape in and watched over and over and over until I had to be dragged up the stairs to start opening my presents two hours later. So now all I expect in my stocking is a new toothbrush and an orange.
Jacob Moriarty, age 12
My favorite holiday memory is probably last Christmas when my entire immediate family was together. Since that Christmas, my mom and 24-year-old brother have had some, let’s say; "issues" that they can’t seem to quite work out. Now, because of that "incident," my brother won’t come to any of our family events, including Christmas. I am very much regretting now, that I took last year for granted, because I always have my family together for Christmas, (it’s kind of a mandatory thing, rather than a tradition) but now I understand the meaning of the saying, "You never know how good you have it ‘till it’s gone." Only now getting into the "Christmas Season" I feel as if I have lost a parent who won’t attend Christmas, because my big brother is not just my big brother, he is like a second dad to me. As for future Christmas’ I hope that my mom and brother can work out their issues and spend to holidays to come as a family.
Kate Job , age 12
One morning I woke to a startling boom. I went out to the living room to see what was up. My mom was sitting on the couch drinking her coffee. Her eyes were gleaming as she greeted me "good morning." I must have forgot it was Christmas because I turned around to go back to bed when something bright and shiny caught my eye. My mouth dropped open as I stared, stunned at how nice our Christmas tree looked. It had all the ornaments that me and my sister had made for our parents over the years on it and it was gleaming with colorful lights. With all those presents under it I couldn’t wait. The first thing I did was run to my sister’s room, and then as she was getting my dad I went snooping around the tree. Finally five minutes later, which seemed like a lifetime to me, my dad and sister joined my mom and me in the living room. Now I thought that it was time to open our presents but I was wrong, breakfast time!
My sister and I had cinnamon rolls and my parents had eggs, hash browns and toast. Finally present time? Nope, time for the stockings. Now, it’s not like I don’t like the stockings but presents are so much better. Finally after all the waiting the time was here! We all opened our presents in a hurry, wondering what we got, my sister and me going first of course. We all loved our presents from what I could tell. I can’t remember exactly what I got but I still remember my whole family being together and that is why this is my favorite holiday memory.
Jessica Sams, age 12
My best holiday memory is when we have a white elephant gift exchange. Well it’s actually a tradition. I live with my stepmom, and my dad. But it’s my real mom’s side of the family that has the gift exchange. So my mom’s family, me, and my sister attend the exchange. We go to my Aunt Margie’s house in Bothell every year. We used to go to my great-grandma and great-grandpa’s house up until a couple of years ago. My Aunt Margie lives in a pretty nice house. It has a den with a pool table, a second kitchen, a bathroom, a couple of bedrooms, and a TV with a lot of video games. Outside is a small, private lake that has a small island in the middle of it.
The way you get to it is by crossing the bridge. Although I’ve never went out back because I only go there during the winter and its always rained, the lake looks pretty nice. Inside it’s always filled with Christmas decorations, the tables have cookies, candy and doughnuts sprawled out on them. For dinner we have a buffet. My favorite food is the applesauce. Then we’d all eat and talk. Right before dinner, we have the gift exchange. What we do is we buy a present, wrap it, and set it under their Christmas tree. Then we draw numbers from a hat. The person who drew number one gets to pick whichever gift they want and unwrap it in front of everyone. Then number two person gets to pick their next gift, and so on. It’s very funny when the men get girlish items and the girls get manly items.
Since the children are too young to participate, they have their own separate items. Then at the end everyone can exchange gifts. I enjoy talking and catching up with my relatives. Some of them I don’t know very well, because I don’t spend much time with them. I like to talk, play video games, watch TV, eat lots of sweets, drink soda, and play pool. I try to beat my cousins at pool and video games because they are very competitive. Sometimes I win. Sometimes they win. Well I’m glad you now know one of my family traditions. Too bad I’m not going this year. But I’ll still have fun at my Grandma Karly’s house.
James Eichelberger, age 12
My best Christmas was in 1999 when I was so excited to wake up Christmas morning and open presents, that I couldn’t sleep that night! When I finally fell asleep, I had a dream about Christmas morning! When I woke up I went up stairs and got my brother, sister mom and dad, and we all went into the living room and as I looked around I was amazed to see a whole bunch of presents under the tree for me!
So I started to open presents and my parents took pictures of my brother my sister and me and when I got to my last present that was hiding behind the tree, my parents told me to wait a second so that they can take a picture of me, so I started to pull back the wrapping paper and I saw the letters SONY, and it was the Sony boom box that I always wanted! I was so happy I gave my parents a great big hug, and my parents gave me some cds to go with my radio and that was my best Christmas ever!
Amanda Biddle, age 13
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