I think one of my earliest memories of 717 was Christmas time as a young kid, I'm not sure how old I was, but there wasn't much snow until Christmas Eve night when it dumped several feet. I remember sleeping in the back room on the first floor and creeping up the stairs early on Christmas morning. I'm sure Jessi and Laurel could recall this better, but I think we all went up the stairs and opened the door to Grandma and Grandpa's living room... and the room seemed to be flooded and overflowing with presents while a chorus of angels sang "Hallelujah"! Then we noticed all the snow outside and later that afternoon we made forts and tunnels in the front yard. That Christmas set the standard for all others to be compared with from then on...

How historically accurate and true is this memory? It's probably not an exact account of events, but I'm ok with that.

Wes 3.3


This is one of my favorite Christmas and 717 memories too! I think I might be mixing up two Christmas, but I am pretty sure this is the one with the tree from the alley. We slept downstairs and I was in the little middle room and could not sleep. The night took forever and Mom and Dad made us wait until 6am to go upstairs. The mountain of presents was amazing! Even the stockings seemed extra full. Except for Jonathan's, which was the biggest stocking I had ever seen. Turns out it he came home from the hospital in it. And there was about a foot of snow on the ground! But, as always we had to wait until after breakfast to open them. Dad kept saying we had to listen to Handels Messiah before we could open them and then kept asking all the parents if they wanted more coffee as a way to tease us. I think that was the year bb gun. I was so excited. In the afternoon I went cross country skiing on the sidewalks with Grandpa. it was magical.

One of my favorite Christmas ever!

Jessi 3.1