In The 70"s

As If It Were The Turn Of The Century...
Katherine asked me, "Mom What was Christmas like back in the 70's?"
Not only could I TELL her, I could SHOW her.
Here is Christmas 1971 (film was actually invented then. my dear child) at our house in Independence, Missouri. I was 11 1/2 years old and THRILLED to finally have a sister, even if she was 6 weeks old. This Christmas, I was the same age Katherine is now. (Just a little perspective)
This photo confirms....I have great DNA...look how HOT my mom is. She had three older children, a newborn, and she was pushing 40 years of age. (Sounds like a mother-daughter pattern, although she definitely looks better than I did at that stage!)

Here we are...Christmas Eve...just a little excited for what the next day would bring. It is me with my new baby sister (who needs a doll from Santa when you have a REAL baby sister!) and our brothers, Brent and Mark. I am not sure which dog that is. Brent, can you help me out with the name?
Look What Santa brought....Yes, we had weight sets back in the 70's...and note the Kansas City Chiefs Helmet. We were big time

Even my dad got on the other side of the camera lens at times. Here is is with Mark and Brent.

An argument against Extremes when Cropping Photos.... This "routine" Christmas Morning shot is full of memories. Each corner tells a story, for example, by zebra stripped over-night suitcase. I loved that bag! The console stereo on the background was big time...it had a reel-to reel tape recorder and player in it. We would sit around it for a few hours at time and record a tape to send to my Grandparents in Utah. When it was full..off it was mailed. And the Big Orange Platform Rocking Chair....so so comfy!We even had Church Christmas Parties back in the 70's. Here we are at the end of the Independence 2nd Ward Annual Christmas party. We had our goodies from Santa, and once again, look at my mom. She has a newborn, it is Christmas, and she is out and about. Wow! I remember Brents fuzzy plaid coat and my fuzzy white coat.
Here is Brent visiting Santa. I am sure he can name all the people in the background. I know one of them is no longer living (Steve) and the others are Becky Taylor, Burt Dorsey, Tim Chase, with our brother, Mark down in the lower left. If you look closely, you will see the Paper Snowflakes pinned to the Stage Curtains in the background. Yep, I helped cut them out. We had scissors back in the day and we knew how to use them! Note the box of Navel Oranges in the Background. Santa always gave us a juicy Navel Orange along with Hard Candies and some sort of toy.

Now, not only did we know how to celebrate Christmas back in the 70's, we could have some mean New Years Eve Parties....

In the Early 70's, I got to BABYSIT while my parents were at the actual "go out of the house"

New Years Eve Parties.

This is HOW I BABYSAT...everyone was gathered around me with their own little bed. It was Slumber Party Style Babysitting. The baby bottle was close by, Brent had the encyclopedia above his head, and just look at our Vinyl Record Collection in the background. We were a true family of the 70's

Christmas in the 70's was full of excitement and magic, just as it is today. Little did my dad know that as he snapped the above photos, he was capturing a lifetime of treasured memories.

Happy New Year!

Can you believe I actually lived through Christmas in The 70's...the 1970's!