Christmas in Utah

When Kaye and I got married we spent every Christmas while we were in college at BYU in Provo and UOP Dental School in San Francisco at Grandma Cowley's house in Layton, Utah. Grandma Cowley owned the Kowley Drug and Stan, Bill, Kermit, and Hal all worked there. They kept the drug store open on Christmas Eve until 9:00 pm. Then everyone would go to Grandma Cowley's for Christmas Eve. She had a beautiful tree in the bay window in the parlor. One of the boys would dress as Santa. They would run around the house with sleigh bells. All the kids and grandkids and parents would be gathered around the tree waiting for Santa. He would come in and sit by the piano. All of Grandma Cowley's gifts to the family were around the tree and the family's gifts to her were there. Santa would get one gift from under the tree. The person who it belonged to would have to perfomr before they could get their gift. Grandma Cowley would always play "It Surely Was a Put Up Job" and we would all sing it when she got her gifts. Each person would sing, dance, read a poem, etc. to get their gift. It was usually Levi's pants for guys and tops for the girls. I usually sang. That night we would have salads, sandwiches, relishes, plum pudding and pies. Everyone went back to their homes around midnight. We would stay the night at Grandma's house because we didn't live in Layton.

Christmas Day

We had our kids put up their stockings before they went to bed. They got up and opened their presents. Later in the morning, the boys wives would come down to Grandma's and start getting Christmas dinner ready. There were usually 30-40 people for dinner. They would set up 4 saw horses and put up plywood sheets over them to make a long table. They would cover it with bright holiday tableclothes and use her silver and china. LaRee always was in charge of the turkey stuffing. The other wives would do the potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and vegetables. The rolls, pies, were from the stores. They kept everything cool on the back porch. It was always a fun time and all the women would help serve and wash dishes. The guy would put the tables and chairs away. They everyone would sit around and visit. Great grandma Cowley, Uncle Morris Ellison, and Aunt Gladys Ellison always came. Gladys was Grandmpa Cowley's sister, and Great grandma was his mother. Grandpa Cowley died before Kaye and I were married.  One year after Kaye and I moved to Alamo, California, after Dental School. Kaye's father, R Adams, who lived in Baltimore, decided we should have one last Christmas at Grandma Cowleys. We had Cathy, Cindy (preteen ages), Greg and Brad (little kids) to go up there and everyone's presents. I sent Kaye and the boys up to Utah on a plane and the girls and I and the presents went up there in our station wagon. The girls and I stayed in Elko on the way up there. I took them dancing at the Elko Hotel with the big bears in the lobby.