Ghosts of Xmas Past - 1979 and 1980

 

Our first Xmas tree

The first year we were married (1977, when we moved from Fairhope to Monroeville, Alabama) we borrowed a small artificial tree from Keith's mother and decorated it with Xmas cards that we received in the mail that year, because we didn't have any ornaments. I thought I had a picture of that tree at one time, but if I did I have lost it somewhere along the way. This picture was taken in 1979 in the living room of our house in Searcy, Arkansas. We lived in an apartment in Searcy the Xmas of 1978, and I don't have any pictures at all from that year. 

Christopher's first Christmas, 1980

We were renting a nice 3-bedroom house. The only problem was that it only had one gas heater that was not sufficient to heat the whole house. So in the winter we closed off the living room and two bedrooms and moved the living room furniture into the dining room (where the heater was). The dining room was huge, anyway, and could well have served as the main room of the house year-round. The one window-unit air conditioner (behind the curtain in this photo) was in that room, too. This picture was taken in the dining room -- the kitchen is to the left. Christopher was 7 months old. He was a book eater at a very young age. Looks like that's a Little Golden Book -- Frosty the Snowman.

This is the house we lived in from 1979 until 1981. We lived here when Christopher was born. It was on McRae street in Searcy, Arkansas

Here's another view of the house. The back door into the dining room was under the carport. (We never used the front door.) To the left of the carport was a fenced-in area where Keith grew a garden.

That's Wathada holding Christopher, and Keith, standing under the carport.

Keith's garden

Christopher holding a carrot that Keith grew in his garden. 

Happy memories of our time in that house.