Something that I remember distinctly about growing up in our home was that Mom and Dad always went above and beyond to make the holidays very special for us. We often got to pick the resturant that we wanted to go to for our birthday dinner. I remember Sambos was a favorite. Mom always made sure that Christmas was special and often spent so much that she worked hard for monthes to pay for it. We never went without the latest and greatest toys. I remember getting a cabbage patch doll when they were the newest hardest to come by toy. A few days before Christmas Mom pulled me aside and told me that there was a little girl in the ward that wasn't going to get any toys for Christmas and asked me if I would be willing to share my cabbage patch doll with her. I was excited to think that I was getting what I asked for. I said yes and it felt good. Then on Christmas morning there under the tree was my cabbage patch doll I went to Mom and said OH NO that little girl isn't going to have any toys now. I wanted to give this to her and Mom told me that both her and Dad had gotten me a cabbage patch doll and so I still did get that little girl a doll. Mom new how to instill generosity in us at an early age. I remember Valentine's Day Dad always did something very special for each of us. One year he personalized some glass cups for each of us and they had little symbols of things that we liked mine had a soccer ball and a ballarina and musical notes and all kinds of cool things. I remember searching for hours for Easter baskets. They were always hidden carefully. I remember always having a new dress shoes hat and gloves for Easter Sunday. I remember lots of laughter and good food. -Natalie