[Becky]

When I was little we lived in Wisconsin (first Milwaukee then we moved to Menomonee Falls). We did 3 things that I didn't do with my kids and people just don't do today.

First, my mom used to buy us Christmas dresses and new "shiny" shoes. We would go see Santa and get our picture taken all dolled up.

Another thing we would do is my dad would drive us downtown at night and we would walk around and look at all the windows. The big department stores all tried to outdo each other with the decorations. It was a big deal then to have a mechanical reindeer. The window dressings were just spectacular. Department stores don't do this anymore and its quite a shame.

Lastly, on a weekend night just before Christmas, my dad would take us all in the car to ride around and look at people's houses' decorations. We would always debate whose was best. Year after year we would know where to go as most people who did a great job one year did a great job the next year. This is one thing I still do - check out the surrounding area for nicely decorated houses.