Since 1981, we have spent every other Christmas in the Sierra. This is a Jacobs Girl Family event. Below is a brief summary (memories really) of some of the highlights of the Christmas's past. Keep in mind that we did not take notes along the way, so some of this may be a bit out of order and there are some gaps in our memory!
NOTE: This page is still under construction and is the baine of our poor memory.
1981 - A First
I was not able to get off work for the entire week, so Pattie or Mary went up and opened the cabin. We were really frightened that this whole rental thing was a hoax since we had to pickup the keys at a real estate office. I remember that Johhny's kids were pretty rowdy and one of them kept doing summersaults through the living room. At one point, the eldest boy crashed into little Melanie, knocking her completely out. Luckily Dad was there to make sure she was okay (he had training from his fireman days with concussions).
I did not get to go skiing - but I think Steve, Pattie, Mary and some of their kids did. I believe Lynn was left at the ski lodge to watch screaming Jessica who only wanted her mom.
On Christmas Day, we went out for dinner at Harrah's only to find that they did not have a buffet and their dinner was pretty bad.
This was before cell phones and email, so Jim and I did not talk much while he was in San Diego visiting his folks and I was at Tahoe.
Though this first Christmas has some major bumps, we still enjoyed the snow and being together, and pledged to do it again in 2 or so years.
1983 - Bear Valley
We rented a condo in Bear Valley this year. We all got off to such a late start, that we did not have time to buy a Christmas Tree for the kids. Jim (now my husband), grabbed a butcher knife and trudged out into the woods and cut us down a branch that we propped behind a coffee table for our tree. The kids made ornaments out of paper and coloring book pictures and can/bottle tops and whatever else we could find (the beginnings of our Holiday Crafting of the ornaments for the trees).We skiied at Bear Valley and we got Jenny and Jer up on skis. I am pretty sure this is the time when on the Ski Lifts that Jer asked if we had to jump off to go down the hill. I think Mary cooked a Goose for dinner. I don't think Margie was able to make it this time, and neither did mom or Ann. Dad was up in Washington state with his new wife. The condo was small and we vowed to get a larger place for our next rental.
1985 - 1989 - North Lake Tahoe and the Pit
In the mid 80s we often rented a cabin at Dollar Point that looked like a dutch barn. It was small, had a small kitchen and a sunken living room that we named "The Pit".Denise was heading to college by then and got her first UGGs there. Her then boyfriend came up for one of the Christmas's. Katie got a dollhouse and Mary Beth was a baby there.
We spent a lot of time singing songs in the pit and playing games.
Our last Christmas there was Dad's last too. He spend a lot of time holding Mary Beth and sitting in a big chair. He had lost Shirley (his second wife) to cancer and was still a bit at ends. He had a bad infection in his leg while he was visiting us, and we all recommended that he go to a doctor. Several weeks later, he passed away from a heart attach in Los Angeles. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and I always hoped that he had won a great bet before he passed.
From here my years get a bit blurry, so I will just talk about the cabins and the highlights of what happened at each.
91 - The Homewood Lake Shore Cabin and Car Crash
This year we skiied mainly at Homewood and Squaw. Squaw had some great kid prices ($5.00 per day) so even though the adult lifts were pricey, with all of our kids, we did better their than most other areas.The main thing I remember was picking up Denise from Reno in my old red truck with Katie and Mary Beth crammed in the cab with us. Denise had to hold Mary Beth who proceeded to have a bit of "wind" which made the car smell so very nice. This is also the cabin where Lynn hit my truck. I already had some major dent on the side panel so no harm, no fowl. But it was pretty funny, since I was behind the wheel, saw him coming and did not even think to lay on my horn. I just yelled "stop, stop". Alas, this one time no one heard me.
We got our tree in Reno and also bought a huge tree moose to put on the mantel (it was basically a cut off the bottom of a noble fir fashioned to look like a moose head - pretty cool).
By now our Christmas Crafts were in full swing and Jeff made us a great snow sculpture of a Angel in front of the cabin.
93 The First Hot Tub
We have rented a few cabins that included Hot Tubs. The first, had a hot tub on the back deck. I believe it was at Tahoe Donner. This year was so cold and icy, that when I parked my truck next to Pattie's new car, we found the 2 connected (mine had slid sideways into hers) the next morning after an ice storm.We sledded down the street at this cabin and since it was icy, the sleds were fast. We also made snow couched along the road to watch the sledders. Driving down from Tahoe Donner was quite scary since the roads were way to icy even with chains. I think I spent most of my time in first gear and gripping the steering wheel as I prayed that I would not slide down the hill, into cars and through all the red lights. This may have been the first year that Ann and Jeff were able to join us, as did Jeff's mom. Our mom was also there. We all used the hot tub and had a great time. Of course, we were now used to calling AAA for car ailments, and we used them to disengage our two cars before we left for home.I was actually hoping that nine months later my car would give birth to a miata - but alas.
I am not sure, but this may have been the year that Lynn and family went 4 wheel driving on the way back from Squaw and ended up wheeling in someones front yard.
95 The Burning Driveway at Tahoe Donner
In 95 we rented another Tahoe Donner Cabin. Annie and Jeff we able to join us again. And I think his mom was there too. The driveway kept icing up from the cars and it was short and caused a lot of fishtails as we backed out. So Jeff decided to burn the ice off with gasoline - while our cars were still parked there. Major excitement, much discussion but no damage.
97 - The Incline Condo - and no snow
There were a few years where we were sweating whether or not we would have snow by Christmas. When we rented the Incline Condo, we had little to no snow. We actually went around the neighborhood and stole snow from other cabins so that we could build a sled hill on the side of the street.Incline was also memorable for the number of people we had at the condo. Not only did our main 3 families make it. But James and Joanie were there too. Also, Mary and Lynn's extended family came in and assorted boyfriends and friends of the kids were there too. I think this was our first year with Matt (I am still amazed he did not run from our crazy family in fear) and he brought with him the imfamous Boppit. We had so many people in that place that we had to put sleeping bags underneath the dining room table.
It was too much fun!
99 - Homewood near Cross Country Ski area
AUGH!01 - Skiing the Deck and the White Carpet Fiasco
By the time we rented the Skiing Deck/White carpet cabin, Zac was in college, Jenny was married and we were all pretty used to our fun times at Christmas. Zac and Jer skied down the back deck stairs and built nice 'bump's in the run to make it a bit more challenging. The carpet was white and somehow we managed to spill a container of hot sauce on it (which we managed to get out somehow before we left for home).03 - The Pink Cabin with the cool Hot Tub and an Engagement
The Pink Cabin was actually not really pink but it had pink carpeting and a pink Kitchen. This cabin also had a cool massage chair that everyone wanted to sit in. There was a hot tub downstairs with a barn door that opened so that you could sit in the tub and watch the snow fall - truly a cool experience. This year Jessica could not attend - but she announced that she was engaged and we all did a group toast to the happy couple. Jody was pregnant at this cabin (with Brandon?), so she could not do any double decker sledding.
05 - The Luxury Cabin and the Sick Christmas
We rented a pretty cool tyrolian cabin that had many many floors, a pool table and a great fireplace. Zach had just had surgery and spent most of his Christmas on the couch in discomfort. Mat (Denise's husband) had the flu and one by one many of us started to fall like dominoes with it. Mel brought her beau at the time and his daughter who was 5. Mary and Lynn brought up two girls with them. Denise fell down the steps of this cabin and broke her elbow. Doug was already sick at this cabin and received his diagnosis soon after this Christmas.I don't really remember much of this really cool cabin, since I was too sick to enjoy it. I do remember going to the movies and bundling up in a down jacket just so I could go.
07 - Incline Hot Tub
Memory loss on this one.
09 - The Alpine Cabin (our last rental)
The Alpine Cabin is the last Christmas Tahoe cabin that we rented. We purchased the lodge in
December of 2009 - but it had broken windows, only one toilet, no kitchen, no running water and no side door by Christmas of 2009.
The Alpine Cabin was big. I think it had 7 bedrooms and a large great room with two living room areas. It had a big dining table that was perfect for our growing family but the kitchen was small. There were big windows on the entire back of the great room which overlooked the creek. We also had plenty of snow.
Though the cabin was not luxurious, it was getting harder and harder to find just one cabin to handle our big family. We sledded down the side of the house and the guys built a big snow bank to keep the sleds out of the creek, or so we thought. Mary Beth got sledding so fast, she went over the bank, down the other side and into the very cold and very wet creek.
This was Quincy's first Christmas with our family and I had to go home to Orinda to pick him up from the sitter on the night before Christmas eve. I got trapped in a snow storm on my way back up the mountain and ended up having to stay in our new lodge (remember. the one with broken windows and no side door?). I turned on the electrical only to blow out the circuit with a small heater I had with me. I stayed on a couch that we had delivered to the lodge just after our purchase. Luckily I had a warm sleeping bag and puppy with me.
The next day, the roads were plowed and I was safe to head up to Alpine for Christmas.
December of 2009 - but it had broken windows, only one toilet, no kitchen, no running water and no side door by Christmas of 2009.
The Alpine Cabin was big. I think it had 7 bedrooms and a large great room with two living room areas. It had a big dining table that was perfect for our growing family but the kitchen was small. There were big windows on the entire back of the great room which overlooked the creek. We also had plenty of snow.
Though the cabin was not luxurious, it was getting harder and harder to find just one cabin to handle our big family. We sledded down the side of the house and the guys built a big snow bank to keep the sleds out of the creek, or so we thought. Mary Beth got sledding so fast, she went over the bank, down the other side and into the very cold and very wet creek.
This was Quincy's first Christmas with our family and I had to go home to Orinda to pick him up from the sitter on the night before Christmas eve. I got trapped in a snow storm on my way back up the mountain and ended up having to stay in our new lodge (remember. the one with broken windows and no side door?). I turned on the electrical only to blow out the circuit with a small heater I had with me. I stayed on a couch that we had delivered to the lodge just after our purchase. Luckily I had a warm sleeping bag and puppy with me.
The next day, the roads were plowed and I was safe to head up to Alpine for Christmas.
One Last Note
Here is a list of the cabins we have rented (that we can remember) for our epic Tahoe Christmas celebrations. We tried to put all of the Christmas's in order - but as you can see from above, we had some memory issues. The good news is that all of these cabins bring back fond memories of our time together every other Christmas:
South Lake Tahoe
Bear Valley
The Pit
Granilbakken/Homewood
Condo Incline
Tyrolian House at Incline
Homewood Up hill near XC
North Lake Tahoe Blvd - Jeff Snow Angel, Cars Collide
Tahoe Donner - Jenny Pregnant 1st time
Tahoe Donner - Fire on Driveway
Tahoe Donner - White Carpet
Tahoe Donner - Indoor Hot Tub, Massage Chair
Tahoe Donner - Back Stairway - Snow Play
Dollar Point/Kings Beach
Alpine Meadows (the last rental)
Bear Valley
The Pit
Granilbakken/Homewood
Condo Incline
Tyrolian House at Incline
Homewood Up hill near XC
North Lake Tahoe Blvd - Jeff Snow Angel, Cars Collide
Tahoe Donner - Jenny Pregnant 1st time
Tahoe Donner - Fire on Driveway
Tahoe Donner - White Carpet
Tahoe Donner - Indoor Hot Tub, Massage Chair
Tahoe Donner - Back Stairway - Snow Play
Dollar Point/Kings Beach
Alpine Meadows (the last rental)
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