From the Summer of 1984 to the Summer of 1987, we lived on the campus of Bethel Seminary in Arden Hills, Minnesota while Dad completed his Masters. We knew we weren’t well off, but I didn’t realize until a while later that we lived those four years right at – or possibly right below – the poverty level for a family of four in the Twin Cities. But from my perspective, those years were some of the best years for our family. Looking back, I think one reason for the fondness of the memories is that not having a surplus of cash naturally led us to be creative and collaborative when doing things as a family.
One Christmas was a particularly inventive one – born out of, well, not much. An envelope tucked in the tree was the final present for my sister and me. In the envelope was a $1 bill…and a clue. I don’t remember what the clue was, but I do remember that it was a forced, cheesy rhyme – the kind you can’t not laugh at. The clue led to another envelope, this one with two $1 bills, and another clue. This continued for about four or five envelopes, for a grand total of $15 or $20 for each of us. “The Christmas Game” was an instant hit, and became a longed-for family tradition for many years to come. When our kids were old enough to read, we began that tradition with them. But this year, things were a little different.
For this years’ Christmas Game, Melissa and I decided to take full advantage of the six-and-a-half acres here at Livin’ the 10. We started off with an envelope in the Christmas Village on top of Grandma’s piano in our living room. From there, as you’ll see in the videos below, the kids traveled around the property “on an inventure,” as Iain put it. When they finally found the prizes in the popup – a Kindle Fire for each of them – they literally squealed and screamed. Later, after things settled down a bit, they each recounted how much they liked their new tablets – but they were emphatic that “the inventure” was what made it special.
inventure
an adventure that you invent for yourself,
your friends and/or your family
In fact, this year’s Christmas Game made such an impression on Iain that he spent over an hour putting together an inventure for Eryk and Macy. And as I sit here typing this, Iain told me that he and his siblings are going to put together a special inventure for me and Melissa tomorrow.
Enjoy the video…and here’s to your own inventure!