104: A Wayback Sickler Family Christmas | The Wayback with Ryan Sickler #104 | Full Episode

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Wayback with Ryan Sickler #104 – "A Wayback Sickler Family Christmas"

Release Date: December 25, 2025
Host: Ryan Sickler
Guest/Co-Host: Kirsten

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Overview

In this special Christmas edition, Ryan Sickler and Kirsten take a heartfelt, hilarious journey down memory lane, revisiting family Christmases, childhood traditions, and quirky holiday memories. With old family footage, tales of festive mishaps, and reflections on how holiday experiences shape us, the episode blends nostalgia, comedy, and a touch of bittersweet reflection. The conversation serves up holiday warmth while maintaining Ryan's signature raw, irreverent humor.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Warm Holiday Wishes and Setting the Scene

• [05:00] Ryan opens by wishing everyone a "very merry Christmas" and jokes about his "Sandy Claws" persona.
• Expresses gratitude to Kirsten, who celebrates her birthday the same day they’re recording.

“Welcome back to the Way Back everybody. Ryan Sickler here, aka Sandy Claws...wishing you and all of your family, loved ones...a very merry Christmas.” – Ryan ([05:00])

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2. Childhood Christmas Traditions and Memories

Kirsten's Nostalgia

• [05:45] Kirsten recalls the excitement of her older sisters staying over for Christmas, which she valued more than Santa's visit.
• She reminisces about the year she received Heelys, fulfilling a month-long wish.

“Them coming and staying the night almost felt like more exciting than Santa coming over.” – Kirsten ([05:47])

The Strange and Memorable Gifts

• Ryan and Kirsten debate the pleasure and perils of memorable and weird holiday gifts, joking about regifts and underwhelming presents.
• Kirsten confesses to a recurring re-gift from a certain relative each year. ([06:20])

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3. The Sickler Family Christmas Archive [06:30–13:36]

• Ryan shares and narrates footage from his family’s old Christmases, dating from the early 1970s in West Baltimore.
• Discovery: Ryan recounts only recently realizing the "Santa" on top of the neighborhood fire truck was actually his father.
• Raw, humorous commentary on the grainy footage, their modest gifts (blocks, fly swatters), and his father’s attempts to keep the Christmas magic alive despite personal struggles.

“I recently, just in the last few years, where my daughter’s been pressing, [I] found out that the Santa Claus on top of this fire truck was actually my dad. I had no idea.” – Ryan ([06:36])

• Reflection on Loss: He notes that their first Christmas as infants came just a month after his own grandfather's death, adding a poignant undercurrent to his family’s traditions.

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4. Nostalgic Toys and 1970s-80s Holiday Life

• Delights in the analog-era gifts (Star Wars toys, Pinocchio record, laser rifle, Big Wheels, Colts helmets, and "matching pajamas").
• Laments absence of gift-wrapped magic for today’s kids, pokes fun at 1970s style and technology: “Look at that TV... Isn’t it a shame you don’t get to remember your good times?” – Ryan ([07:07], [08:53])

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5. The “Elf Debacle” and TV Land Memories [15:08–23:47]

• Ryan recounts a hilarious, disastrous work story: being forced to replace Gary Coleman as an elf on a Fox Family 25 Days of Christmas promotion, complete with ill-fitting Gap Kids wardrobe and a green smock hiding "everything."
• Emphasizes the absurdities of low-budget TV, union politics, and unfulfilled promises ("Gary Coleman still got paid... I didn’t get my paycheck.").
• Killer one-liners about the existential discomforts of playing a public elf in rural Pennsylvania.

“...If I put those kids pants on, you could see everything. My dick, ball...So we go to Gap Kids, then to the adult side, and the only thing they have is that little scarf...That’s the only reason we got that, to cover my... stuff.” – Ryan ([17:36])

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6. Reflections on Family Changes & Traditions

• Shares bittersweet tales of Christmases post-divorce, his mother’s emotional distance, receiving a ventriloquist doll he never wanted, and the ritual destruction of "Willie Talk."
• Notes his strong memory for addresses and details—except the Christmases during the hardest years:

“I remember almost everything. The one thing I don’t remember are Christmases. That everyone died right then. And I’m just like, fuck that holiday.” – Ryan ([21:58])

• Uplifting memory of planting real Christmas trees from a farm, which became “monster fucking pine trees.” ([24:00])

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7. Kirsten’s Family’s Colorful Christmas (Des Moines Traditions)

• Kirsten’s stepdad is locally famous for extravagant holiday lighting displays—including her grandma’s tree with a single red bulb for “Rudolph’s nose.”
• Both her mom and stepdad get into the spirit by selling mini donuts from a gingerbread shack, with stepdad in full elf costume. The local charm is both celebrated and the cause of some neighborly negotiation about their late-night light show.

“From October to December, my stepdad’s constantly in an elf costume, walking around as an elf. My mom and him sell donuts out of a little mini gingerbread shack. They love it.” – Kirsten ([27:40])

• Family deeply invested in “Eltastic Lighting,” their local Christmas business. ([27:54])

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8. Neighborhood and Family Festivities

• Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo—a neighborhood where buying a home comes with a requirement to go all-in on Christmas decorations.
• Family meals: “Our meals were traditional... But again, the stuffed shells, the baked ziti, the lasagna.”
• Ryan recognizes a formative “origin story”—playing Santa Claus in first grade, making his grandmothers howl with laughter in the audience.

“I look at these two ladies. They are pissing themselves... And I just remember how good that felt. I started laughing. And I think the whole Santa Claus might be my whole origin story...” – Ryan ([31:35])

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9. New Traditions and Cozy Comforts

• Kirsten shares a recent family tradition: drawing names at Thanksgiving and buying thrift store outfits for each other to wear in Christmas photos—complete with goofy, mismatched styles.
• Ryan’s favorite: lighting up the house with just Christmas lights, watching movies surrounded by warm glows, replicating “Yule Log on TV” for those without fireplaces.

“One of my favorite traditions is to light the place up inside, turn all the regular lights off and just leave the Christmas lights up and watch movies.” – Ryan ([34:43])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Ryan on family secrets:

“I recently, just in the last few years...found out that the Santa Claus on top of this fire truck was actually my dad. I had no idea.” ([06:36])

Ryan, summing up difficult childhood memories:

“I remember almost everything. The one thing I don’t remember are Christmases. That everyone died right then. And I’m just like, fuck that holiday.” ([21:58])

Kirsten, on the delight of thrift store traditions:

“We’d only see each other like Thanksgiving, Christmas...So Thanksgiving we would all put our names into a hat...you had to go find them a full outfit from Goodwill...that’s what we would take our family photos in.” ([33:51])

Ryan’s origin story in comedy:

“And I just remember how good that felt. I started laughing. And I think the whole Santa Claus might be my whole origin story.” ([31:40])

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• [05:00] Opening holiday wishes & Kirsten's birthday
• [05:45] Kirsten’s childhood Christmas memories
• [06:36] Ryan’s dad as neighborhood Santa; family home movies
• [09:54] Discovering Tooth Fairy secrets
• [13:37] Early Christmas toys and TV moments
• [15:08] "Elf debacle" and Gary Coleman
• [21:58] Reflections on family trauma and lost Christmases
• [24:00] Planting Christmas trees, natural traditions
• [27:01] Kirsten’s family lighting business, neighborhood tales
• [31:35] Ryan’s “origin story” as Santa Claus in a school play
• [33:51] Thrift store family photo tradition
• [34:43] Ryan’s favorite Christmas light and movie ritual
• [35:12] “Yule Log” on TV & cozying up for Christmas

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Overall Tone

The episode is funny, blunt, and heartfelt: Ryan’s Baltimore honesty meets classic holiday sentimentality, balanced by Kirsten’s wholesome family anecdotes. Together, they remind us that, whether harmonious or chaotic, these memories—and the ways we create new ones—are what shape the meaning of Christmas.

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Transcript

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[Ryan Sickler]

Hey guys. Very important announcement. Do not Skip this in two weeks. On January 6th, we are doing our Best of 2025 Honeydew with y' all review and our special guest this time is Tom Segura. So here's the deal. We are shifting the start time of that episode to 9:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific and I will be live in the comments with you the entire episode. All right, so click the link in the description. Set your reminders now. I will be in the live chat with you guys the whole time. Join me. Let's have some fun with it. And Thursday, January 8th is the episode of the Way Back with My brothers. You guys been asking for years. There it is. So make sure you click that link now. Set your reminder. I'll see y' all in the premiere. Guys, I want to say thank you very much. We hit over a million views on Live and Alive. Thank you for supporting it. Thank you for watching it. If you haven't yet, go watch it. Share it with your friends. Comment like all that stuff. Live and Alive streaming now on my YouTube. Thank you guys so much for your support. Hey baby, we gonna be here all day. We gonna be here all day baby. I like this kind of party. Hope. Ho ho. Welcome back to the Way Back everybody. Ryan Sickler here, aka Sandy Claws. Ryan Sickler.com Ryan Sickler on all your social media wishing you and all of your family, loved ones, everybody a very merry Christmas. Hope you're enjoying the holidays. And Kirsten, I Want to say very merry Christmas to you. I'm very grateful for you.

[Kirsten]

Right back at you.

[Ryan Sickler]

We record these ahead of time, so today is actually Kirsten's birthday, so happy birthday to you as well.

[Kirsten]

Thank you.

[Ryan Sickler]

You. Thank you for all you do for us. Princess is here. She's going to be kind of pulling the sleigh. She pulled it here, so she's tired right now. But we wanted to do a little Christmas episode of the way back for you guys, and here we are, so let's jump right into it. Kirsten, I asked you. You don't have any Christmas family traditions or anything, huh?

[Kirsten]

No, not. Not really that any, like, pop into mind.

[Ryan Sickler]

What stands out about Christmas?

[Kirsten]

I think what stands out most to me as a kid was I just had older sisters. And so, like, them coming and staying the night almost felt like more exciting than Santa coming over. I just really looked forward to, like, having them come stay with us. So.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Kirsten]

That's, like, the biggest thing I remember. I mean, I had one Christmas where I was obsessed with Heelys and I dreamed about them for, like a month.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did you get them?

[Kirsten]

I ended up getting them, yes.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what we call a win right there.

[Kirsten]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

When you get one of those good ones, you ever get a shitty Christmas gift? You ever remember get one where you're like, what the.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, yeah. Actually, where you might have known it was a re gift every year from someone specific, but I'll tell you that afterwards.

[Ryan Sickler]

All right, let's jump into some old stuff here. So I don't know who in the hell my dad was ahead of his time, I guess. He got some old school family footage here. So can we watch this little chunk here? Yeah, like, a lot of the guests that come on the Honeydew and they say, I just recently found out. And I'm like, how y' all recently find out? Well, I recently, just in the last few years, where my daughter's been pressing, find out that the Santa Claus on top of this fire truck was actually my dad. I had no idea. Even all these years of seeing this right there, that's my dad. And I started thinking about it, like, who the fuck he go talk to at the fire department? Be like, hey, you guys, you guys want to let me up on the fire truck? And I throw candy and shit out to the kids in the neighborhood. I don't even know if that was a tradition that had to happen before that. You know what I mean? Like, I don't even know. But that's my dad there. We look alike you can see the similarities. And there. Yeah, look, passing out candy and stuff to the kids. I don't even know if we're in this one, so. And there they go off into the night on a fire truck that would just come, like, through the neighborhood. That was all the good stuff before Trudy took the sleigh off the rails. So then we actually have footage of our very first Christmas. Now, this would have been December of 1973. And I was telling Kirsten, I'm looking for my dad in this footage specifically because his father died in November of 73. And I'm like, oh, well, here's a dude with two kids. His dad just died. And this is a Christmas, you know, just literally weeks after. And I'm trying to find him to see if I could see him, but he's probably. Probably trying to figure out how to kill himself. So, yeah, this is our first Christmas ever right here. We're in West Baltimore. We're in Baltimore City right here. We're only about eight months old there. Look at us pushing around up early. You seeing it when any of these toys are like a scooter or. Yeah, some kind of little thing there. That's some. That two of us are going to probably lick on. And right there, just blocks. No, no toys are talking to you. No video games, no nothing. All right, so that's first Christmas. What else we have going on here? There's my dad right there. That's a year later. He came out. Came out for this Christmas. Let's see what's going on. Who that kid is. He's fly swat. That was a gift back then. A fly swatter. Okay, this is it second Christmas. Let's see, our brother's still not. My younger brother's not born yet, so it's just the two of us still. Oh, yeah, these. You remember getting your finger stuck in the springs? Let's see. Am I mother in there? I go, God, what the hell is that? Like, look at it. Is that fish? What is it? Yeah, I don't know what the. It is about to run over her. We're about to run over her ass on these big wheels. See? Yeah, this is still West Baltimore, so I don't remember. I remember we would do too. Like, after we got. There's a little dopey. After we got old enough, we'd sneak down the stairs. Look, I ain't. I don't like that dopey gift like this. And we would just tear a little corner, and I'd be like, you got Luke Skywalker and then we go back upstairs and ruin the whole Christmas.

[Kirsten]

I do remember finding my teeth. I mean, I can tell you that.

[Ryan Sickler]

What do you mean?

[Kirsten]

Tooth fairy.

[Ryan Sickler]

I never go into collection.

[Kirsten]

I was like, why the hell does she have my teeth?

[Ryan Sickler]

I throw them away. She kept them.

[Kirsten]

She had him for a bit.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's how you found out, I think.

[Kirsten]

I think I actually still have, like two canines in my dad's truck right now.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's hilarious. He could probably find that is hilarious. Look. And then will break. You go forward and eat it too. Had about a good head of hair back then, man. Still got that salad. Oh, look at me opening gifts. This is for. It all went to hell right Here, let me enjoy this for a second, because I don't remember it. I don't remember this. I'm having new feelings right now. There's Brandy. There's Brandy coming in. Oh, yeah. I think this might have been the thing where you spin it and it lands on the animal, the barn animal, and tells you what to do. Oh, two of them. Oh, same pajamas. What the fuck are we doing in the same clothes? Can we go? Let's see what else is on here. Look at that TV. I was having breakfast. 1975. Still in that house. Yup. My brother's not born yet. Still matching PJs. Yep. I was never. I never was a morning person. That's my grandma DeVito right there. She's my mom's mom. The other Italian side. That's clearly a football right there. I remember that plastic snowman in the back, too. Oh, I remember that little car garage. You would have the cars go around. Man, isn't it a shame you don't get to remember your good times? God damn. Okay, so now this Christmas would have been the first. No, it would have been technically the second because my brother was born in November of 77. Oh, here we go. 1978. Same. Same Baltimore Colts helmet back here. I see. Go back up for a second here. Pause it for a second. We got Colts helmet here. Go ahead, let it play. Let's look. This look might be a Colts thing I'm pulling out here. Probably that blue thing. We were die hard Colts back then. That big. I remember that big star lit up like a big Santa Claus face. I remember we made those popcorn strings. What's that? Oh, we got some records, y'. All. What's that? Pinocchio. It's like a Pinocchio record back there. Is it? Yeah, it is Pinocchio. Pretty stoked over here. I did a Good job with these kids. Santa Claus. This little right here is like, what the. This going on little top. So tot. That's the kid. We would go, what in that thing? Oh, a laser rifle. Now, see, that might have been Frost. Look at that phone. Look at that phone over there. You see that? He's got. I don't know who he's calling. Calling for help. For somebody to be our. Yeah, yeah. So that's the early, early days of our Christmases. Got about a few good ones. It was a wrap after that. All right, let's look at this little picture right here. God had these. So. Yeah, this is Baltimore Colts again. Jackets. Todd crying his ass off. That sound looks a lot like me too. So we're probably. I don't know, it's probably 77. Eight somewhere nine in here. I don't know where the fuck we are here. I don't know what the fuck's going on with these. These Christmas pants. He's all beard. This Santa's all beard right here, bro. I'm there for one thing and one thing only. I don't even give a about those candy canes. I'm giving that guy my wish list. Oh, here we go. That's what I'm talking about now.

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[Ryan Sickler]

That is an evil Knievel pajama set there. That's a camera that see the motorcycles. That's a camera that takes actual film. That's the kind where you took a picture. You're like, hope we got it. That's a Smurf. Because that's when they came out. That's when they started and they're still relevant today to fucking Smurfs. Look at those ears. Jesus Christ. I never grew into them. That's why I grew his hair out like this. Oh, now this here, it's a little later in life. I've talked about this on old episodes like the Crab Feast. And I worked at what was at the time Fox Family Channel became ABC Family Channel now is called Freeform. But that network, I was there and we were working on what the thing was called the 25 Days of Christmas sweepstakes. And I'm a PA at the time and I'm hired to help work on this campaign. And the gist of this campaign is that someone in the continental United States right around this time too. December 22nd, 3rd, it's right about Christmas. Someone is going to win $25,000 anywhere. Could have been anywhere in the continental United States. And this, this young lady wins. Here in About Harris, it's Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, where the fucking nuclear plant melted down. That's where we got to go to a trailer park. It's freezing fucking cold. And the only thing I have that fits me is that fucking smock right there. And the reason that we have to cover those tight ass kids pants up is because Gary Coleman was supposed to be the elf. The joke was the elf is carrying this oversized Price is Right check across the country. Because it could have been anywhere to give this family this $25,000 check. And the driver goes to. We fly in a day ahead of time. The driver goes to Gary Coleman's condo, knocks on the door, calls, whatever. He's not coming out. So he tells us he's a no show. We're like, what? We're already in Pennsylvania. And they're like, what are we going to do? Like, Ryan, you got to be the elf. I'm like, I'm not being the fucking elf. I can't get in Gary Coleman's clothes, I went to Gap Kids to buy them. I know I was in on this. Cold mornings and holiday plans. This is when I need my wardrobe to just work. That's why I'm all about quints. They make it easy to look sharp, feel good, and find gifts that last. From Mongolian cashmere sweaters to Italian wool coats, quince pieces are crafted from premium materials and built to hold up without the luxury markup. Their outerwear lineup is no joke. From down jackets to wool top coats and leather styles that are built to last. Each piece is made from premium materials by trusted factories that meet rigorous standards and for craftsmanship and ethical production. By cutting out middlemen and traditional markups, Quinn delivers the same quality as luxury brands at a fraction of the price. It's everything you actually want to wear. Built to hold up season after season. I love the stuff Quinn sent me. 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I mean, you could see everything. My dick ball. I mean, you can see everything. So we go to a mall because we're there a day early and we go to Gap Kids and then we go to the adult side and the only thing they have is that little scarf. And then we go to another store and we get that green smock to cover my. That's only reason we got that is to cover my. My shit that. You see how tight that shirt is? On my arms and the pants are like that little kid next to me should have been wearing those pants. So I agree to do it. But I say if I'm going to do this, then I want to do this the way I want to do it. And the plight of me delivering this check. And I'm. We're driving through rural Pennsylvania and we stop at an outhouse, a spot, a pot. And I'm coming out of there like I just took a shit with it. I'm. I'm under our van. Like the van broke down. It's all this bullshit. And they let me do everything. We get to this house and of course, you know when something like this happens, you got to go up and tell the people. So it's not surprise they got to act. Of course. But I'm standing out there on the front porch waiting, and the kids are coming home and they're all on this bus and they are screaming, Mr. Elf, Mr. Alf. They're screaming, going nuts. And I'm just like, please. It's like an eight hour day already. It's two degrees. I'm like, the fucking. Get the fuck out of here. They better give me this goddamn union membership. So we do this whole campaign, then it airs, this comes. This is a. It's not just a. This is a campaign that aired. It went on tv. And then I got back and everybody's like, hey, thanks for pitching in and really making that happen. And that nothing after that. I didn't get my. After I didn't get my paycheck. And you know who got paid? Gary Coleman. Gary Coleman still got paiso. RIP Gary Coleman. You on Christmas. Yeah. You look great over there. Yeah, these are you. You rock the elf. We got a little princess down here, little reindeer. She's got a full. Full reindeer sweater on. Tanya. Baltimore Colts. Right there is everything. Let's see what else is going down here. We had. I don't know what the hell that is. I see that cat toy back there. It looks like that was a dump truck or something back there. Oh, there's some Star wars shit. Right there's a TIE fighter. Zoom back out. Oh, there you go. Yeah, yeah. Yep. I'm sorry, you were zooming in. Yeah, that's a TIE fighter right there. You got a TIE fighter in there and some other shit. There we go. So this right here is ridiculous. Obviously I'm pissed off. This. I believe this might have been after everything went down and we're. My parents are divorced and we're in that fucking hallway apartment in Westminster look how mad I am. Look, I'm pissed for a lot of reasons. My mother's already told me she hates me. My parents are divorced. I'm in that fucking sweater, and I got a goddamn ventriloquist doll. Okay, let me see. That's a bike over there. I Wait. My bike. I'll probably. That's. That's Todd's bike. I got a goddamn ventriloquist doll. There's a Polaroid back there, too. See that? So the funny thing about this. This guy's name's Willie Talk. It was a ventriloquist doll. I'm watching the Eddie Murphy documentary on Netflix the other night, and he had a Willy Talk doll. His was black. His mom got it for him. And I had two of these things, actually. We. Because when you have brothers, you know they want to destroy. And I never forget. We had. We found this thing years later. This thing's naked in my grandmother's basement. And, like, we find it. There it is. You're the best. There he is. Will he talk? Yep. I have mine. I had a white one, Eddie. And we find him in the basement. You know, this is when we're in our 20s. We're fucking. Everyone's dead. We're smoking some weed, and we're like, let's take him upstairs to the fucking bedroom window and throw him out onto the concrete. And we just took Willie Talk and fucking threw him out. About three or four headers. And that thing shot open and cracked open. He met a very, very tragic death. Old Willie Talk. He didn't talk after that. He didn't have shit to say. Here's the thing, man. I've got a pretty fucking impressive memory for everything that went down. Even the people that watched the episode we did were like, how do you remember all those old addresses? I remember almost everything. The one thing I don't remember are Christmases. That everyone died right then. And I'm just like, fuck that holiday. Yeah. So I don't really remember, but I do remember when we lived on 799 Irongate Avenue. That house we were looking at was before we would go to these tree farms. And you get your own tree. I'm sure they still do it out here especially. So we go to this tree farm. You get a Christmas tree. It's in burlap. And then you put it in your stand and you water it and you take care of it. And then at the end of Christmas, you got the roots. You go out wherever you want. We had two of them in the front yard. And you plant them, and they grew into monster fucking pine trees. I mean, bigger than this tree here. Monsters, Two of them.

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[Ryan Sickler]

Wait, I'll sidetrack real quick. I went for this audition the other day, this voiceover audition. I actually got it, y'. All. And I go in, and this tree was so fucking pretty, I couldn't get over delays. Like, can I help you? I go, that's the prettiest tree. She's like, thank you so much. Me and this girl here, we did everything. And I was like, no, that's fucking legit. Like, they did different color choices, black ribbons. I know it sounds weird, but this shit looks so. And all I kept sitting there is like, I'm so impressed right now. Goes this a West coast tree? I'm from the East Coast. We get them out of the Carolina. This is. What's this? Washington, Oregon. She's like, oregon, Oregon. I was so into this goddamn tree, I could not fucking get over it. But, yeah, we would. We'd take two years. We did that. We didn't do. I mean, I can't. To answer your question, I don't know if we got a real tree every year back then, but for two years, we definitely did and planted them after that.

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[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, it was. Who knows?

[Kirsten]

There's one event that they would. They would do up in, like, Des Moines in the capital, but it was called, like Jolly Holiday Lights. And it's just like a big. You, like, tune into a certain channel and then you can drive through all these Christmas lights. And I think my stepdad actually wouldn't help light it one year because he does Christmas lighting.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, show them what your stepdad does. Let's see your grandma's tree.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, my grandma's locally famous right now because she has this front tree. She. I think they've done this now for like three or four years.

[Ryan Sickler]

How long does that take?

[Kirsten]

I. It took him a couple days to do it the first time, and I think he's left it in.

[Ryan Sickler]

I was going to say, okay, so they leave him in year round and just green and unplay.

[Kirsten]

But I was telling you. So. Yeah, from like, that's awesome. October to December, my stepdad's constantly in an elf costume, walking around as an elf. My mom and him sell donuts out of a little mini gingerbread shack.

[Ryan Sickler]

They love it.

[Kirsten]

It's called eltastic lighting.

[Ryan Sickler]

If you're in, bring it up.

[Kirsten]

I don't know if I have anything to actually, like, show it off or not.

[Ryan Sickler]

What?

[Kirsten]

But I will say, like, he did my grandma's house and he has a whole story about how there's one red light bulb on there because it charges Rudolph's nose and stuff.

[Ryan Sickler]

Does. Do the neighbors hate that tree?

[Kirsten]

Okay.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that Chevy Chase?

[Kirsten]

There was one neighbor that was like, hey, do you think we could maybe turn that off at like 10 o'? Clock? It's kind of leaning into the windows a bit. My grandma said, we can do midnight.

[Ryan Sickler]

What were they doing before? Just all night.

[Kirsten]

I don't. I think it might have been up all night. And my grandma's like, we can do midnight. It's. It's her fit. I mean, she loves it. She loves it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that the thing they built that little.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, this is what they sell donuts out of.

[Ryan Sickler]

Hell. Yeah.

[Kirsten]

I was trying to see if there was like one instance your mom's in.

[Ryan Sickler]

There just kicking it, selling hot chocolate and donuts and stuff.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, see, I'm gonna have to.

[Ryan Sickler]

Your stepdad's out there decorating Christmases.

[Kirsten]

Let Me find the photo of them together. I see. There's my mom when she was little as a kid.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's a good one. Yeah.

[Kirsten]

So, yeah, so this is like. That's my grandma's house. And that one red light is for Rudolph to charge his nose. So like that's been a big thing the past couple years.

[Kerrygold Advertiser]

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[Kirsten]

So he'll put up like a year round. Lights on like Bass Pro Shops or Hybes. And then they don't have to take them down. There's my mom inside one of the.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh yeah.

[Kirsten]

Things where they're making. They do mini donuts.

[Ryan Sickler]

He's a big elf.

[Kirsten]

Well, I tell you, I mean, he really is.

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That's.

[Kirsten]

There they are together and they're.

[Ryan Sickler]

There we go making donuts. Cash only. You gotta step it up, man. You gotta get. You don't, don't, don't take. Don't let money walk out that door.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, they. They do that. He does lighting. It's. It's really cool.

[Ryan Sickler]

So look up out here at Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo. This is a place in El Segundo here. They just had a movie out a couple years ago called Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy. And from what I understand, this is. This is awesome. It's a couple blocks long in El Segundo. You can't drive on it during the night. The police are there. It's all legit. They barricade it off. And people are out there like your mom and selling shit.

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And.

[Ryan Sickler]

From what I understand, if you buy a house in this neighborhood, I believe it is part of the agreement that you must decorate at Christmas. The whole neighborhood gets into it. There you go. But these two blocks are fucking awesome. And at the end, Santa Claus is sitting in a little sleigh. Take pictures and shit. I actually think we're going to go Sunday night. But I also remember again, my whole family. You saw my grandma DeVita, everybody's Italian. So our meals were traditional. Turkey, whatever. But again, the stuffed shells, the baked ziti, the lasagna is like, oh, you just made me remember my fucking origin story. I really think it is my origin story. And it was believe I'm in first grade. So that would have been what, 78. And we're doing a play and it involves Christmas and Star Wars. Star wars is so new. This teacher loved it. And I'm playing Santa Claus. Like I'm the guy, I'm the main character. But I don't come out on stage for a few minutes. And I remember both of my grandmothers and they didn't really kick it with each other much, but they're coming that night. And they tell me, this is a very vivid memory. I'm first grade, so what am I, six? They tell me, we're going to be sitting right down front. We're probably going to get emotional and cry, but it's a good thing. Just don't look at us. Do your job. Don't even sweat it. I was like, okay. And I remember when I walked out on that fucking stage, I look at these two ladies. They're pissing themselves. They are pissed. They are so red. They are howling. They're not trying to laugh. Quiet. They are crying. They are leaning on each other. And I'm looking down, and I just remember how good that felt. I'm. I started laughing. And I knew everybody's lines if they forget, I'd be like, you're supposed to say, and my grandmothers are fucking pissing themselves. Just cannot get over this little first grader dressed as Santa Claus coming out with all his fucking lines. And at the end, I get into my sleigh, and they're going to pull me around the kids in the cafeteria at the elementary school, and they're going to pull me around the audience. And as we. We do the sleigh turns in this corner, we hit the ice cream thing. My grandmas, you could hear them. You can't see them. They are dying over this whole thing. And I remember coming back, they're like, we're so sorry. We thought we were going to get emotional. We thought we were going to be, oh, look at our. Our grandson up there. And I was like, you two. I mean, they're way down there and they are dying. And I was like, yeah. And I think the whole Santa Claus might be my whole origin story right here. And in the end, I'll never. I'll never forgot that they loved it. Old Sandy Claws. Did you ever do midnight masses?

[Kirsten]

My grandma's very, like, religious in church and stuff, but we never really did a whole lot of that. Would she go, oh, yeah, my grandma still does. My grandma goes Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Kirsten]

She does a funeral. She's very involved. So I think there are a couple times I went with her maybe just to, like, give her the joy of me going with her, you know, Would do the kneeling and the standing and all that.

[Ryan Sickler]

But a lot of.

[Kirsten]

I used to get upset because I wasn't allowed to have, like, the juice and crackers because, yeah, I didn't put the time in. So.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, well, who's going to call you out if you get up in that line.

[Kirsten]

My grandma, she get your ass back here. She would grab my arm, put me back down.

[Ryan Sickler]

Sister Carmina wouldn't let us go either. Go to confession. Nope. And then we go see the priest. Like I cussed a little bit. I sped this guy, you know. You know that what the stories they want to hear. I'm like nope, that's not.

[Kirsten]

Oh, I do have, I do have a tradition that we came up with later. And I mean this is probably when I was. Oh my God. Scare me. I think this is by the time I was like a junior or a sophomore probably in high school. We ended up with a tradition where just because our family was so big, like my sisters started having their families. We'd only see each other like Thanksgiving, Christmas and not in between then. So Thanksgiving we would all put our names into a hat and then we would draw the name and whoever's name you got, you had to go find them a full outfit for from Goodwill. Like a thrift store outfit. And then that's what we would take our family photos in. Oh at Christmas time.

[Ryan Sickler]

And so we did that for like.

[Kirsten]

Two or three years and that we had so much fun going to Goodwill. Like my sister and I would go and just looking at all the silly things we could find. Like one year my dad had a bear coat but my brother in law had like a crop top, fishnet like stocking, nothing underneath it. So that was, that was really fun. That was fun. Then that we did once I got older.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's great. I try to do traditions now. I always like an Italian dinner. So we'll go if they're not open on Christmas Eve then we'll go the night before. But it's always something like that. I love Christmas lights. One of my favorite traditions is to light the place up inside, turn all the regular lights off and just leave the Christmas lights up and watch movies.

[Kirsten]

Did you guys ever have the Yule log dvd? The DVD where it's just like a fake log burning on your TV so it can feel like a place?

[Ryan Sickler]

No, but there would be a channel you can watch put on on cable like channel 864 and it would just be the Yule log on.

[Kirsten]

Yeah. Crackling it's literally just this in a log burning.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah.

[Kirsten]

You'd be like ah, it feels warm.

[Ryan Sickler]

Put that back. It does give nice pops and stuff though. There is cozy crackling Christmas. It's not even easy to say. Well thank you guys for another great year. I Hope you all have a Merry, Merry Christmas. Hope Sandy Claus Brings you Everything yous Want From Princess Here, Kirsten and myself. Merry Christmas. We'll talk to y' all next week.

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[Ryan Sickler]

Limu cable and Doug.

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[Ryan Sickler]

Liberty.

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[Ryan Sickler]

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