James Pugh can still remember running down the stairs at the crack of dawn and looking excitedly toward the tree, where he saw the presents surrounding it. As he sat down and to find his first present, he wondered what he would be getting. Smiling at her 12-year-old, his mother readied the camera to capture the memories about to be made. He tore open the paper, seeing the new phone he had always wanted. Pugh, now a freshman at Middletown High School, still has his phone and uses it every day.

Children all over the world wake up Christmas morning ready to get their presents, but its most exciting when it turns out to be the best present they will ever receive.

Alex Leaman, MHS sophomore, says that his best Christmas present was a trip to Colorado, where he skied with family and friends.

“I would totally take someone else there. It’s a lot different skiing out west than here,” he says. Skiing here the snow is all fake and mostly ice. Out west, he says, “you are skiing on all powder. It’s amazing.”

Julia Burdette, MHS senior, says she remembers getting “cute little Disney shoes” from her sister that had pictures of The Little Mermaid on them. Burdette loves Disney and found the shoes adorable.

When she was 5, MHS sophomore Chloe Reed got a cat from her mother. “My cat is my baby,” she says. “I had always wanted one and it definitely made me more responsible.”

MHS freshman Drew Harper received an air hockey table from Santa. He says he loved it and would buy it for a kid, but it isn’t something everyone would like. “I mean, I wouldn’t buy it for my mom,” he says.

Christmas presents come around once a year, but memories of the best ones last a lifetime.