SANDPOINT — We all remember THAT Christmas, when the snow is crisp on the ground, and family is gathered around as the magic of the season filled the air.

Laughter rings throughout the cold, still air as snowball fights break out, interrupting the important business of building a snowman. The wind whistles past your ears as you race your sled down a mountain of snow. Shivering with cold despite 20 layers of clothes like the little brother in “A Christmas Story,” you gratefully grab a steaming cocoa with marshmallows oozing into the rich chocolate deliciousness as you stumble inside, stomping the snow from your boots.

The tree ­— no matter whether it’s a freshly cut pine or artificial one with the lights pre-sprinkled throughout the branches — is laden with memory-filled ornaments, each with their own story of Christmas past; family and loved ones gathered around, carols playing softly in the background. Stockings truly are hung by the fireplace with care, a fire (real or electric) keeps the chill at bay.

Heading off to church for Christmas Eve midnight services, the world silent and quiet as you make your way there, Christmas hymns joyfully sung by those packing the pews.

Then, when all is done and the house is settling down from the hustle and bustle of the day, a plate of cookies and a glass of milk find their way onto the mantle. Each sound prompts a stealthy trip downstairs to see if THAT time it was Santa, making his lightning trek around the world.

That same sense of magic and wonder fill the Christmas memories of students at Sandpoint Waldorf School. For some, it is waking up — over and over again — checking to see if Santa Claus has visited; for others it’s a special Christmas breakfast, surrounded by family, laughing and telling stories.

Below, the students share their favorite memories and Christmas stories.

Thimbleberry Kindergarten

Kyra — “I love my Christmas tree and all the lights.”

Xina Pearl — “Presents to give and presents to get.”

Matilda — “Spending Christmas with my Grandma.”

Saylor — “I love Santa.”

Lyra — “Eating candy canes and presents.”

Annabelle — “Being with Grandma.”

Arthur — “Opening presents and ribbons and cake.”

Aslan — “Santa and little gnomes and the elves.”

Benji — “I love to decorate.”

Katchemak — “I like opening presents and Christmas pie.”

Grade 1

Daniel — “I’m looking forward to having Grandpa Ty over for Christmas.”

Paxton — “Getting my electronic set.”

Makayla — “When I got my favorite toy I had been wishing for.”

Rosie — “Playing with my brother.”

Evelyn — “Opening my presents.”

Marin — “Going to Dallas with my family.”

Winslow — “Opening presents.”

Rowan — “Getting my pillow that is also a stuffed animal.”

Baiya — “Hanging out with my cousins.”

Elsa — “In the morning when we open presents and my younger brother says, “No, that is mine!”

Grade 2

Tracen — “My Christmas memory is my nana and papa coming to my house.”

Sage — “My memory is last Christmas I went to my relative’s house. It was so fun.”

Madelina — “I’m so excited for Christmas.”

Lila — “My memory is the advent spiral. I like walking through it.”

Athena — “My memory is giving my sister a Christmas present.”

Fate — “My favorite memory of Christmas is when my elf on the shelf came. Her name is Chensy.”

Emery — “My Christmas memory is of the trees.”

Elaina — “My memory is all of the presents and all of the food and all of the joy.”

Ellie — “My memory is when I get my Christmas tree I always go to the woods and chop it down.”

Cora — “My memory is from Christmas skiing.”

Bryson — “My memory is when we open presents and it is fun.”

Deacon — “My memory is of my elf.”

Grade 3

Sage — “A couple of years ago, I had one of the greatest Christmases ever. We were going to my grandma’s house. We were driving in our car. It was amazing.”

Cody — “This year I tried to do Surfing USA on my sled. That is where you sled standing up. I got it one time but other times were ugly. But for the record, it wasn’t called Surfing USA, it was called fun, fun, fun.”

Sierra — “My dog licks me all over and wears Christmas collars.”

Nathan — “Last Christmas our cats knocked down our Christmas tree.”

Brookelyn — “Sitting by the fire and reading a book together.”

Everett — “I am going to Clara’s house for Christmas. We are going to have lots of fun.”

Zoe — “When I was only 3 years old, I would drink eggnog every morning and my father would sneak sprinkles into the eggnog so when I stirred it there would be colorful swirls in it and I would always exclaim, “It’s a Christmas miracle!”

Jacob — “On Christmas I got a Lego set and that’s about it for that year. Before that year I got toys cars and a toy airplane and that’s it.” Maryah — “When I was 6 or 8 I woke up and my mom was making cinnamon rolls with frosting.”

Cairn — “One of my favorite things I got was the original Popeye movies. Another time I got my favorite stuffed animal. His name was Chippy.”

Alex — “I was four years old. This was the first time I was with my grandparents here.”

Hanna — “Every year I wake up and open my stocking and my dog usually gets a bone and then I wait for everyone to wake up.”

Rowan — “I woke up Christmas morning and wanted to look at my stocking. But I had to wait for my mom and it took forever for her to wake up. When she woke up, I thought she would never get dressed! And all I got was a fake parachute.”

Mason — “It was the night before Christmas and we videoed Santa coming down the chimney and we got footage but never enough.”

Henry — “I got a remote-control car. I was so excited when I saw the presents.”

Grade 4

Baylee — “My favorite part of Christmas is family and presents.”

Hanna Mae — “My favorite Christmas memory is sleeping in on Christmas day.”

Oscar — “My favorite Christmas I got this huge Lego set. It was awesome!”

Owen — “My favorite Christmas was two years ago when I got a sick sleeping bag and some stuff that you put in a fire and it makes it green and blue and brown. My second favorite Christmas was when me and my brother got a new sled.”

Josie — “My favorite Christmas memory is having family time and watching my family open presents and have fun!”

Kahlina — “One Christmas I was at my Nana and Papa’s and two days before Christmas the power went out and until Christmas, we all had to cook pancakes on the grill. It was the best Christmas”

Trace — “All the Christmas season we have Christmas magic! Our toys come to life at night. One year our toys were in the car with happy meals, it was funny.”

Isabella — “In Wenatchee one year at my grandma and grandpa’s house, my cousins came over and their friends. We played games and made gingerbread houses. The gingerbread was lots of fun because we covered it in candy and frosting. There was no gingerbread left showing.”

Polina — “I remember one Christmas when my sister and I made a gingerbread house. We used graham crackers instead of gingerbread. It was hard to stick the graham crackers together with frosting but we did it. After Christmas it was stale so we didn’t get to eat it.”

Jerusalem — “My favorite memory is giving Christmas presents to my family. We went sledding, cross country skiing, made snowmen and drank hot cocoa with marshmallows. Last year was my first season in the snow. I thought it was incredible. I liked baking cookies and giving them to my neighbors, friends and my teacher Miss Ellingson. I like to wrap and open presents. My favorite presents were my ballet leotard and my heavy doll my mom made. I made a gingerbread house with my brother and sister. I gave presents to my friends in Ethiopia. On Christmas night we had dinner with my grandma and grandpa. I loved my dessert, it was angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries. We went cross country skiing with my friend Josie in the forest. I remember in Ethiopia before I came to America my mom sent me presents. She sent me a doll and my sister sent me a little bag with chap stick and gum. I love my family, they are incredible. This is my second Christmas and I am so glad I came to America. I have a wonderful class. They take care of me and they help me. I have an AWESOME teacher!”

Grade 5

Brogan — “I remember Christmas last year and I loved that Christmas because we got lots of presents.”

Clarity — “I remember when I lived in Alaska, the snow was so deep that I could dig a tunnel and make a snow slide.”

Hope — “My favorite Christmas memory is that we eat crab every Christmas.”

Charlie — “I remember two years ago when I woke up early and found a large cage with a blanket on it. When I took the blanket off, there were two doves in the cage cooing!”

Hana — “I remember that one year ago, I got a squishy toy from my grandparents and it was a green penguin named Squishy.”

Madisen — “When we had a little tree that didn’t even hold up the lights.”

Camille — “A Christmas morning when I was little, we had a cat and he pulled me across the floor.”

Hannah — “I remember my Gigi having a bad foot and opening presents all day long.”

Callahan — “I like Christmas because I like to jump head first into the snow in shorts and a T-shirt.”

Grade 6

Isadora ­— “My favorite Christmas memory was when my uncle came to Sandpoint for Christmas after travelling the world for one year. It had been fun because he brought me a little suitcase from Italy and my sister a little horse stuffed animal, and my parents lots of treats and goodies. That had been a good year.”

Paula ­— “One of my memories of Christmas is from last year. It was my first Christmas living in Idaho. It was my first white Christmas! I got an amazing book called, ‘Life in Motion’ by Misty Copeland.”

Aiden ­— “Last year and a couple of other years ago, my mom made an extremely good cake. And that same year, we also went night sledding.”

Max ­— “My favorite Christmas memory was when I skied on Christmas and it was a powder day.”

Ivy ­— “One Christmas, when I was younger, my family and I went to visit our extended family in Montana. My grandpa, grandma, two cousins and aunt. We went sledding and it was a lot of fun.”

Isabelle ­— “Every year I go to Boise for Christmas. I go to my grandma’s house and open presents with my cousins. Last year, my cousins had their first birthday party. Its theme was winter.”

Ava ­— “I remember around Christmas one year; my sister reached over the railing and fell over it. She hit her head on the wood stove and split open her eyebrow and we had to watch a YouTube video about how to fix it. Then we had a Merry Christmas!”

Mark ­— “In 2013 I got a train set on Christmas. I liked it a lot. Two years later it broke, but my dad was able to fix it. This happened two more times but it broke one last time and my dad could not fix it.”

Beverly ­— “I remember one year, when I still lived in Germany, we decorated with vividly colored lights, lots of candles and so many cookies. Christmas was and still is really big in Germany. That year I got a skateboard and it was my favorite thing to ride it around the house. In the kitchen, in my room, in the living room and even in the bathroom (I was a strange little kid.) I can’t wait to go to Germany for Christmas again.”

Grade 7

Katelyn — “My favorite Christmas memory is after opening presents, my brother and I went on the carport and sledded off the roof into pile of snow.”

Mya — “My favorite memory of Christmas is whenever my family hangs our ornaments on the Christmas tree. All the Christmas ornaments I have gotten from my teacher over the years, are my favorites. We also have an ornament of an angel dog that looks like the dog my family had when I was little. We put him at the top of the tree, to watch over us whenever Christmas is upon us.”

Briar — “My favorite thing about Christmas is waking up early and watching my parents drink coffee.”

Terra — “My favorite thing about Christmas is waking up early and going to wake up my parents and spending time with my family.”

Grace — “My favorite part of Christmas is baking sugar cookies with my family.”

Katya — “My favorite thing about Christmas is spending time with my family and opening presents.”

Kaiya — “My favorite Christmas memory is every Christmas. Every Christmas turns into an amazing memory.”

Kasten — “My favorite part of Christmas is decorating the Christmas tree.”

Ethan — “My favorite part of Christmas is baking cookies.”

Ada — “My favorite Christmas memory is spending time with family.”

Neva — “My favorite Christmas memory is when one of my friends came over a couple of years ago and we went sledding off the roof.”

Berkeley — “My favorite part of Christmas is spending time with family and sitting in PJs all day!!!”

Ani — “My favorite thing about Christmas is seeing family.”

Grade 8

Lark — “This Christmas my sister, who is in college, is home to celebrate. I miss her so much when she’s gone. My dad has also been out of town and he’s home, too! I am so happy to be with my family for Christmas.”

Aden — “This Christmas I cannot wait to see my grandma, she is visiting from Fresno.”

Priya — “My favorite thing about Christmas is going to my aunt’s house and eating cinnamon rolls and drinking hot chocolate.”

Boston — “My favorite thing about Christmas is waking up in the morning and spending time with my family.”

Owen — “My favorite part about Christmas is seeing all my family and friends and going skiing!”