We've been asking you to submit your favorite Christmas memories and heartwarming James Avery Christmas stories to spread the warmth and joy of the holidays with James Avery Artisan Jewelry and KVKI and you've delivered!

Each weekday through Friday, December 21, 2018, during the 12pm hour with Bristol, we'll read one of your stories and the person who submitted it will receive a $50 gift card to James Avery Artisan Jewelry. At the end of each week, we'll put all five stories to a vote and the winner will receive an additional $250 James Avery Artisan Jewelry gift card! James Avery Artisan Jewelry can be found locally in the Shoppes at Bellemeade on Youree Drive in Shreveport and the Dillard’s at Pierre Bossier Mall and Mall St. Vincent and online at JamesAvery.com.

Today's winner is Courtney Thomas. Congrats Courtney! We hope you enjoy your gift card to James Avery Artisan Jewelry! Here's what Courtney had to say:

While my story isn't one of generational traditions, it IS one of pure childhood joy for this 80s kid.
I, like every other elementary aged girl, wrote my letter to Santa EARLY in the late fall of 1983. Why so early? Because it was the year of the Cabbage Patch Kid craze. I wanted one more than I wanted any other gadget or gift. (And so did my little sister!) So, my heartfelt letter to Santa asked for a Cabbage Patch Kid, but not just ANY Cabbage Patch Kid. I specified, because, you know, I was asking Santa. I wanted a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. (My sister wanted the same, but a girl.)
Every evening during month of December, as my parents watched the news, I saw grown women pushing and shoving and even fighting over CPKs. Was I worried? Nah. After all, I hadn't asked my PARENTS to buy me this doll, I had asked SANTA.
On Christmas Eve, my little sister crept into bed with me. We discussed, for the hundredth time, what we hoped to find under the tree the next morning. As we whispered and giggled, we heard the neighbor's dogs begin to bark. Surely, we reasoned, it meant Santa was in our neighborhood! We did our best to be still and quiet. It must've worked because the next thing I remember is us waking up on Christmas morning. We burst into our little living room and there they were!!! Cabbage Patch Kids! One for each of us! Mine was a boy, hers was a girl. They were blonde and blue-eyed! Literally, it was one of the best Christmases, of my 45 years of Christmases, EVER!
Years later, my mom told us the story of how she fretted and worried and wanted us to have what we wanted. We lived in a tiny town (Hemphill, Texas) and the nearest town that MIGHT get CPKs was Beaumont, Texas, over two hours away. My Mama had my great-aunt, in Mobile, Alabama, find and ship not just two dolls, but THE dolls, just in time for Santa's delivery. We still have Rory and Lorinda, and we still talk about that Christmas, every Christmas.

Thank you Courtney for sharing your precious memory! If you'd like to share yours or to find out more, click here!

See complete KVKI contest rules here. 

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