Christmas time highlights

Christmas time is such a busy, but fun time. Here are the highlights and happenings of the season:

For Relief Society Enrichment several people shared their family Christmas traditions.  One tradition that we've done a couple years now is for family home evening is we talk about the tradition of gift giving.  Then we cut out a paper angel for each family member and on it write a gift that we want to give Jesus this year, whether it be an act of service or an improvement of self, then place it under the Christmas tree. A tradition someone else shared is every night they read a scripture, sing a song, and read a story that shares a value or a deeper meaning of Christmas.  I really liked this idea and copied the binder she had to use for our family.  The stories are sometimes a little long for my kiddos, but hopefully it is something that we can continue to use for years to come and they will grow to enjoy and instill the true meaning of Christmas.

The week before Christmas it snowed twice, so we enjoyed having snow for Christmas.  Rachel had fun walking around the "maze" of snow on the driveway while Jeff shoveled. 

Later we went sledding.  Rachel went down once with Jeff and Tyler, but I think it scared her.  Later I was able to convince her to go down with me on a smaller hill, but she still didn't like it.  She and I ended up heading to the park nearby to play while Tyler and Dad continued sledding.

For years I've been wanting to throw a Christmas party, and this year I finally had one.  It was fun having friends over to enjoy food and Christmas song pictionary.

The company I work for had a Christmas dinner with Santa Clause.  We decided to go this year so the kids could see Santa and tell him what they want.  Tyler knew the drill and eager to sit on his lap.  Rachel was scared and didn't want to go near him, so we only got a picture of Tyler with Santa this year.

The last day I worked before Christmas, I was surprised to get a little gift from the boy that I work with each week.  I told him I wasn't expecting anything.  He replied, "Of coarse I got a present for the perfect nurse!"  That melted my heart!  Him saying that was the best part of the gift.

We  continued the tradition of baking and bringing yummy goodies to all of our neighbors. This year I was surprised by the generosity of our neighbors. On Christmas Eve one neighbor brought us over a gift card to IHop and another neighbor brought a present for Tyler and a present to Rachel.  Sometime I wonder if we are too stingy and should be more generous to others during the Christmas time.

Jeff had to work again this year for Christmas.  He calculated that of the 9 Christmas' we've been married, we've only spent 3 together!  Not a great record.  I think we are kind of getting used to it because it doesn't seem to bother us too much. We just pick a day that Jeff is home and that is our Christmas. The kids don't know that we are not celebrating Christmas on the real Christmas day unless we tell them.  We did tell Tyler that we are celebrating Christmas late this year because we went to church on Christmas day and I figured others might say something or ask what he got for Christmas.  I did let Tyler and Rachel open the present the neighbor gave them on Christmas day so they didn't feel too left out.

On Christmas day some friends from church, the Aragon's, invited Tyler, Rachel, and I to join them for dinner. I wasn't expecting it and was grateful for their thoughtfulness and generosity to join them and their family for Christmas dinner. It's always fun to spend time with friends.  

The next day was our Christmas Eve, so more about that later....