I was not that excited about Christmas this year 2013 has been a rough year for us and Christmas seemed like one more thing to get through. We had just lost the house we thought we were meant to live in forever, we didn't have my dad with us anymore, my sister Amy found some lumps that were destined to be bad news and a myriad of other things that were just weighing on us. After we officially we lost the house I tried to focus all my energies on making Christmas special. It started with going tot he "Forgotten Carols" concert. This was a good thing. I really felt the spirit and could not control myself at the end when we were singing "We can be together forever someday" I totally lost it thinking about my dad. It didn't help that there was a gentleman sitting next to me about my dads age. He sensed my distress and squeezed my hand singing louder as if to help me understand this is not the end. I was secretly grateful that stranger was there with me it was like he was a pseudo dad holding my hand just as my dad did. I never thanked him but I pray that Heavenly Father blessed him for being there for me.
After that things got a little better. As the days wore on we made sugar cookies and took our time decorating sweets in classic Old Christmas fashion. I do love all the baking that goes with this time of year. However the dishes that follow are another thing.
Our next outing was Candlelight Christmas at this is the place heritage park. I always love coming here. You get a sense of what Christmas used to be like. I think it helps my kids to understand and not be so greedy. This was a mostly good night although a certain nephew of mine is in that extra annoying stage and he just wouldn't take a hint. Finally I came out and told him to please be reverent, that I really need this and he was ruining it for me. He shaped up for a little bit. The highlight of this night is always the dancing at the town hall. Oh how I wish we still did dances like this. I got to dance with my sweet heart and he made eyes at me the whole time. I was in love all over again. Unfortunately I knew he was going to count this as my dance quota, I just need to go to some weddings this next year to get my dance on.
To add to Christmas good will my brother Scott contacted me to see if we could do something for our mom. He got her a tree and asked if I could gather from the siblings stories of Christmas that involved my dad. Thankfully they all contributed and I cut them out and put them in glass balls. They turned out cute. He snuck in her house to set the whole thing up. I don't know what her reaction was but I am glad we pulled it off. I don't know what it is with us but we always come up with this stuff with such a short time to actually accomplish them.
Christmas eve we all got together for our annual program and Christmas feast. This year it was a Q & A for this kids and turned out pretty good. The kids were mostly behaved and the music was nice but my brothers testimony was the icing on top. I am thankful my family has a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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| Candle light Christmas |
For Christmas I decided to dial it back down quite a bit. I made sure each person only got 6 presents. Usually Christmas is a time for me to go overboard and I enjoy it but I thought with the house situation we didn't really need a large Christmas. I did make sure everyone got that 1 thing they really wanted and it turned out wonderful. Everyone was happy and my home wasn't filled with all that extra junk. I hope I can keep this up for next year.
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| Ellie holding Wyatt, Sam, Brennen, Jackson, Landon, Hyrum standing |
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| Shane the shepherd |
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| Grandma holding \Lucy and her neighbor that needed a family for Christmas Eve. |
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| Lucy enjoying dessert |
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| Peter's new wheels do you think he likes them? |
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