Merry Christmas!

Here it is Christmas Eve. Let me tell you my great plans for December. First, I was going to blog about our wonderful Thanksgiving. Then, I thought I'd do a Christmas advent--a daily post about Christmas. That didn't work out, so I thought I'd do the 12 Days of Christmas instead. Well, Day 12 came and went, and I thought, "Who's keeping track anyway? I'll do the 5 Days of Christmas! It will be spectacular."

And here it is Christmas Eve.

We have had a lot going on this month: normal Christmas things, extra concerts, oral surgery for Ammon, sick kids, church, work, etc. It's been very busy, but so wonderful. I love my children, who make everything happy.

I am grateful that we took the time to go to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights early in December. It was beautiful, relatively warm, and good family time for us. Maybe I have some pictures. Let me check. Yes, yes I do. Most of these were taken by Sarah or Beth or maybe even one of the boys.

So, that was fun.

I had planned to do all sorts of crafts with the children. We did a couple things. Like snowflakes, and origami:

I love paper. Do you know that about me? I LOVE PAPER! I love to make things with paper. So, origami=fun!

We also made some gingerbread men for neighbor gifts. I made them Hawai'ian kane and wahine. (That means men and women.) And the note said Mele Kalikimaka. (That means Merry Christmas.) They make me laugh. And I bet they make you wish you were my neighbor.

All of our Christmas decorations are in storage. My mom is allergic to real trees. I like real. But I go with fake for her sake. (That rhymes. Rhyming makes me smile.) We just used one of Mom's little trees and made new ornaments for it. I don't know if you can see the paper chain, but it was surprisingly time consuming to make!

We've been hanging up all our Christmas cards on the bricks behind the fireplace. As you may nor may not be able to tell, they have almost all fallen down. It has been a steady rainstorm of Christmas cards. I think that I will have a contest to see whose card stays up the longest. That person or family will win a special prize. A special Christmas prize. A special Christmas prize that is like an imaginary box filled with love.

We also had a family party. Santa came.

Santa looks pretty animated...

Hmmm...that's a tough question. What do I want for Christmas?

I don't know what to say.

I'd like a light saber and a chainsaw! (Yes, that's what he asked for.)

So, that's our month in a nutshell.

I love Christmas! The season is filled with joy and happiness. No matter how busy I am, an overwhelming peace is in my heart. I feel to celebrate with all Christians the birth of the Savior!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently said:

When Jesus was born, the joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds “good tidings of great joy, . . . praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

I love the image of joy being so great, it could not be contained in heaven. We celebrate all month long this glorious season.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and loves each of us. It is the gift of our Heavenly Father that He sent His Son to earth for our salvation.

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." (2 Corinthians 9:15)