Christmas is coming!

November 28

It is the weekend of Thanksgiving break.  We had a wonderful time with family and friends gathered in our home on Thursday.  Friday was kind of a day of recuperating.  Saturday, we got down to business.  Tyler and Matt brought up box after box of Christmas decorations.  Everyone was home and everyone had a job.

Oliver, Daniel, Kate: to take a nap.  Kate has figured out that Christmas is a special time of activities, treats, presents.  She gets it.  Daniel is starting to catch on.  It is so fun to watch them.  Oliver is my sweet little reminder of the babe whose birth we celebrate.  After their snow adventure with Amy (see "snow day" post) they helped bring up boxes and were desperate to help, well, Kate was desperate to help.  She did for a while, taking things out of the boxes, hanging ornaments on the tree, mixing up and making new nativity sets.  Eventually we convinced her to go down for a short nap.

Tyler: setting out the nativity sets.  What a good kid.  I mean really good.  He's busy, and will only get busier in the coming years.  But here he is, home for a few hours, stepping back to see if the nativity sets look good.  To be honest, it surprises me at times how much I love him and all his siblings. 

Amy: decorating the "Three Trees" and the kitchen shelves.  One of my favorite Christmas books is called "The Three Trees."  It's about three trees that each have aspirations to be great in different ways.  They each become a part of the story of Christ and realize their greatest desires were realized in Jesus.  So I have had these three trees for years and set them up as a reminder that my greatest desires can be accomplished through by following my Savior.  Amy was concerned (rightly so) about the little kids pulling off all the little red decorations off the bottom of the tree.  We decided to trust that they could resist the temptation.  How I love the face of Amy Elizabeth, though even more so, I love the kindness that seems to be her very nature.

 

Emily: decorating the Christmas tree.  We have a country-Christmas feel to our tree.  We've experimented with it some, but I love the feeling of a simple, sweet tree with an angel a top.  It was super fun to see more of Emily this week.  She's jumped into college life at BYU with both feet and seems to be loving it!  Someday she'll have a little family of her own and a home that she'll want to fill with good things.  I realize more and more the positive impact she has on our family.  Her example, desires, and  efforts to do good are a constant strength to us all.

 

Matt: big box mover and garland wrapper.  This man right here... he changed my life a few years ago in so many ways.  Good ways.  Wonderful ways.  Helping-me-be-a-stronger-better-person ways.  I mean, here he is wrapping garland around the banister, making sure the little wooden cut-outs are all facing out so they can be seen.  I believe he is endlessly trying to be a good husband and father.  I also believe that he is both. 

 

Christmas has been so different since getting married.  It is a whole different experience to celebrate it with a husband (oh, how I love him) and children (they make the holiday come alive).  It is certainly a busy time, but the hope is that the decorations, the traditions, the experiences, and the celebrations all bring us closer to each other and closer to Jesus Christ.  Life is complicated at times and so is figuring out how to navigate through it.  How grateful to be able to navigate it with our family