What I am most grateful for at Christmas..............

Christmas came and went faster than ever this year.  Funny how that keeps happening!

We did Christmas a little differently this year.  We didn't get all the decorations up.  I didn't make pumpkin rolls for my neighbors (we took hand soap instead!).   I put different colors on my tree, because I couldn't find my Christmas decorations in the 30 minutes I had to get the tree decorated.  I didn't have anything to do with the ward Christmas program this year, in fact, we weren't even here for it.  No icicle lights on our roof this year because of all the snow we got at the end of November.  No Christmas baking....period except for our Christmas Eve dinner.  No shopping was done until Dec. 23rd, on the way home from our California Adventure.  (Costco in Orem on the 23rd is pretty ugly.....never doing that again!)

However, some of the things we did do differently this year I loved the most:  We went to California for the week before Christmas and enjoyed each other while having a lot of fun!  All of my neighbor gifts went out in a couple of hours with Sam, Jonny and Jacob delivering them before we left for California!  Wow, that's a record!  Although we didn't have icicle lights on the roofline, Sam decorated the porch beautifully and all the boys helped me do some power decorating on Monday night after we came home (it's amazing what we were able to throw together pretty fast!)

My boys did their own Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve day - Sam & Ben went together; David took Jonathan and Jacob and they gave each other and us the most amazing presents---so fun to see the joy they had in giving to each other.  We played Christmas music on Christmas Day at the hospital and different assisted living centers in Preston.  The boys even ran their own rehearsal before they left to go and play.  Watching them play, listening to them play and watching them take ownership of the performance was probably one of the pinnacle moments of my journey through motherhood.  The boys also took charge of Christmas morning and it was so fun to watch them as we opened their presents.  They were so excited to give to us and loved telling about their shopping adventures.

So, as I reflect on what I am most grateful for this Christmas it would have to be:   boys wrestling on the beach--who else does that in Cali? (we got some interesting looks), exploring tide pools with David, walking along the beach in the water, beach sunsets, Splash Mountain at Disneyland with Jacob----who else giggles hilariously when they are freezing to death? White shirts on boys @ Newport Beach temple--48 baptisms and confirmations!  Christmas sacrament meeting in Laguna Hills. Six of us squished in a car on the way back from the airport.  Power decorating on the night before Christmas Eve with all the boys helping me---they are so fast! Our annual Christmas Eve dinner with grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nativity plays and singing Silent Night together.  Watching boys excitedly wrap their presents they had purchased for each other.  Watching them watch each other open their presents.  Watching them rehearse with each other to play on Christmas Day for the hospital and Heritage Home.  Listening to them play together---Wow! I'm pretty sure all those zillions of hours of practice were worth it for that experience today!

As I look at this list, every point is filled with family---being together with my family, experiencing life together with my family and claiming some of the fruit of our family work together.   And my family is mine because of the covenant that was made between the Lord, my husband and I, 27 years ago in the St. George Temple.   And that opportunity was mine because of the gospel in my life.  And the gospel is in my life because my parents gave that opportunity to me as I was born into their family.  And all of the blessings of the gospel are mine because of the life and sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ.  So what do white shirts, temples, wrestling boys, Splash Mountain, Christmas tree lights, Christmas gifts, Hospital performances, and Silent Night all have to do with each other?  They are all Christmas blessings that are mine because of a little family that welcomed a baby into their home one silent, holy night many years ago.  I am so grateful for that little family that made it possible for me to enjoy my little family here today.  God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine Son, Jesus Christ.