Its the most WonDeRFuL time of the year!

Christmas...what an amazing, sensational season. I love this time of year along with so many other people. I love the sights of the lights and trees, the nativities, the bright colors and the buzzing of the people. I like the smiles on the faces of those that don't smile often, I like the parties, the food, the smells and all the hoopla that comes with Christmas. I like the sounds of happy chatter, the twinkling of bells, the singing coming from what seems like...everywhere. I like the ability to give to those we love and are thinking about, to feel the happiness that comes from seeing someone else happy. I like all of the many scrumptious kinds of food that hang around the house, the aroma of things baking in the oven...and the sight of it turning out the way I wanted it to. There are so many marvelous, fun, and exciting things that make the Christmas season my very favorite time of year. Its been a wonderful season for us this year. We've been able to spend a little more time with each other, enjoying the Christmas Season just a little more than we have in past years. We didn't do anything big, elaborate or expensive...just spent TIME together as a family, which is my favorite thing to do. One of our traditions that we have is that we always have a big dinner on Christmas Eve, the kind of "BIG" that so many people do on Christmas day. We always make turkey and ham and all the fixin's. This year we also had pies coming out of our ears...cherry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie(that Cameron made all by himself!!!), coconut cream pie, and Erik made his special pineapple pie (YUM), even a pistachio cream pie....almost any kind of pie your little heart might desire. We certainly didn't walk away hungry, that's for sure. Every year we invite someone from my family over to have dinner with us. This year we chose to have our next door neighbors over. To us, they are family. We love them so much and have been so blessed to have them as dear friends and neighbors. They are amazing people who have really become part of our family and a big part of our lives. We don't know what we would do without them. We enjoyed watching their 4 boys play and be excited about "Santa coming". They just light up our home with their sweet little spirits. We all sat around and ate and visited and enjoyed the evening together. The kids played and laughed and had a wonderful time as well. Later that night, just before our kids were headed off to slumber land, we read from the scriptures about the birth of our Savior....the story of Christmas and where it all began. I love reading/hearing that story. I love picturing in my mind the way it might have been and the feelings that I might have had if I had been there. What a blessing it is in my life to have been blessed with a Savior and the knowledge that I have that he really loves me and cares about me. I am grateful for this time of year when I take a little more time to focus on the "reason for the season" and the blessings that are mine....because I have so many.