The true meaning of Christmas

I love Christmas! I love the peace that I feel when I sit in my quiet living room at night in the dark except for the lights on the tree. I love the nativities spread through the house, even the little plastic one the kids play with. And I love the opportunity to spend some extra time thinking about, learning about, and talking about the Savior. With small children, we struggle every year to put more of an emphasis on the birth of the baby Jesus than the world puts on Santa and presents. As many of you may agree, it is an ongoing battle!! When I was a teenager, my family started a tradition in our ward of having a devotional on Christmas Eve to help us focus on the Savior, a tradition that my parents have continued through several wards and many years. This year, none of our wards opted to have a devotional because it was a Monday night, so we had one as a family. We went to the church in our Sunday best, sang hymns, reenacted the scriputre story of the birth of Jesus, and heard a message given by our beloved patriarch Papa. Even though it was a little (or maybe a lot) crazy with so many little ones, it was beautiful. I hope this is what my kids remember the most about Christmas. I know I will.

Two wise men, Joseph, a shepherd/narrator, Mary, and an angel

The littlest angel giving "loves" to the baby in the manger

A Merry Christmas to All. . .

It is hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone. It seems that life never slows down any more. However, we did find a lot to enjoy about the Christmas season this year. For example, having an iPod allowed me to take my beloved Christmas music everywhere with me. (I don't know if the rest of the family saw this as a plus, but oh well.) Music really does touch my heart and help me remember the reason for the season. In addition, the kids were all a year older and more likely to find exciting things about Christmas to look forward to. We have spent a lot of time trying to keep our youngest away from the tree, but I did love seeing the joy of Christmas in her little face. The other two kids were old enough to help build a gingerbread house, decorate the tree, sing the songs, and best of all appreciate the Christmas stories. Anyway, this is all just a fancy lead in so I can post the cute Christmas pictures of the kids! We hope your Christmas was very merry too!! The three monsters in their Christmas best
(Believe it or not, this was the best picture we could get, and probably the only one where the littlest monster was sitting still)

Getting the hang of opening presents

Our Wolverine Fan

(I have no idea what that's all about, so don't ask!)

One of her favorite gifts, a beautiful PINK parka!