Christmas Memories

I can't express ENOUGH how much I LOVE this time of year. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the kid in me anticipating all of the wonderful family traditions I was raised with and being able to indulge in them each year. I love the food, the Christmas goodies my mom would make and put in tin Christmas cans for us to munch on throughout the week; sledding and tubing (sometimes connecting the tube to the back of our four wheeler and having my brothers pull me and my sisters around the yard); listening to Christmas classics—for our family it was Mannheim Steamroller, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton; playing our family white elephant gift exchange (someone always ended up with a really disgusting present like a dead fish); decorating the Christmas tree; being mesmerized as a kid by the villages my mom would set up under the tree each year; reading The Christmas Story; singing carols; putting out my mothers nativity set; decorating our house with Christmas lights; and my favorite has to be laying in bed with my sisters Christmas Eve, talking till the wee hours of the morning anticipating what "Santa" brought us, then sneaking upstairs before everyone else got up, grabbing our stockings and taking them back to bed with us to explore everything inside. . . such wonderful memories I cherish this time of year no matter how old I get, or how far away we all are.

I am so grateful for family, for wonderful friends, good health, a loving husband, lasting traditions, the knowledge of my Savior and the ability to commemorate the true meaning of Christmas, which is his birth, life, and ministry upon this earth. There is so much to be grateful for and so much each of us can give. May all of you have a very Merry Christmas, and may next year be filled with hope, rejuvenation, and happiness.

I made a playlist of a few of the songs we'd listen to this time of year that I love so much! They remind me of my family, especially my mother.