Christmas Wonders

An account of Christmas 2014 is made possible, in part, by SCC and a special pop-up book she made for her class.

On Christmas Eve we go to my great grandparents' house and eat a big dinner, and then all of the kids dress up as members of the nativity story and then act it out.  After that everyone sings or plays a song.  Once we are done Santa leaves a gift for everyone.  Then we go home and see where Santa is.  Then we go to bed.

Christmas Eve pretty much went as SCC described it.  We did a family musical number "Good Christian Men Rejoice" with RVC on chimes; SCC on resonator bars; Dad, Tom, and CAC on vocals and mom on the piano.  The Nativity was sweet and entertaining as usual.  Kids were more wired than tired when it was time for bed, but somehow we settled down just in time for Santa to come.

SCC's book also reflects on gifts she's received.

A Christmas I remember most is when I got a lot of art supplies.  It was like I only got art stuff, such as my art kit.  All of it was cool, but now it is just a pain to put away.

It's fun to see how the kids change from year to year in what they wish to receive for Christmas.  MEC's list was somewhat influenced by whatever his siblings thought he might like, but seemed to settle on a truck or train.  CAC hoped for a jewelry box that played music.  SCC had her expectations high with a camera, telescope, and rollerblades on her list.  TLC wanted a pocket knife and a surprise, and RVC asked for washi tape and I imagine hoped for clothes.  They came out pretty well, I must say.  What's more, their excitement for GIVING to each other was also high.

SCC's book of Christmas Wonders also mentions one of our favorite family traditions.

My favorite part of Christmas is when my family gets out our tower that has Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the three kings.  On the second story, the shepherds spin, and on the third story angels sing.  I love to look at the shadow on the ceiling because of the shadow it makes.  I also like having my family with me when we do it.  It gives me joy to blow out the candles.  That is my favorite part of Christmas.

Some other traditions that made it on the calendar were going downtown to see the lights on Temple Square,

making gingerbread cookies (I think we made 6 recipes by the time we made it to Christmas...Santa was lucky we saved two in the freezer; otherwise he'd have been out of luck Christmas Eve),

hanging ornaments on our advent calendar, and getting together with friends and neighbors.

This year we even invited a couple of families over to our house for a Christmas family home evening.

And of course, we finished off the year with some other favorite traditions.

We have mostly stashed away the holiday decorations and are trying to get our house back to normal, all while taking advantage of the plentitude of down time we have.  2014 was a good year, but I'm always ready to move on.  Here's to the Wonders we have ahead of us.