Christmas Love

This year, Keira was begging me to put the tree up since before Thanksgiving and I told her we had to wait until after Thanksgiving. So the weekend after Thanksgiving, Keira would no longer take "no" for an answer so I gave in and we decorated our house. I decided to keep things simple and hardly put any ornaments on the tree. The decorations consisted mostly of our usual theme of lights, ribbon, and flowers. The only ornaments on the tree are the 4 snowflake photo frame ones, which I updated with our new family pictures from November. It was so fun to add a new picture to the tree and stocking to the fireplace for Liana.

At Thanksgiving, we decided to draw names for a gift exchange with my siblings, mom, and Uncle Mark so we could buy each other one nice present instead of figuring out what to get everyone. I thought that was a good idea and really simplified the task of Christmas shopping. We kept our budget small this year and did a good job of sticking to it. As each present was purchased or delivered, Keira (my little Christmas helper) insisted that I wrap it immediately. She helped me with the tape, chose what wrapping paper to use, put bows on, and stuck on the name tags. She begged me to let her help wrap her own presents. I mean, she sure thought that was a win-win arrangement. Of course I didn't let her, but she did choose her paper, bows, and name tags, and made sure all of her presents were wrapped in green paper.

At the beginning of December, Liana had not yet started to crawl. She was just starting to get up on her hands and knees and rock like she wanted to take off crawling, but couldn't quite figure out how. She had her eye on the Christmas tree though, and I knew by the end of the month she would make it over there to see it. Not only did she master crawling in December, but she mastered pulling herself up to stand... on EVERYTHING and even stands up and balances without holding on to anything. It's amazing how much babies grow in one month. Here she is crawling to the tree for the first time. She investigated the presents, but thankfully didn't do any damage to them.

Unfortunately, both of the girls were sick on Christmas- especially Keira. She had a non-stop high fever for like a week straight. We had taken her to the doctor the Friday before Christmas and had her taking an anti-viral medication but it didn't seem to help. On the Sunday before Christmas, she looked so terrible I had Art, my brother Kyle, and my Uncle Mark give her a blessing. She started looking better the following couple days, but she was still very sick and feverish on Christmas Day which was on Tuesday. Even though both of them didn't feel well, they seemed to enjoy the day.

The Night Before Christmas

Christmas morning we slept in until the girls woke up and then opened our presents. Keira was so cute and considerate, as usual, while opening presents. She made sure everyone had a present to open, without concern for her own presents. She always opens her presents slowly and takes time examining each gift and expressing her gratitude to the person who gave it to her. All of my family gathered at my house Christmas Day and we had a delicious dinner of beef roast and potatoes, cooked by my mom.

Keira Helping Liana Open Her Stocking Christmas Morning

Liana's First Christmas - 7 months old

Sweet Keira - 4 years old

This Christmas, I felt a lot of peace in my life and I know that peace comes from the understanding I have of the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us. As a mother, I think of what it must have felt like for our Heavenly Father to sacrifice his son- to send him away to atone for our sins. I also feel like I have a greater understanding of Mary's sacrifice and trials as well. The Christmas season is such a wonderful time to reflect on the many ways we have been blessed by God's love. I feel so bad for people who stress themselves out this time of year, worried about shopping 'til they drop and baking until they just can't bake anymore. I feel like they are missing the point by burdening themselves with unnecessary or excessive tasks. Every year I strive to keep things as peaceful as possible so I can enjoy the true spirit of Christmas, and I hope my children learn to do this too.

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is LOVE. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It is magnificent and beautiful."   - Gordon B. Hinckley