Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Seems like this time of year, I end up having sort of a let down feeling. I don't know if it is because I feel like the "magic" of Christmas that was there when I was younger is gone now or what.
I have had a hard time with the holidays since my dad died. Even though his favorite phrase around Christmas was "Bah Humbug!", I know he loved it. He just thought the whole gift buying and other extravagant traditions were a bit over the top. I always loved hearing him read scriptures, but especially looked forward to hearing him read the story of Christ's birth to us every year. Steve and I have tried to keep up that tradition, but we aren't always as diligent about it. I think I agree with my dad. Christmas has become way too over the top. I mean, if you really think about it, the Savior's birth was a quiet, simple thing. Humble and modest...being born in a stable is about as un-extravagant (is that a word?) as you can get. Seems like spending tons of money to lavish gifts on the kids is kind of overkill. Plus, it always ends up that they play with one or two new things and ignore all the other stuff that I just HAD to buy for them.
This year I tried very hard to give people gifts that I thought they would enjoy, instead of buying "empty" or "desperation" gifts just so that they would have a present to open. I don't know that I succeeded completely, but I do know that what I gave, I really thought about and I didn't just grab something off the shelf in order to cross off a name on my shopping list.
That said, here is our past week (or so), in a nutshell. Last Saturday, the 20th, we got hit with tons of snow. It continued on through Thursday, and most people were staying at home if they could. This area isn't equipped or accustomed to that amount of snow, so things sort of shut down when it happens. Steve and I took the kids sledding on Saturday, stayed at home on Sunday (church was cancelled). On Monday, we played in the snow a bit, and then braved the weather to go visit Dana and Derek for lunch and games. After that, we went and visited Nana (my mom) and did a few last minute errands. Tuesday, Jason, Catalina and the girls (my brother's family) got into town, so we visited with them. Wednesday we drove out to Steve's parents house for Christmas fun. The trip normally takes about 45 minutes...we were on the road for two hours. The roads were fairly slick and treacherous in places. Becka got carsick from all the crazy driving, or so we thought. After we had been at Grandma's house for a little while, she threw up and just went upstairs to lie down. She was so sick, poor thing didn't even come downstairs to open her present. That's how we knew she was really not feeling good! We left early and got her to bed asap. Christmas morning, she was fine. A little wary of eating much, but she was the first one awake! We had our own little family time with gifts and things from Santa. My side of the family came over that afternoon and we had dinner, opened presents and had fun visiting with one another. Jason, Cat and the girls stayed until after midnight! It was a fun day...the snow kept coming down and made such a nice backdrop to our festivities. I don't ever remember having a white Christmas before. Friday, the snow had stopped and the rain began. The roads were still bad in our neighborhood (we actually got the van stuck on my mom's street that day). We were lazy all morning and left late that afternoon to go and shovel my Grammie's sidewalk and driveway for her. It was fun. After that, we went to the mall so I could get a pair of jeans for myself. I have two pair of jeans that were completely worn out...holes and everything, so getting a new pair was nice! Then we went and visited Grandpa and Grandma Hall for a bit. When we pulled into their driveway, Jake got all excited. He jumped out of the van and shouted, "I LOVE this guy's house!" Made me laugh! Saturday, we ran errands and I took Jake and Rachie to Jaron's birthday party. Steve had a baptism to conduct that evening, so I took the kids back over to my mom's for some time with their cousins. Today things are back to normal. Church, stuff like that. Everyone came over for dinner. We had Cafe Rio Salad because Cat has been talking about it ever since she got here. :) YUM!!! My mom took all three of our kids to her house for a sleepover, so it is quiet here. Steve is asleep. He has to go back to work tomorrow. It was nice having him home. He didn't go to work because of the bad weather last week, so it has felt like a vacation almost!
Anyway, that is the quick version of our crazy week. I have rambled on and on again. I apologize for that. I tend to think of my blog as a journal for my crazy thoughts and random ideas. I guess you will just have to skip over the boring parts!
I will post some pics of our adventures when I get them off of my camera. I am being lazy about that.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
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2 comments:
One of the moms in my neighborhood was saying that she goes all out for her kids birthday and does very little for Christmas because that is Jesus' Birthday, so we should just focus on giving gifts to him. I thought that was a great idea. I also heard an older lady on the radio saying that when her kids were younger she had someone ask her "If Snata and Jesus came out on a stage, which one would your child adore?" I know it would be Santa in my house, which is kind of pathetic. I think I might have to take my neighbors advice and cut back on the presents so that there is more room to worship the birth of our Savior.
Had a great time hanging out with you guys this Holiday season. It was fun, I miss our family fun nights we used to have when I didn't work and Brandon was at Home Depot, but honestly I wouldn't trade what we have now, but will just try to plan days we can get together more often. Love you guys!
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