The Holidays

Grandpa David and Luke

Luke, Hunter and Caleb

Matt and Caleb

We spent thanksgiving with the Madsen family at the cabin. It was a beautiful dinner and so yummy...after dinner we went for a little hike and got about four inches of mud on our boots, the boys both were crying when we got to the top of the hill but then Matt had a little pep talk and they cheered up and were able to laugh, the evening was spent playing games and visiting with family. We have a tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree the next morning after thanksgiving (except in Logan we always bought one from the Natural Resource department). There was just a skiff of snow, just enough to make it so beautiful. Decorating our tree really puts me in the mood for Christmas, the boys were so excited about the process, Luke kept pulling all the ornaments out and examining them. The boys each have an ornament that is their own, and Luke was kind of timid about hanging it on the tree saying "I can't know how to do it." Caleb helped him put it on and then he got into hanging the ornaments on the tree (a little too eager). Today we put up our nativity scene. I want to emphasize this part of Christmas because that is what I hope my boys will remember and understand the true meaning of Christmas. I had a really good friend in Logan named Michelle that shared this tradition that her family did together, and talked about one last special year they did this before her mother passed away with cancer, after friends and family cleaned the home got all the decorations up in the home they sat together to set up the nativity, leaving the baby Jesus for her mother to place in the center as she bore her testimoney of the Savior. It was really a touching story and it made me want to make more of this part of Christmas. We sang a primary song about Christmas, read a beautiful art book about the nativity, then took turns placing a piece of the nativity and saying something we are grateful for. It is so cute to see how carefully the boys placed the figurines. As a little girl I remember looking at our nativity at home and wanting to hold it, which I am sure I did. We finished the night making a Christmas count down paper chain we decorated and put something we could do each day to celebrate the holidays.