HAPPY DECEMBER

Welcome to my heart Spirit of Christmas
I've been waiting for you...all year! -Kimber Anne Engstrom

It is good to be children sometimes,
and never better than at Christmas,
when its mighty founder was a child Himself. -Charles Dickens

I absolutely love this time of year. Although I must admit that since moving to AZ it is a bit harder to get in the "swing" of things when we are still wearing shorts and flip-flops. I did manage to decorate last weekend after Thanksgiving. Daniel put all the outside lights up and the tree lights and Kathryn decorated the tree. It has cooled off a bit here and has actually been raining off and on for two days. We have a fire going in our fireplace as I write this. It is fun during this time to keep traditions going and even start new ones. A tradition we have in our family is giving a small gift to the kids on Dec. 1st. My mom gives the grandkids personalized ornaments every year. A new tradition this year is going to the mall(tomorrow) with T & T so little T can see Santa. I'll take pictures.:) Another tradition our family has is singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus" on Christmas morning with a bday cake of caramel rolls. My parents raised us to focus on the meaning of Christmas during this time and not on gifts. I have tried to carry this on in our home and it takes some work. Our church offers many ways to do outreach for others at Christmas, so we have now made it a tradition to serve in this way. I am looking forward to starting my baking next week and will be going to a cookie exchange too. I hope in the weeks leading up to Christmas that you will take time to reflect on the true meaning of our celebrating and start some new traditions.