Today is Sunday, the day after Christmas and what a wonderful way to step back and just reflect on yesterday.
Our Church services start at 9 o'clock, and as I teach a Sunday School lesson each week, we must be on the road by 8:30 in the morning.
This morning when it was time to arise from my warm bed, it was dark and I felt like just turning over and pretending it was still night, but then my husband let me know, it really was time to get up, that it was dark because it was raining outside. Raining again I thought, yesterday was such a warm, beautiful and sunny day and this morning it's raining again?
Our Sacrament services were peaceful. Our full time Missionaries were our speakers, they spoke about service to each other and to our fellowmen. They spoke of the gospel of Jesus Christ and what his birth means to us. Our songs where Christmas carols with a special musical number by our Bishop's daughter with her mother playing the flute. It gave us time to contemplate about our blessings and about our Christmas day that we just celebrated and the reason for this celebration.
Christmas comes with the hustle and bustle of the season, but it is the time that our hearts turn to home, family and love ones. We enjoy sharing this special time with our family and are eager for their arrival. We enjoy sharing our Christmas dinner, the comfort foods, the special smells that trigger memories of good times past, the traditions we have, and of coarse, the sharing of Christmas gifts.
It had stopped raining by the time church was over and as we drove home my heart was full of memories and thanksgivings for all my many blessings.
I thought about my children, my grandchildren and great grandchildren too. They had called to wish us a Merry Christmas and to let us know they were thinking of us. I was thinking of them too.
Today is Sunday, the day after Christmas, and a special day. I'm just relaxing and savoring my warm and fuzzy feelings, and hoping all my family feels the same...
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Christmas, A Week Early
Saturday the 18th we celebrated Christmas. This has thrown my thinking off kilter.. I keep thinking this week should be the week after Christmas Day and New Years Day will be this Saturday. Wrong, there's still 10 more days until the year 2011 beginnings. That means I still have a few more days to finish what I had on my list to complete in the year 2010.
Do you make New Year resolution or Goals for the coming New Year? I do, and I try to keep tabs on them during the year, to see how I am doing.. but, I think I will put that to the side right now, after all, I still have at least 9 more days to think about what my goals should be.. Instead, I'll just enjoy thinking and typing about my Christmas last Saturday.
My sons and their families were coming home for this special day. My daughters live too far away in other states to come, so I mail them their gifts and make phone calls. I will miss them.
Mark lives up north with his wonderful wife, Shelly, and his daughter, Katelyn lives a few miles past that, with her Mom. They arrived here late Friday night, there was some snow, but lots of rain on the roads, so the traveling was slow. They were tired when they arrived, but felt good to finally be here. They brought their things in, got settled and then we visited, and of coarse, we had some frozen peaches to eat. Mark and Shelly took the Blue room and Katelyn had the Red room, but she really wanted the Blue room. She said, that was her room, for that's the room she usually stays in when she is here, and besides, her picture is in that room.
Now Brad and his sweet wife Susan only live a few miles from here, so they arrived around noon on Saturday. My granddaughter Carey and her boyfriend Adam already had arrived at her Dad's home late Thursday night, so they all came together...
We had a fun day, I was busy fixing the Christmas dinner, with the help of wonderful daughter-in-law's and my son's and Grandchildren were busy playing games in the front room. My dear husband was back and forth from the bedroom, to the front room and then to the kitchen, keeping track on what was going on. The ball game was on the T.V. in each room, so everyone could keep tabs on the game and the score...
The dinner table was set with white table cloth, red napkins, a Christmas table runner, red candles in crystal candle holders, Christmas dishes and red water goblets. Our dinner was ham with lots of side dishes and pie for desert.
We sat around our table, enjoying the good meal, talking about how good it was to be together, and memories that came to mind.. My husband, expressed his love and gratitude for his sons, as he talked about our new home. How much our boys helped us on building this home. Brad with the framing that went on, the installing of the rafters, the building of the loafs in the garage and work shop. Mark with laying the wood floors in the different rooms, the tile work that both boys did in the kitchen along with Katelyn's help in "buttering" the tile. Mark with our long road from the street into our property and then all the rock walls around the outside. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful children that are so willing to help their parents, and to help make their lives a little better and a little easier.
We have wonderful daughters too, who have taken time away from their families to come home and give some help, especially to me, when I need it most. What a wonderful feeling it is to know, that your children love you and are there to help you whenever there is a need. How blessed I am, for I am a Mother and my children love me and their father.. I know this to be true, by the things they say and by the things they do, for each of us.
We finish our Christmas night by clearing the table, putting the extra food away and then it was present time. With lights on the Christmas tree, Katelyn played Santa by passing out the gifts and everyone ooh' and aah' as we all took our turns enjoying the special gifts and thoughts that was giving to each.
The evening came to an end, with my son's doing the dishes and with Katelyn helping too.
Later on Katelyn said to me, "Grandma, how long do you think it took us to open up our gifts?" I think it must have taken at least 2 hours, there sure were a lot of presents. But it was fun.
As I went to bed that night, my heart was full. How wonderful it is to have family, to be able to have some of them come home for Christmas. This was the first time that Carey has been here for a number of years and it was good to have her, I missed my daughters, but I had them in my heart. I love them all.
and so I say, as I get ready to post this blog, "Merry Christmas to all and too all a good night."
Do you make New Year resolution or Goals for the coming New Year? I do, and I try to keep tabs on them during the year, to see how I am doing.. but, I think I will put that to the side right now, after all, I still have at least 9 more days to think about what my goals should be.. Instead, I'll just enjoy thinking and typing about my Christmas last Saturday.
My sons and their families were coming home for this special day. My daughters live too far away in other states to come, so I mail them their gifts and make phone calls. I will miss them.
Mark lives up north with his wonderful wife, Shelly, and his daughter, Katelyn lives a few miles past that, with her Mom. They arrived here late Friday night, there was some snow, but lots of rain on the roads, so the traveling was slow. They were tired when they arrived, but felt good to finally be here. They brought their things in, got settled and then we visited, and of coarse, we had some frozen peaches to eat. Mark and Shelly took the Blue room and Katelyn had the Red room, but she really wanted the Blue room. She said, that was her room, for that's the room she usually stays in when she is here, and besides, her picture is in that room.
Now Brad and his sweet wife Susan only live a few miles from here, so they arrived around noon on Saturday. My granddaughter Carey and her boyfriend Adam already had arrived at her Dad's home late Thursday night, so they all came together...
We had a fun day, I was busy fixing the Christmas dinner, with the help of wonderful daughter-in-law's and my son's and Grandchildren were busy playing games in the front room. My dear husband was back and forth from the bedroom, to the front room and then to the kitchen, keeping track on what was going on. The ball game was on the T.V. in each room, so everyone could keep tabs on the game and the score...
The dinner table was set with white table cloth, red napkins, a Christmas table runner, red candles in crystal candle holders, Christmas dishes and red water goblets. Our dinner was ham with lots of side dishes and pie for desert.
We sat around our table, enjoying the good meal, talking about how good it was to be together, and memories that came to mind.. My husband, expressed his love and gratitude for his sons, as he talked about our new home. How much our boys helped us on building this home. Brad with the framing that went on, the installing of the rafters, the building of the loafs in the garage and work shop. Mark with laying the wood floors in the different rooms, the tile work that both boys did in the kitchen along with Katelyn's help in "buttering" the tile. Mark with our long road from the street into our property and then all the rock walls around the outside. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful children that are so willing to help their parents, and to help make their lives a little better and a little easier.
We have wonderful daughters too, who have taken time away from their families to come home and give some help, especially to me, when I need it most. What a wonderful feeling it is to know, that your children love you and are there to help you whenever there is a need. How blessed I am, for I am a Mother and my children love me and their father.. I know this to be true, by the things they say and by the things they do, for each of us.
We finish our Christmas night by clearing the table, putting the extra food away and then it was present time. With lights on the Christmas tree, Katelyn played Santa by passing out the gifts and everyone ooh' and aah' as we all took our turns enjoying the special gifts and thoughts that was giving to each.
The evening came to an end, with my son's doing the dishes and with Katelyn helping too.
Later on Katelyn said to me, "Grandma, how long do you think it took us to open up our gifts?" I think it must have taken at least 2 hours, there sure were a lot of presents. But it was fun.
As I went to bed that night, my heart was full. How wonderful it is to have family, to be able to have some of them come home for Christmas. This was the first time that Carey has been here for a number of years and it was good to have her, I missed my daughters, but I had them in my heart. I love them all.
and so I say, as I get ready to post this blog, "Merry Christmas to all and too all a good night."
Sunday, December 5, 2010
T'is the Christmas Season
I love this time of the year. I love the smells that are in the air, pine trees and cinnamon, and apple pie. I love going to the stores and seeing all the decorations and hearing the Christmas music. I love looking at all the decorations and seeing all the wonderful Christmas light. I love the way people decorate their homes and the way towns decorate their streets and parks and the special events that happen in preparation for the holidays. I love reading Christmas stories and watching the many Christmas movies and programs that we are able to see on TV. I love the Christmas devotionals and the message they bring. I love the Christmas parties that we have at Church and with family and friends. I love the special Christmas programs we have to celebrate and to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love sharing all this with my family and my love ones.... and I love the memories that this season brings...
At the Dixie Center each year there is the "Dickens' Festival." This is such a fun experience and something I look forward to each year. It is always held the week after Thanksgiving. Inside the Dixie Center, the entire hall has been transformed into an olde English street scene straight out of London. Over 165 booths resembling quaint English cottages border a network of walkways. The shops, manned by artisans dressed in olde English attire, are filled with a variety of arts, crafts, home items, and presents. There's food, music, and lots of entertainment, always going on... and to enjoy...
I have such a sweet and wonderful daughter-in-law, in fact I have two. I am very blessed in this area.. but for this occasion I have a Christmas tradition with Susan. We take off for the day, go to the Dixie Center and just enjoy strolling down the streets of olde London, were the light are low and Christmas music is playing in the air and caroler's are singing. We always stop at this one booth and have our pictures taken, with a different hat on each year.. The pictures are free and a keepsake for us to remember... that day, that year, that time ....
This is a special day for me and I feel very blessed that Susan enjoys sharing this experience with me. She says she enjoys this special time and she too looks forward to it. We plan what we are going to wear and about our hats, she laughs about that and says, it reminds her when she was a teenager and would call her friends, to see what they were going to wear, and then we both laugh. As we stroll along our way, we stop, look and share, we talk, laugh, and just have a good time. Sometimes I think I have lost her in the crowd, but she's a little taller than I, so I don't worry, she seems to always find me, besides we have our cell phones...
This is the beginning of my Christmas Season, although I have been busy planning and preparing for Christmas for sometime. I have been busy with my knitting needles and crochet hook, plus my trusty sewing machine for a number of months, but today I am reminded that there is only 20 more day till Christmas day, needless to say, I must now switch to fast speed to be completely ready.
Tomorrow is Monday and the beginning of a new week. My plans are to decorate my Christmas tree, (I already have it up and the lights are burning.) I will also decorate my home, put my Christmas music CD's on and have a Apple Pie candle burning.
Sweet Smell of Christmas, my heart is ready...... we even had snow last week, the first of the season and more to come. I think I'll have a cup of hot chocolate and the fireplace going, my sweet husband just brought me a bowl of popcorn... yes,.. T'is the season for ...
At the Dixie Center each year there is the "Dickens' Festival." This is such a fun experience and something I look forward to each year. It is always held the week after Thanksgiving. Inside the Dixie Center, the entire hall has been transformed into an olde English street scene straight out of London. Over 165 booths resembling quaint English cottages border a network of walkways. The shops, manned by artisans dressed in olde English attire, are filled with a variety of arts, crafts, home items, and presents. There's food, music, and lots of entertainment, always going on... and to enjoy...
I have such a sweet and wonderful daughter-in-law, in fact I have two. I am very blessed in this area.. but for this occasion I have a Christmas tradition with Susan. We take off for the day, go to the Dixie Center and just enjoy strolling down the streets of olde London, were the light are low and Christmas music is playing in the air and caroler's are singing. We always stop at this one booth and have our pictures taken, with a different hat on each year.. The pictures are free and a keepsake for us to remember... that day, that year, that time ....
This is a special day for me and I feel very blessed that Susan enjoys sharing this experience with me. She says she enjoys this special time and she too looks forward to it. We plan what we are going to wear and about our hats, she laughs about that and says, it reminds her when she was a teenager and would call her friends, to see what they were going to wear, and then we both laugh. As we stroll along our way, we stop, look and share, we talk, laugh, and just have a good time. Sometimes I think I have lost her in the crowd, but she's a little taller than I, so I don't worry, she seems to always find me, besides we have our cell phones...
This is the beginning of my Christmas Season, although I have been busy planning and preparing for Christmas for sometime. I have been busy with my knitting needles and crochet hook, plus my trusty sewing machine for a number of months, but today I am reminded that there is only 20 more day till Christmas day, needless to say, I must now switch to fast speed to be completely ready.
Tomorrow is Monday and the beginning of a new week. My plans are to decorate my Christmas tree, (I already have it up and the lights are burning.) I will also decorate my home, put my Christmas music CD's on and have a Apple Pie candle burning.
Sweet Smell of Christmas, my heart is ready...... we even had snow last week, the first of the season and more to come. I think I'll have a cup of hot chocolate and the fireplace going, my sweet husband just brought me a bowl of popcorn... yes,.. T'is the season for ...
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