For those of you who don't know...I'm a fairly reminiscent person...and..."there hasn't been an instrument created that can measure" (a common phrase used by my dad) the love and admiration I have for my family.
(My ... second Christmas I believe.)The last few weeks I have been searching through old scrapbooks to find the perfect Christmas pictures of Couper and me from when we were little. I need them for a decoration I'm working on. While searching through said books, the mind wanders, the memories surface, and it always ends up taking much longer than you anticipate...however, well worth it. Memories of Christmas' past filled my mind and reminded me how blessed I have been and am, to have been taught the true meaning of Christmas my whole life!
The following two pictures are the ones I have chosen for my craft. They make me smile!
(My family as it was up to this point in my life. I'm the shy one in the back eating my hands.)
(Couper and his sisters. Isn't he the cutest little boy! Pretty sure our little boys are going to be ADORABLE!)
I am so grateful for family year round. I'm really grateful for the holidays and the way families come together. Nothing compares to a relationship with a father, mother, sister or brother.
If you don't have a parent living, or have grown up in a split home, you have other father and mother figures that have touched your life, reach out to them this holiday season. If you are an only child, or have lost a sibling; you have dear friends, or cousins whom you have adopted as your brothers or sisters, let them know how much you love them and what they mean to you.
(Sorry mom and dad, no more room in your bed...)
I feel very blessed to have an incredible mother and father and many siblings to call friends, teachers, counselors, playmates, etc. And in addition I have so many friends, cousins, and others who have touched my life in countless ways. Thank you to each of you for maybe going out of your comfort zone or listening the to the Spirit to be a friend at my time of need.
(Everything about this picture screams memories! Dad's mustache, my poofy bangs, Shantel's Christmas sweater, Tosh's face ;), the wall paper! love.)
Although there are many commercial aspects of Christmas that have their place and can be meaningful. Christmas to me is reaching out to others through service, showing love, and helping someone else understand the true meaning of Christmas.
Every Christmas Eve my dad read from Luke 2 as me and my siblings acted out the Nativity scene. Even as a young child I was SOO excited to play the part of Mary, the mother of the Christ child. Even children understand the importance of Christ in Christmas as long as they are taught and shown. I was reminded of this yet again as we acted out the Nativity and talked of Christ with our sunbeams today.
Let us all remember Christ this holiday season, and give and love as He did. May we not only focus on His birth, but on His life, and choose a way each day to strive to be more like him.
If you would like to be uplifted this holiday season and learn of Christ, and what it means to keep His Spirit in Christmas, here is a link to the LDS Christmas Devotional, 2011.
“You can give a great and wonderful Christmas if you remember the gifts God has given you and, as best you can, offer them to others as He would.” --President Eyring (Christmas devotional, 2011)
