Christmas has come and gone....

But oh what a wonderful Christmas it was.  I always build up the holiday season to something so unattainable and out of reach and always feel like I was left out in the cold.  I really did not want that to happen again this year.  So I decided to make it about making memories, spreading good cheer and helping the girls to understand what the Christmas season is really all about.  So instead of trying to schedule something Christmas every night, I let Christmas just happen.  If there was a Christmas movie on NetFlix, we watched it.  If there was a street with Christmas lights, we stopped to check it out.  If the girls book of choice for the night was a Christmas one, we read it.  If I felt like baking, I did.  The one thing I had to have was KOST 103.5 Christmas music playing in the call all through December.  There was no way I was gonna let that pass.  I just did not want to FORCE Christmas.  i wanted it to happen naturally.  To my pleasure, it did. Early on I noticed that the girls were all about Santa and presents, so we made a trip over to Toys R Us and bought ourselves the Fisher Price, Little People Nativity scene.  I wanted to make sure the girls knew why we celebrated Christmas and to understand the beauty and majesty of the holiday season.  Boy did they love that Nativity, they played with it all December long.  They created stories and rein acted the story of Jesus birth over and over.  My heart delighted in watching my girls tell the story of the baby Jesus. 

We made sure to stop by Joann's Fabric store a few days before Christmas to pick ornaments for the tree.  Every year the girls get to pick 1 ornament.  The best time to do this is a few days before Christmas because all holiday items are 70% off.  So its very budget friendly.  The girls all ran off separately to find their special ornament.  When they returned to me, each of my girls held a different ornament.  Different, but the same.  Madison chose a fairly princess with wings and a crown in a pretty light blue dress.  jacquelynn chose a lovely fairy princess with a red dress and a crown. Brooklyn chose a fairy princess with a pretty pink dress and a wand.  She also chose a snow angel with wings and a crown for Sutton.  So as you can see, my girls are true fairy princesses at heart.  I am excited to see who chooses what next year. 

We were the only family here in California this year.  It made my mom sad, but I thought it went well.  I miss my brothers and their families, but I understand that life takes us to far away places and there is just nothing you can do about it except hope that everyone is safe and happy in their own parts of the world. 

The joy of this Holiday season fills my soul and I am blessed knowing that my Savior walked on this earth and took upon himself the sins of the world so that through him I can be perfect and whole.  I know that my redeemer died for me and broke the bonds of death by living again.  I pray that every person can be touched by the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Rejoice the Lord is King.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!