December is my favorite month of the year. I love the lights, the snow, the cheesy Christmas music, finding gifts for the people I love. But mostly I love having an entire month dedicated to remembering and celebrating our Savior and the miracle of His birth.
A week or so ago we went to a ward Christmas party. It was very different from any other I've ever been to. Everyone was asked to come dressed in Bible-themed attire. The cultural hall was decorated like an ancient Bethlehem marketplace. Instead of the usual meat-and-potatoes dinner we had bread, cheese, olives and grapes that everyone ate while sitting on blankets on the floor. Then toward the end of the party the youth acted out the Nativity story as someone read it from the bible. It was definitely an experience. Oh yeah, the manger that was used was made by Sam several years ago for my sister who used it in a photo shoot for her kids.
Cohen obviously wanted nothing to do with this photo. I promise I wasn't strangling him--I was keeping him from running strait off the stage. |
A little big for a newborn, eh? Good thing dad's a good carpenter! |
Sam's parents and sister Emily came to visit for a couple of days. We spent an evening at temple square where we got RAINED on! I guess this means it will be snowing on Easter--ha, ha. I hope we get some good snow before Christmas. Even though there wasn't any snow, this is still my favorite place to visit this time of year.
We also took Cohen to visit Santa for the first time.
He wasn't scared, but he didn't seem very impressed either. He was, however, very interested in the candy cane. |