Christmas of 2010

We had such a nice, welcomed break for Christmas. I really tried to keep things more simple this year. It's hard not to get carried away and do too much, buy too much, spend too much, eat too much, and make too many sweets. I'm happy to report I did not buy any candy for Christmas, and I only made cookies once for a dinner we went to and were supposed to bring dessert. We just had so many yummy treats that family, friends, and neighbors brought! Among our favorites were spud fudge, homemade caramels, homemade almond cream chocolates, and the best coconut cream pie I've ever had. I tried to do things that would be meaningful to the kids. We made two countdowns--one was about the birth of Christ, and you would look up a scripture per day and discuss it, then put a little ornament on a tree. The other one the kids made after Thanksgiving dinner, and it had pockets that held a small gift or project to open every day of December. I think these made the whole month special and exciting for them. We also delivered gifts to neighbors together, helped do a secret 12 days of Christmas for some needy ward families, read lots of Christmas stories, and decorated gingerbread houses. Christmas day was a little hectic, as we had to get over to my family's house to talk with 2 of my brothers who are both on missions. It was so fun to see Darek on Skype (he's in the Bucharest, Romania mission, but was currently in a neighboring country of Moldova), and Dione was fun to talk to (in Raliegh, NC) and to see how much they have both grown!! What a testimony to me of missionary work, and revelation to know where they send them is the right place for them! It's always nice to see all our families and let the cousins play. I think the kids favorite things they got were their hats and cameras (little kid-proof digital ones). They still use them all the time. They love to be able to capture their own memories and document things that are special to them. The hats are well loved out of necessity--it has been SOOO cold lately!!