Having a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas is Alison's favorite time of year. I love it too. There are so many fun activities and lots of opportunities to spend time with family and friends. Every year Alison's goal is to have the Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving so that we can enjoy the holiday season, without worrying about lots of shopping.

This year we have really been enjoying the holiday season. Last week we had a wonderful Chrisgiving dinner with Alison's family. Since we were gone for Thanksgiving we made up for it by making a turkey feast. It was delicious. That same night we went with a few of our friends to the Festival of Trees. We love going every year. The trees are beautiful and there are so many touching stories about the families who put these trees together. Alison gets a lot of ideas she wants to try next year when we decorate our own Christmas tree. 

On Sunday morning Charly and Ben blessed their baby girl, Ashtyn. They blessed her in my Mom's ward - I really enjoyed attending that ward and seeing many old friends. The blessing was very nice surrounded by family.

Last Sunday night we had tickets to the first presidency Christmas devotional. I don't think either of us has ever been to one of these devotionals. We had some extra tickets so we invited Alison's grandparents, Kent and Aleene, and Jake and Meg to come with us. I really enjoyed the messages that were shared. Elder D. Todd Christofferson described the Christmas story as a story that never gets old, which is so true. I really enjoyed his message about remembering to follow the example of Christ this Christmas season. We are really glad Alison's grandparents were able to come with us.

This weekend we kept the holiday events going. On Friday night we went to see the lights at Temple Square. This is another event we go to every year and every year it is great. This year we went with a few of our friends from the accounting program. The beautiful lights and decorations surrounding the temple are a good reminder the spirit of Christmas emanates from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 



Alison always says the assembly hall looks like a
gingerbread house at Christmas time 

On Saturday morning we went to our ward's Christmas party. We have missed it the last couple of years and we were excited to go this year. The theme was a "tacky Christmas." They had a silly family photo booth, ugly sweaters, and a white elephant gift exchange. They served a great breakfast and we enjoyed visiting with our neighbors. 

On Saturday afternoon Kurt stopped by with his family to visit us. It was a nice holiday surprise. We enjoyed visiting with them and sharing holiday stories. Our relationship with them has really grown this year. I am glad we got to share a piece of this holiday season with them.