Remembering Christmas past...

I can't believe that Christmas is only 11 days away! The kids are excited and we are looking forward to a fun, relaxing Christmas break. Today, Neil and I were talking about how blessed we feel. Especially at this time, when there are so many that are out of work, and struggling just to make ends meet. We feel so incredibly blessed to have a great job, good health, a home, food, clothes, and 4 wonderful kids! It’s really quite overwhelming and humbling. I hope we can always remember where we started and always appreciate and be grateful for all we have and all that we’ve been blessed with. We know that everything that we have comes from our loving Heavenly Father, and we are so incredibly grateful for all we have…

We were talking about our Christmases in the past, one in particular--Christmas 1998. We had been married 3 years. When we moved down to Fillmore, Utah, right after Neil graduated from college in June of 1998, we decided that I’d quit my job as an escrow officer at a title company, and stay home full-time with PJ, who was a year old at that point. Money was tight and we were scraping by on next to nothing (we had a lot of very cheap and interesting meals that year). Neil was working for the Health Department, not making very much, and I started babysitting 1 little boy a couple days a week, for some extra grocery money. We didn't have a Christmas tree, so we went to the one little variety store that they had there, and bought a small 5-foot artificial tree, and a few simple decorations, all for $15.00. Well, that year for Christmas, we limited our gifts to $20 for each other (and even that felt like a lot at the time), and we bought PJ one gift. He got a Little-Tykes dump truck with a hardhat, and some candy. He was still little enough that he didn’t care or even know any different. It was a very small and simple Christmas, but we remember it with happiness. We were grateful for what we had, and it makes us even more grateful now, for all that we have been blessed with in so many ways!

I just finished the article "Finding Joy in the Journey" by President Thomas S. Monson in the 2008 Conference Ensign (a Magazine by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--the "Mormon" church). It is such a great article! It talks about how we need to relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, share our love with family and friends, and give thanks for all the blessings we recieve from God. Isn't that what life is all about? I hope we can all remember that, and have a wonderful Christmas season! :)