Tis the Season

I know I am no where near alone with this thought, but this time of you year is one of my favorites.  I love Christmas time.  It gives us a great excuse to partake in festive activities and to share the spirit of the holiday with others.  This is a time for tradition.  I love following traditions, but I also have found that when we have made our own and followed them, it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I feel weird writing that I feel accomplished after following a tradition, but it really does take effort to do them.  I am going to write about some traditions and things I look forward to each year at this time.  I feel really great when we are able accomplish (there is that word again!) all the things on our "Christmas To-Do List".  Isn't it funny how "To-Do Lists" are usually something that we might grumble about, but when it comes to doing fun activities, we can't wait?

1.) Wrapping presents and watching "White Christmas" and "It's at Wonderful Life".  Sometimes I'll even do them together.

2.) Putting up Christmas lights at our house and my father-in-law's house.  Actually, my husband puts them up; I just hold them and make sure they stay untangled until he's ready for them.

3.) Driving around the neighborhoods and looking at Christmas lights.  I love to do this at least a couple times before Christmas.

4.) Going to my church's temple and looking at the lights they display.  It is spectacular!  It's a great night because we will make a whole evening of it.

5.) Going to the "Creche Exhibit" and seeing the different types of nativity scenes from all over the world in one building.  This really gets me in the mood for Christmas.

6.) Getting a tree and trimming it.  Last year our tree had so many pine cones on it.  I loved it.

7.) Every year I make Christmas cookies and we pass them out to our neighbors.  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors the first time we did it in our neighborhood.  This is a tradition that my husband's family had done for a long time.  I loved the idea and we do it, too.

8.) Sitting down with my scriptures and reading the first few chapters in Matthew, Mark and Luke of when Jesus was born.  This is a newer tradition I started.  Last year, I only read in Luke, but this year I want to read in Matthew and Mark, too.   

9.) Spending time with loved ones.  I love spending time with my family and friends as much as possible, but it feels so special to be with them during this season when we share our love, happiness, and blessings with each other.

I know that the last two I mentioned should be at the top of my list, but I always like to save the best for last.

I hope you all get to participate in and enjoy all your family holidays and traditions this year.  There are a lot of traditions we had when I was little, and I wish I could still do so many of them.  I now have a mindset that instead of getting discouraged about not being able to do them, I can just modify them and still partake in their joys.  After all, this is the season to be jolly...

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...