A Bundle of Myrrh

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Today we cheated and opened a couple Christmas presents early. The girls received beautiful quilts from aunt Mary Jo in Alabama and a teddy bear and doll from St. John’s Ladies Mission Society. We made M&M cookies with our friends Rebecca and Caleb. Lily and Caleb had such a good time playing together.
After supper Phil went out and for the third year in a row saved this year’s Christmas tree from a cold and lonely ditch. Lily was not very happy to see it coming through the door and wouldn’t get too close. I didn’t want to get too close at first either. There were strange looking nut things attached to some of the branches. I’ve never seen these on cedar trees before so I made Phil do some research to make sure it wasn’t hosting an alien species that would hatch and kill us in our sleep. He discovered that they are “cones”. I’m still not sure about this. Anyway, we turned the tree a few times to find its “best side” (a bit of a challenge with ditch trees) but it looks very nice now with all the lights and our ornaments.

Christmas 2008

Yesterday I turned up the Christmas tunes I keep going 24/7 and wrapped christmas presents, one of my favorite things to do in December. Today we shipped them off to Texas. I wish I could hand deliver them all. Not being with my family is especially hard during this month. There are many theories on what makes this time of year seem more special than any other and I’m not sure I have a definite answer to why it seems that way to me. There’s just something wonderful about the mystery of the virgin birth and God becoming a tiny baby, the joyful and familiar music we hear everywhere, the fun of finding and giving gifts, the baking, the cold weather, the cards in the mail, the decorations and pretty lights, but why these things make me so happy is beyond me. I’ll just enjoy it and not worry about trying to figure it out!

I have such fond memories of Christmas during my childhood so I love thinking about all the traditions I’m getting to start with my girls. I get to bring them the traditions I had growing up and some new ones our new family can create. Everything is new to them and that adds to the fun. I look forward to when they’re a little older and can participate more in all the Christmas preparations.