Ahh Winter! What Christmas is coming?! And other Musings...

Winter is here and in Santa Clara it is cold!!! But not as cold as it is in Provo. Here I sit watching the news while I am coughing, sneezing and feeling achy. Yet, I am thinking about how beautiful that white stuff is, but thankful that it is not here where I live. I am sure that there are others out there that feel the same way! Right Dad?

Anyway, with Winter is the knowledge that Christmas is coming, and the joy and stress of finding the right gift for those that you love. My friend Andrea keeps asking me what I want and I just keep telling her that I just want her friendship and yet, presents are fun! But Ireally don't think that I NEED anything for Christmas except time with family and friends.

Maybe it is because I know that there are things that the kids need, Mckenna a dresser and a new mattress, Kyler doesn't really need anything, but want's a XBox 360, which he will not be getting since it cost $300! and Devin needs his room decorated and new bike since he has outgrown his so much that his legs hurt when he rides. But the biggest thing that Devin wants is a new IPOD. Wow, that one cost anywhere from $299 to$499 depending on how many Gigibites you want.

But, I guess, none of that stuff is really anything that anyone really NEEDS to live life. Yes, I would like Mckenna to have a dresser so that her clothes are not sitting on her closet floor, yes, a new mattress would be great since then she would be more peaceful sleeping, but does Devin really NEED that room decorated or the IPOD? Does he really NEED a Bike? Not really, but I know that it something that he WANTS. And what is Christmas for kids, but for Wanting gifts??? Will they get what they want? Not the expensive stuff, will they get games, and clothes, and new movies and Cd's? Yes, but most importantly they will be getting family time with there parents who love them, while they are skiing during the Christmas Break. They will be storing memories to hold in their hearts when the hard times come and they can look back on the fun times and smile.

Like I do with my childhood memories, the skates that I used on Zanadu Hill, the dolls that my sisters and I played with, the Greenmachine that Jennifer and I rode all over, but especially, my mom taking me to the movies at the Scera Movie theater, walking to McDonalds and having apple pies and hot cocoa, building snow men and making snow angels. Playing games whether they were with our parents or with the older "kid" games which had missing pieces, but nevertheless were our very own to play with whenever we wanted. Or, going sledding in the mountains, or the Murray Park hill and freezing, but having the time of our lives! Those were great times and I cherish them dearly, and that is what I want for Christmas for my kids, matt and I to have, more wonderful memories to hold in our hearts for those times when we are apart.

So, we start our memory making time with our Christmas Tree cutting day and move on from there to our 12 Days of Christmas Santa Elves gifts to a family that might need a little something to look foward to also and build laughs about how close the family got to finding out who was giving them gifts like a few years ago. Those are the gifts that I want to give my family good, clean fun, good memories and the biggest gift of understanding what Christmas is really all about, the Saviour giving us the best gift of all~ the gift of Choice and also Eternal life! So, we do our Nativity stories and watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas, and read all the fun stories that help bring the spirit into the season and hopefully that will be looked back on fondly also.

And with that thought, for those of you that are included in my memories, I thank you for your love, for those of you who are brand new in our family; like Josh, I look forward to building memories with you too.

Love to all, Sandi