Normally this holiday season would be spent at eather my parents or Joe's parents house, surrounded by family with traditions that have been established for years. But because of Anna's expected arrival we not only remained in Sandy for Christmas, but Grammy got to come and spend it with us as well.
Truthfully, it was a priceless and unforgeable. We decided to start a few new traditions. As many of you know, Joe has been perfecting his pizza making skills and he decided to use Christmas Eve as an excuse to try something he's been wanting to for a while..bbq pizza!
He seriously out did himself! It was the perfect crust and simply amazing...I have NO idea what happened to the top of that piece ;)
After thoroughly enjoying not one, or two but THREE of these pizzas (the other two with many more toppings) we all piled into the van for our next adventure. Complete with jammies, comfy pants, thick socks with no shoes, blankets to cuddle up in and Christmas music to serenade us we headed out! After a quick trip through the McDonalds drive through for ice cream, we drove all over ooing and awing at all the amazing Christmas lights. The most fun was sharing it with Katey (the lights not the ice cream, that kinda gave me a stomach ache :) haha) but her face lit up and her constant demand for "more lights", "more lights", made it an unforgetable experience for all of us!
After over an hour of enjoying our toasty sleigh, yummy ice cream, and great company) we went home to put a tired girl down and Joe and I got the rare opportunity to go to a candle light Christmas Eve service...with out a tired baby. I think what I love most about candle light services (esp on Christmas Eve) is they are a time for reflection, we got to just sit and consider why we were really doing all this Christmas stuff! We sang all the wonderful, meaningful songs that tell of a savior that was God's gift to man...Oh how he loved us!
I got to sit and think about how Mary must have felt, more pregnant than I and RIDING ON A DONKEY! Holy cow, I have a hard time riding in the car! She was younger than I, and though her situation was much more dire than mine, her faith in our God never wavered and she believed the promise told to her. I definitely felt a connection to her and was challenged to truely "treasure all of these things in my heart". Jesus, the one who loves me and came to "fix it" (as Katey says when she reads her book about the fall of man and Jesus), is truly the reason we celebrate this season and the most amazing gift anyone could give, bath pillows, new sheets and even a new dolly can not compare!
Though you may not have had a candle light service to prompt this epiphany, I hope he revealed it to your heart too this year.
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