It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to bring on my favorite holiday of the year - Christmas! To be honest, I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween and have finished all my Christmas shopping (except for the little gifts for neighbors), but now it's time to openly celebrate this magical season! I don't know what it is about Christmas - perhaps it's the decorations, or the music, or the gift giving, or the traditions, or perhaps it is truly because of the reason for this season, our Savior - but something creates a palpable magic during this time of year. I would like to think it's the latter option. He truly is the reason we celebrate this time of year. He gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive - the Atonement. Because of His birth, we can live again with Him. This is a season that people are a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more like Him. I love it! I even love the commercial reasons for the season. I love Santa Claus. I love the person he embodies. I like thinking of little elves watching if we're naughty or nice. I love Hallmark Christmas movies. I'm pretty sure there's nothing I don't like about this season...ok, egg nog and hot chocolate...but everything else is great! Well tonight, since Amber was home, we decided to decorate the house and put up the tree. I love putting up our Christmas tree because of all the ornaments we have. Each year, we collect 2-3 ornaments from vacations we've been on or momentous events of the year. Jonas even got to help me put on his very first ornament. When we put the ornaments on the tree, we reminisce about the moments from this year and years past. It's our memory tree. Now we get to see and reflect on all those fun memories all season! It's time to bring on Christmas!