Feelin' the Christmas love . . .
by Julie Coulter Bellon
I love the Christmas season. These are the six things I love the best, though.
I love to get Christmas letters. I love getting updates on what's going on with my friends and their families. A lot of my friends live in different parts of the U.S., and many still live in Canada so I don't see them often, and those letters are fun for me to be able to have a little year in review for their family.
I love Christmas pageants, programs, and concerts. Since I have a lot of children, I go to a lot of these. I hear Christmas songs with bands, orchestras, and singing. I can't help it, I always tear up to see all those earnest little kids singing their hearts out, or the one who's playing the violin, flute, or clarinet with everything they've got. And my job is just to sit there and enjoy them, their hard work, and the music and progress they've made. I love that.
I also love the Christmas tradition of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve every year for a dinner and the traditional game of gifts in the toilet paper roll. Toilet paper roll, you say? Yep. Let me tell you about this one. Everyone sits in a circle and a large toilet paper roll that has been stuffed with things like gift certificates, jewelry, hair ornaments, toys, trinkets, etc., have all been rolled into the toilet paper roll until it's a massive ball. The ball is unrolled and whatever is unrolled in front of your place in the circle is yours to keep. I love that and, of course, being with family on a special day.
I love to visit every member of my ward with a Christmas gift. My husband and I make a 8 ½ x 11 inch ward list that has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of our ward members on the front of the page, and a ward map with everyone's houses on the back, laminated with magnets so it can hang on the fridge for easy use. We make one for everyone in our ward and our whole family has a lot of fun visiting each house with our gift to them.
I love to go look at lights and see how people have decorated their homes for the season. So many people take a lot of time to really show off their creative decorating skills. It just brings something extra to the season I think. I also love going to Salt Lake and looking at the lights of Temple Square. There's just something special in the air as you look at the lights and other displays on the grounds there.
I love Christmas morning best of all. We all gather in the master bedroom on the bed and read the story of the birth of our Savior and share our feelings before we go downstairs to open presents. I love seeing the wonder on my children's faces. Really, that's probably the best part. The joy and wonder of the miracle of our Savior's birth and the small opportunities we get to give to others as he's given to us.
I hope you're enjoying this Christmas season and all that it brings.
Merry Christmas!
I love the Christmas season. These are the six things I love the best, though.
I love to get Christmas letters. I love getting updates on what's going on with my friends and their families. A lot of my friends live in different parts of the U.S., and many still live in Canada so I don't see them often, and those letters are fun for me to be able to have a little year in review for their family.
I love Christmas pageants, programs, and concerts. Since I have a lot of children, I go to a lot of these. I hear Christmas songs with bands, orchestras, and singing. I can't help it, I always tear up to see all those earnest little kids singing their hearts out, or the one who's playing the violin, flute, or clarinet with everything they've got. And my job is just to sit there and enjoy them, their hard work, and the music and progress they've made. I love that.
I also love the Christmas tradition of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve every year for a dinner and the traditional game of gifts in the toilet paper roll. Toilet paper roll, you say? Yep. Let me tell you about this one. Everyone sits in a circle and a large toilet paper roll that has been stuffed with things like gift certificates, jewelry, hair ornaments, toys, trinkets, etc., have all been rolled into the toilet paper roll until it's a massive ball. The ball is unrolled and whatever is unrolled in front of your place in the circle is yours to keep. I love that and, of course, being with family on a special day.
I love to visit every member of my ward with a Christmas gift. My husband and I make a 8 ½ x 11 inch ward list that has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of our ward members on the front of the page, and a ward map with everyone's houses on the back, laminated with magnets so it can hang on the fridge for easy use. We make one for everyone in our ward and our whole family has a lot of fun visiting each house with our gift to them.
I love to go look at lights and see how people have decorated their homes for the season. So many people take a lot of time to really show off their creative decorating skills. It just brings something extra to the season I think. I also love going to Salt Lake and looking at the lights of Temple Square. There's just something special in the air as you look at the lights and other displays on the grounds there.
I love Christmas morning best of all. We all gather in the master bedroom on the bed and read the story of the birth of our Savior and share our feelings before we go downstairs to open presents. I love seeing the wonder on my children's faces. Really, that's probably the best part. The joy and wonder of the miracle of our Savior's birth and the small opportunities we get to give to others as he's given to us.
I hope you're enjoying this Christmas season and all that it brings.
Merry Christmas!
Julie Coulter Bellon — 12/21/2006 01:26:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Boy, both the toilet paper roll and the ward directory sound like fabulous presents. I'm going to try to remind myself about the ward directory one for next year!
FHL, you start with one end of the toilet paper and begin rolling the gifts into the paper until all the paper from the roll is gone. As you can imagine it's a big ball by the end. Lots of fun to unroll though. I wish I could post a pic, but I don't know how to do it. Hope you get more of a visual though with this description.
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