I LOVE Christmas!

Okay - so I really do love Christmas!  I love it because of the giving.  It is so fun to give to others and to see/talk to friends and family.  Gosh, I can be such an "up and down gal" - one minute I am a Scrooge, the next minute I'm a Christmas Angel!  I know that the best Christmas gift I have been able to give this year is to help my mom.  She has not stopped with all that has happened to her in the past little while.  I know I complained about buying my own gifts, but if you really look at it, the real gift I have been able to give was to help my mom in her time of need - shopping for all us kids and others, making/shopping/preparing all the food, and just letting her get through this rough time.  She is constantly giving and serving others, and it's nice to actually get to serve her.  For those of you who know her she never lets anyone serve her, so this was a wonderful Christmas treat for me!  Christmas is a time for GIVING - yes the receiving is nice, but it's the giving that matters most.  In the end all these "worldly" gifts stay here, and all we get to take with us are the gifts of the heart.  

"This is a glorious time of the year, simple in origin, deep in meaning, beautiful in tradition and custom, rich in memories, and charitable in spirit. It has an attraction to which our hearts are readily drawn. 

This joyful season brings to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our mind, feelings, and actions to the spirit of Christmas."

Thomas S. Monson