Merry Christmas!

The kids tell me this was a great Christmas this year. One of the best. I've been trying to pinpoint what exactly made it so special. James and Alex have told me several times that holidays and birthdays just aren't as fun as they used to be. The magic and excitement are gone. This year, though, the kids spent a lot more time thinking about and preparing Christmas for others. All the kids except Robert. More on that later. Alex, James, and Matthew took initiative in choosing gifts for family members. They put out the decorations and asked to do the activities that meant the most to them: putting up the tree, singing carols a capella in our living room, attending the ward Christmas party, planning Christmas meals/gifts/surprises for a friend in a nursing home and for the sister missionaries we love. My favorite part of this year was doing gifts and special things for people who had no expectation of that from us. Those folks were surprised and delighted and happy, like my kids used to be on Christmas when they were much, much younger. Alex noticed the change in tone, too, and said he'd like to make that surprise and delight a regular tradition.

Robert opted out of many things, but only because he didn't want to go through the effort of putting ornaments on a tree that he would have to take down in a couple weeks. He didn't want to sit and think about gifts for his siblings, either, so he opted out of those, too. He didn't want any responsibility for what we ate for dinner or for how we celebrated on Christmas Eve. I tooooooootally get that. It also makes me scratch my head a little. He wasn't a scrooge about it. He had fun and seemed to enjoy the experience. He just didn't want to do any work.

Here's a photo Erin took on Christmas Day after we loaded up the Sisters with gifts, treats, and leftovers: