72 Days Left!

Surely, I'm not alone in realizing that Christmas is only 72 days away!  But seriously, the holiday season is fast approaching (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) and something has been on my mind for a while. How can I make this holiday season really count?  And by that I mean, how can I help my family grow closer together, share awesome memories, serve others, and focus more on family traditions than family possessions?  FHE (family home evening - Monday night when Mormons set time aside to learn laugh and love as a family) seemed like a good time to poll the troops, and ask what family traditions they love/ want to start.  Ryan was even able to participate via Skype.  Suggestions varied, from eating home-made donuts after decorating the tree, watching ELF, making caramel apples during November, and Chillighetti for Halloween night's dinner.  The best idea (in my opinion) was dressing Owen up as a turkey and glueing feathers all over him.  The worst idea was a "let's not", as in "let's not combine all of our Halloween candy together, allow us to eat only some of it, and then share it a little at a time over the following months." Doesn't that idea suck the fun out of being a parent... Tonight's FHE was a fun, informative family night.  It got me all excited about the holiday season.  We probably will only get around to doing half of the suggestions that were made (if that many!), but even tonight was part of the holiday fun: Spending time together.  Dreaming up family adventures.  Guzzling eggnog. Tis the season.

Festive dessert tonight. Discovered tonight that Calvin hates eggnog, but it reminds me of going to the Nutcracker ballet with my Mom and twin when I was a little girl. We got all dolled up, and went out for ice-cream afterward. I ordered eggnog ice-cream, totally loved it, and have cherished the memory and eggnog ever since. Sorry, Cal.

I was at NPS (a.k.a. Gehtto Mart) and I found this knife case bag for $7.99! This thing retails in real places for a little more like $100. I grabbed it, and I know it was just a little tender mercy from God.  Just a little Monday surprise, saying "Hey, Linds.  I love you." Good stuff. Very grateful, and excited!

A Note on Family Traditions, found in a talk by an apostle on the earth:

Daily we should kneel in family prayer and study the scriptures together. Weekly we should observe the Sabbath day by attending our meetings, especially sacrament meeting, and behave appropriate to the activities that are proper for the Lord’s day. We should also gather our families together in weekly family home evenings. Perhaps it would also be appropriate to have a date with our wives each week, to remind us of the great blessing they are in our lives. Monthly we should fast and pay our tithes and offerings to the Lord. Semiannually, we should make listening to the messages delivered at general conferences a family tradition. We should organize, annually, family reunions to keep alive our great gospel heritage.

By : ELder L Tom Perry