We started our Christmas at home on Christmas Eve. We decided to spend Christmas in Sacramento with Justin's family, so we decided to give all of our presents to eachother before we left. It ended up being so much fun.
For our ward party this year, everyone donated all of their used items that they didn't want anymore. The Relief Society Presidency organized everything into a Santa's Workshop. The kids went back into Santa's workshop after they met with Santa. The Young Women helped them choose different presents for everyone in their family. There was so much donated in our ward that there was enough for kids to choose things for their grand-parents as well. I think this was a wonderful idea. The kids got to experience giving gifts without spending any money. At our Christmas at home each kid handed out their present that was wrapped by the relief society sisters and they were so excited as they watched us (their parents) and eachother open their presents. Jayden gave Elise a beautiful Snow White dress that Elise loves. Dallin gave Elise a fairy book that she really likes. Elise gave Jayden a Thomas the Train and Elise gave Dallin a soccer ball. It was so fun to experience joy in giving. This is what Christmas is all about for me, and I loved experiencing this with my kids this year. Finally, Justin and I decided that we were going to give something special to the kids from us so that Santa wouldn't get all of the credit. We got Elise a princess and prince Barbie, when she opened them, she said "I love it Mommy and Daddy!!" It was so fun to see the look on her face and her expression. Dallin got a carwash for his cars, and he was also very excited. Jayden got Dallin's old wooden train set. Dallin outgrew this toy a few years ago, but I saved it in it's box in the garage, knowing that Jayden would love it someday. We found Jayden a really nice train table at a garage sale, and Jayden loves this wooden train set. He loves to connect the tracks and make the trains go around. It was nice that we didn't even have to spend much money to find excitement in Christmas. I hope that Christmas can always be as it was this year.
We had our little Christmas program where we talked about Jesus' birth, and sang songs. We did a Family Home Evening with Nany and Papa earlier in the week when they came to visit. It was really fun, because they all dressed up, and Justin was a great dancing angel. I wish I got a picture. Elise, however, threw a huge fit and didn't want to be Mary, so she spent most of the time crying in the other room. Oh, the joy of having a girl.
The last thing that I wanted to write about was our month of service in December. Ever since we began Joy School, I have always tried to dedicate the month of December to service. We kept our warm fuzzy jars, and every time the kids did service they got to put the warm fuzzies in the jar. When they filled their jars they got some money for presents. Of course, the kids were finding any way that they could to serve eachother so that they could fill their jars. It was very fun.
Then, we went to sing with our friends, The Waite's, at a rest home nearby. This was special because the kids got to see people that are suffering, and the elderly seemed happy to see them and receive pictures from them that they had colored for them. It was a great month of service, and I will miss this month now that it is over.
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