Christmas Memories of Miracles

Christmas is my season. I think of it all year long and can hardly wait to change out the Thanksgiving decorations for the Christmas ornaments (poor Thanksgiving...). I adore everything about Christmas! The music, the smells (cinnamon and pine), the twinkling lights! There is nothing quite so spectacular as sitting in a dim room next to a glowing Christmas tree. I think it brings back the feelings of childhood, remembering how I would stare in amazement at how beautiful our tree always was.

Along with those feelings come a flood of memories that cannot contain themselves. So many of my Christmases have been filled with wonders and miracles and it would be a shame not to write some of them down.

I will preface these stories with the note that growing up my family was of humble means and thus, many years we found ourselves the recipients of other people's generosity and compassion.

My earliest Christmas memory is still tainted with the childhood joy I felt when I ran into the living room on Christmas morning and saw our couch literally covered with stuffed animals and dolls. I was probably three or four at the time and my eyes went wide. I then looked to the left and saw a little vinyl playhouse. It was essentially a square tent of cheap materials, but oh how I loved it! I still remember that it was decorated with red shutters around the windows and flowers along the bottom. I was so happy that year! As an adult I shared with my mom how much that Christmas had always stayed with me and she told me that was a year when they had had almost no money. She had gone to DI and bought all the stuffed animals for practically nothing. She had been so sad she couldn't buy new things and so worried that we wouldn't like it and she felt that it was a miracle that my sister and I were so happy.

My first memory of Christmas being given to us came when I was five. I had 3 younger siblings and my mother was younger than I am now (!). My father had recently been permanently disabled on the job, making it difficult for him to work. A group of unidentified elves doorbell ditched us leaving a live Christmas tree on our porch along with a box full of presents, including a beautiful pink stroller that I pushed around for years. I can still remember exactly where I was standing when my parents opened the door and I saw that brand new stroller, waiting to be filled with dolls and teddy bears! I was ecstatic!

Years later I remember being 10 or 11 years old. My family was once again fairly destitute and I remember my mother saying that we were not going to have Christmas presents that year. Since Christmas morning wasn't going to be the same, I opted to stay the night at my Great-Grandmother's house. Close to midnight my mom called us on the phone telling us that my dad had received a Christmas miracle. Just minutes earlier, quite late at night, my dad had sold an old car giving my parents money to buy us a little Christmas. Since no stores were open on Christmas day, my parents left early on Boxing day and we had "Christmas morning" on the 26th instead.

When I was a teenager, for several years someone in our ward (we think, they were anonymous) would leave a box on our porch containing two presents for each of us. One of the presents was always a shirt or a sweater and the other was a toy or other gift. I remember one particular year when I was in high school and I was so elated to receive a popular and expensive brand of sweatshirt in my favorite colors and a bottle of Tommy Girl perfume (which was all the rage). My parents would never have been able to afford either of these gifts and it meant so much to me that someone would take the time to choose something that a self-conscious 15 year old would be excited to wear to school.

I am fully aware that Christmas is not about presents and that my family didn't need to be given gifts to be happy. However, the joy comes not from the present itself, but in the giving and the receiving. The simple act of being able to give someone something that they would appreciate brings an inner peace and joy that is indescribable and is the essence of the Christmas spirit. The receiver too feels the love of friends and of our Savior, knowing that they were being thought of and that the Lord cares enough for each of us to give us the little things that may be small and unimportant that we wouldn't normally be able to have. I think this is the true miracle of Christmas: being able to feel and share the love of our Savior with those around us. :)

Holidays and Miracles

The past few months have just flown by. I can't figure out what I've been doing, but I'm pretty sure I have been busy. I did two more weddings in Utah, both of which turned out really nice and in between helping Alexander with homework, planning Young Women lessons, and looking for jobs, we have celebrated a few holidays.

Halloween was sort of a sorry event at our house this year. We were invited over for dinner by a family who had been great friends with Alexander's parents. It was very enjoyable and fun to meet new friends. We got home not long after dark and I expected the trick or treaters, but they never came. We still have a big bag of 150 mini chocolate bars if anyone is hungry. We had no reason to dress up, so we didn't. I was sort of sad about that. However, we did carve ourselves a couple of pumpkins that we picked up at a great pumpkin patch and we dressed up Godiva for a good laugh. I wanted to get a cute fall picture with Godiva next to the pumpkins, but we found out that for some unknown reason she is afraid of pumpkins. It was sort of hilarious.

This is my frog:


This is Alexander's Homestar Runner Devil:


The Dread Pirate Black Fur:


On November 6th we celebrated Godiva's first birthday. I think I just wanted a good reason to throw a party. I baked a little cake and bought her a new toy. I tried to get her to wear a party hat, but she wasn't too keen on that idea.



Godiva has become a really fun member of our family. She has filled a little of the void due to the lack of children and makes our home feel not so empty. She is a very smart dog and we have become quite adept at understanding each other. She understands a large number of words and we are able to have conversations, of a sort. She is still very energetic and really enjoys playing fetch and tug of war with her rope. She is completely spoiled rotten and has no idea how good she has it and we don't even mind.

This is my favorite position that Godiva sleeps in:


Recently, we have enrolled her in obedience school, hoping it would help with her anxiety problems she has had since the big move. Her first day of class felt like a sort of answer to a prayer, as the two other dogs in the class were right around her same size and knowledge level. There is another dog, Weston, that is part border collie and his owner is a sweet girl close to my own age. I think that having Weston in the class really helped Godiva with socialization and she has honestly done a lot better the past two months since starting the class. The teacher is also a wonder-woman and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher who doesn't make me feel stupid when my stubborn dog decides she wants to lay down instead of sit.

On another note, I put up the Christmas tree and decorations a little early this year since I knew we would be going out of town. My dear husband seems to love Christmas music as much as I do (which is saying a great deal!) and has been indulging my need to blast it throughout the house. I love our tree and it always makes me so happy when we plug it in and see the shining lights and shimmering ornaments! :)

We felt so blessed when Alexander's parents invited us home to Utah for Thanksgiving on their tab, even paying extra so that we could enjoy good food and friends during our visit. My wonderful family adjust their lives to fit us in. Denise gave up her room and moved in with Natalie and Melanie so that we would have some privacy (bless her soul!). Both Alexander and I needed that wonderful break from reality and enjoyed spending so much time with those we love. We drove out to Utah so that Godiva could come as well. She was actually really good in the car and our trip out to Utah was smooth and quick, we left at 8:30am and arrived at 2:30am that night. Our trip back to Missouri was less delightful, as we left at 6:00pm and drove through the night, stopping for a few hours to sleep in the car in Denver. I think we looked like homeless people but I didn't mind. We drove through the rest of the day and arrived home around 7:00pm. I still have car-lag from the whole event.

We witnessed another miracle upon arriving home. We live in a two story duplex on the main floor, and the upper floor has been empty for a number of months, but the two doors are next to each other. We found that the door to the upstairs unit had been totally kicked in and someone had broken in. The motivation for the break-in is unclear, as burglers rarely need to kick in a door, perhaps someone was after a previous tenant or something. However, robbery isn't unusual in our area and can't be ruled out. The police said that some copper piping was stolen, but that's it. The miracle is that whoever broke in didn't even attempt to get in our door. I know that it was an answer to our prayers.

We will be going back home to Utah again in a few weeks to do a wedding and spend time with the family and friends again over Christmas. We know we are completely spoiled and are just lapping this up because we know that in the future we won't be able to go home this often.

3 in 2 for 1

I have had three job offers in the past two days. It's like manna from heaven, except for I can only choose one job. I felt very blessed when I was able to comfortably accept the job that I did, with no regrets. It is a wonderful company and even though it didn't pay the most, it does feel like it is the best fit for me.

Now, if only we can get Alexander a new job...