Jesus's Birthday: A Time of Miracles and JOY!

Christmas day was so fun! 

It was a perfect culmination of all the JOY we felt during the season. 

In case you're not aware, we don't do Santa in our home. Naturally, many friends and family have been concerned for our children's happiness, haha. I appreciate this concern because it means that so many people care about my kids. Well, those people need not fear. Here's proof that the absence of Santa doesn't take away any of the excitement from Christmas morning. Here are the boys waiting anxiously to come downstairs to see their surprises. Tanner could not contain himself! And why should he? It's Jesus' birthday, afterall! No imaginary character can outdo the awesomeness of that!

Tanner loved his little doctor set from us. We gave Dallin a little train. These gifts from us to the kids involved a Christmas miracle. I wanted to shop for the boys in November. If I had, I would have gone crazy with presents because there were so many things I wanted for them. I'm glad God kept putting me in the service of others, which kept me from shopping for my own kids. Remember the new car we had to buy three days before Christmas? I didn't have time to shop until the very next day after Jeremy bought that car. And you can bet I didn't feel like spending much money at that point. God's timing is perfect. He knows what we need and when we need it.

The boys filled each other's stockings. Tanner chose some things for his brother at the dollar store, including a little football. It was so cute watching him fill the stocking on Christmas Eve, being sneaky about it. I wasn't sure if Tanner would care about it on Christmas morning. Thankfully, Tanner was really excited to watch Dallin open his stocking. He shouted, "Now you have your OWN football, Dallin, so you can play football with me and Daddy with your OWN ball!" Dallin loved it. He threw the ball all over the place, using the most intentional footwork we've seen, looking more like a baseball pitcher than a quarterback, haha.

Dallin had the wisdom to fill Tanner's stocking with a Spiderman electric toothbrush. Tanner was elated. This is by far the best $10 we have spent on our kid. Tanner loves brushing his teeth and can get all the tricky places now. Teeth brushing is now a stress-free event in our home. 

I guess we should have bought an electric toothbrush for Dallin, too, because it didn't take him long to find the candy that we got from GramZ. Here's his little mouth stuffed with starbursts! 

We had lots of presents to open from all our grandparents, great-grandparents and aunts and uncles! The boys kept very busy all day long playing with their new treasures.

For Christmas breakfast, we ended up having TWO breakfasts because there was so much food. For the first breakfast, I made bacon, sausage, fruit salad and eggs benedict. 

Making the eggs benedict involved another Christmas miracle. Eggs benedict is something I've been eating and loving for Christmas breakfast since I married Jeremy. I was so excited for it. So when I realized that we had no more milk in the fridge for the holandaise sauce, I was pretty bummed. Instead of crying, I bowed my head to pray for patience. With my head still down, I opened my eyes and saw the eggnog on the bottom shelf of the fridge door. There was plenty of it. Our eggnog holandaise sauce was so incredibly delicious that it is now our newest Christmas tradition! 

For our second breakfast meal, we had crepes! I figured out how to make them, and I couldn't believe how easy it was. It's easier than pancakes, and another miracle is that everyone loved them.

Birthday cake!! 

This is a tradition that I'm trying to keep alive from my side of the family. I'm not very good at baking or cake decorating, but I still did something! This year, I did a star cake to represent the star at Christ's birth. After dinner on Christmas day, we lit the candles and sang happy birthday to Jesus. Tanner had been looking forward to this all Christmas season. I think it was one of his favorite parts of the day. 

This was a wonderful Christmas. I felt God's love pouring into our home and into my life every day of the month, and I needed that. Without Heavenly Father's help, it would have been a difficult season. For one thing, dealing with Tanner's anxiety was an extreme challenge, we had multiple appointments trying to figure out how to best help him. For another, we were away from all family. Although I really like the freedom of doing my own Christmas events, meals and activities, it still sucks to be away from family. It was especially hard seeing pictures of all our nieces together without our boys there to rough house with them.

But just like this picture reminds us, Christmas is about Christ. So even with these and other challenges, I tried to embrace and #SharetheGift a little more than usual. I felt so much JOY the entire month! Everyday, I witnessed multiple miracles in my own life and in others' lives, testifying that God lives and is very much aware of us. I felt the peace and goodness of the Holy Ghost blessing my life as I listened to it's promptings and guidance. I was continually blessed and amazed by what I could do with God's help. 

One highlight for me was Christmas Sunday. As I conducted and sang with the choir, and as I taught a special lesson to the youth, I felt the Spirit so strongly. I gained an even stronger testimony of the beauty and perfection of Jesus' birth. I feel so grateful to know that Jesus Christ came to earth and that He is my Savior. God and Jesus Christ truly live and love us!

"Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." - Alma 26:13.