Last year, you may remember that I did
12 days of Gratitude. I had intended on doing that again this year.but now I have decided not to.
This morning we started an advent puzzle. A few years back my mom gave me a copy of this advent puzzle from a
Relief Society Christmas party. She got it from the
Friend magazine . I thought I'd be all clever and give you a link to the actual page, but it must have come from an issue of the Friend prior to 2001, and since the Friend website only has digital copies dating back to 2001, I can't share it with you so that you can do it for yourself. But I can hook you up with one that is kinda that same, but different.
Here(pg 26,27,&37) is an Advent Wreath that I did with Kathryn a few years ago.
The idea is to choose one of the puzzle pieces and then read the scripture and do the activity that goes with that piece. So I thought that it would be fun to write a post to go along with each day.
So here is day one.
Scripture:
3 Nephi 25:5-6 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
Activity: Jesus said that the hearts of the children should turn to their parents. Ask your parents or grandparents to tell you about Christmases when they were young.
So here is what stories I'll tell my children tonight before bed.
I remember that as a young kid we used to always spend Christmas eve night at either grandma&pa Paxman's or Grandma&pa Forsyth's. I remember one Christmas at Grandma&pa Forsyth's, my brother, sister and I were so excited that we didn't wait for mom and dad to get up, we just went right into the living room to check out what was in our stockings. When dad came and found us he wasn't very happy that we were up so early and peeking at the gifts. I believe that was the year mom made us matching striped yellow pj's, but I could be wrong.
I remember another year at Grandma&pa Paxman's, it was the year that we got our first real color TV and VCR!!(what year was that? I must have been 10ish) Here is what I won't tell the kids...my sister and I were sleeping in what we called "Aunt Corrinne's room"(for obvious reasons), it was right off of the kitchen and right beside the living room. I woke up in the middle of the night because I had to go to the bathroom. But I could here the "Santa Clause's" in the living room putting out the presents. I laid awake for awhile listening to the adults playing with the toys, in particular a little dog that barked, walked a few steps and then did a back flip, it was a gift one of my brothers was getting from Santa. I remember trying to just go back to sleep because I didn't want my parents to know I was a wake. You see, I would have to walk right by the doorway to the living room. I just couldn't hold it any longer, and so I got up and as sleepily as I could manage left the bedroom. sure enough my dad saw me and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I need to go to the bathroom, ho told me to hurry up and get back to bed...I did just that, and as far as I can remember went back to sleep fairly quickly.
I remember a year that my parents took us all to the grocery store for Family Home Evening. We all got to pick out one of our favoritest Christmas treats. When we got back home, my parents informed us that we were going to be donating all of the delicious goodies we had just purchased to our church's Christmas Hampers. I'm sure it was done in a much more gentle way, but I remember the initial disappointment that I and a few of my brothers felt...and may have even expressed. But however it was done, and my initial feelings, it is a FHE lesson that I will always remember, and hopefully pass on in my own way to my children. We may not have always had lots, like the year we gave and received all homemade gifts( I remember my little brothers immense disappointment over a bleach bottle ball toss game that he received that year...but that is his story to tell). We had so much more than so many others. It is only now when I look back that I realize how my parents must have pinched every penny for so many years. And they did such a good job at it, because I never felt like I didn't have everything that I could possibly need or even want. Even the year of the homemade gifts, somehow my mother made it into something that was fun and very exciting(although Jace didn't seem to feel that way Christmas morning...but again, that is his story), it wasn't ever stated that money was tight that year. In fact, I only assume that that was the reason for that adventure. But I could be wrong, maybe again it was a lesson to teach us children that gifts were not the real reason for the season. Whatever the reason, it is a Christmas that sticks out in my mind.
