food, crochet, merriment
It’s funny–isn’t it–that these little ones don’t really question…
all the boxes and crates and tins that we carry in from wherever they’ve been hiding since last Christmas.
Do you think they wonder why this time of year we surround ourselves with sparkly stars, gingerbread, pine cones and tiny shepherds?
Or do you think, maybe…
that in their gentle angel hearts…
They just know?
“We all enjoy giving and receiving presents. But there is a difference between presents and gifts. The true gifts may be part of ourselves—giving of the riches of the heart and mind—and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store.
“Of course, among the greatest of gifts is the gift of love….
~James E. Faust
Happy Birthday April!
Lighting the Menorah.
Telling the story of Hanukkah.
Preparing the feast.
Potato latkes–yum!
Family and friends.
Spinning the Dreidel.
The toy feast.
It was a lovely evening.
Thanks April and Jacob.
Those of you who are familiar with the Wii, will likely know about the polling site that’s quite popular around here.
The idea is that each member of the household will be asked the same random question, with the choice of two different answers. You decide which one is closest to how you’d answer. Then, you are asked how you think the rest of the country will respond. Are most people going to agree with you or disagree with you? A few days later, you can check back and see the results–and if you predicted others answer correctly or not.
So the other day, the question was, “If you found $20 while standing in line, would you ask if it belonged to someone?”
The answers to choose from were: “Yes, but softly,” or “Finders keepers.”
Another feature of the guessing game is that you can click to find out how the rest of the country voted on the original question.
Moral of the story is:
If you’re going to drop your wallet, at any given time…
be sure to do it in Utah.
“Make it go, Daddy! Make it go!”
I shook the store’s miniature merry-go-round to simulate motion, trying to convince my three-year-old son and his little sister that they were content just to sit on the wooden horses.
Inside the discount store my wife was finishing some last-minute Christmas shopping. As a struggling graduate student without a spare penny, I rattled and shook the merry-go-round in frustration. The San Francisco evening was black, cold, foggy, and depressing. I was tired and irritated by my son’s insistent cry for me to “Make it go!”
Shuffling noticeably, a middle-aged man came toward us out of the fog. By the dim light of the street lamp he watched my attempt to satisfy the children. After a few moments he fumbled in his pocket for a coin. His unkempt appearance and a pervading odor of alcohol made me wary, and I protested. They were fine, I muttered, shaking the horses again. “See, you’re fine, aren’t you?” I said.
Producing the coin, he pleaded, “Please, let me do this; please?” Surprised by the pitiful tone of his voice, I relented.
As the delighted children went round and round, the man haltingly explained, “My wife and I never had any children … and … she died recently. It’s Christmas … I’m all alone. Thank you.”
He disappeared into the dense fog. He had needed someone to give to at Christmas. And truly he had—not only to the children, but to me as well. Because of him, I had gained a new appreciation for a very precious gift from God—my family.
By Wendel K. Walton
Happy Birthday Kathy!!
Happy Birthday Dad!!
