Christmas by the Senses

I love Christmas. I love the anticipation on my kids faces waiting for the big morning, and I really love that all of my senses get hit during the Holiday season.

I love the smells of the season. The gingerbread men ornaments, the yummy goodies that I spend hours baking and my parents' fresh real tree (that used to be my favorite smell of the season in my house until we got ourselves a fake tree).

I'm definitely a fan of food and eating. I get giddy just thinking about all the yummy flavors and treats. I love the soups and bread bowls on Christmas Eve, Whoppers, Red Vines and all the plates of tasty goodies delivered to our house.

Last night we went on a hayride around my parents neighborhood. Their neighbor has the best light display set to music, it's truly a sight to behold. My other favorite sight is our decorated house. We don't have a lot of cool decorations, but my kids don't know that. They think our house is amazing at Christmas, especially the tree that they get to decorate, in all its mismatched glory.

I just read that December is statistically the coldest month is AZ. It definitely makes it feel like Christmas when I get to get bundled up in a sweatshirt and sneakers instead of flipflops (cold is a relative term - I mean it gets to be about 115 in July, so a freeze warning seems downright Michigany to me). We even get to burn a few fires in our fireplace. But sipping hot chocolate and burning a fire makes it feel like Christmas for sure.

I think my favorite part of Christmas is getting to hear so much music. Some I can do without, like the Santa that Grandma Taylor gave us that sings Jingle Bell Rock until my ears want to fall off, but I'll take that sound with gratitude that my ears work, so I can hear the music of the performers at the temple or my ward choir singing with such passion at church. There are amazing voices everywhere, and though I wasn't one born with one, I sure can appreciate others. I cry at least 5 times during the holidays when I listen to amazing music, such as the song, "I, said the Donkey..." which is my fav this year, or any rendition of "O Holy Night". I love singing along with all my favorite songs or even singing without them in the background, until Annie tells me to stop singing because it's ugly - gotta love that honesty.

The sense I love the most is the feeling of love and gratitude that abounds (I don't know if that counts as a sense, but it's my blog, so I say it does). I'm thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me His Son, so that I can live again. I love the feeling of joy when I get to serve others and when I feel like I've successfully taught my children the importance of serving others. This week Jake has attempted to make me breakfast in bed twice. The first was Mini-wheats with milk and a cup of Crystal Light fruit punch. The second was this morning when he started making me waffles, but I foiled his plan when I came into the kitchen. But the happiness on his face because he was serving someone was so priceless.

Merry Christmas!