Merry Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 has come and gone, but the memories will linger on! It has been awhile since we have had the joyful laughter of little children eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, but this year we counted down with Taisley and watched her excitement grow as we moved day-by-day closer to Christmas Day. We watched Kendi struggle to decide where she would spend her Christmas Day - with her mom and sister here at home or with her dad and cousins in a mountain cabin at Fish Lake. Grandma Doris struggled, too, with that decision. Should she stay home in Corona, CA with her memories or come to St. George to share the holiday with family making new memories? During this relatively quiet holiday, we had a little snow, several holiday parties, a lot of mall time and saw Stacy, Taisley, Kendi, Grandma Doris, Kaytee, Josh and Adyn; Allysa and Josh and Whitney. At the same time, we greatly missed Larry, David, Kris, Kelly and Michael, who could not be with us because of winter weather, economics or job responsibilities. During this holiday season, we ate too much, spent too much and watched way more than our share of those two-hanky holiday movies on FaLaLa Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel. All-in-all, it was not the most memorable Christmas we have ever had, but it was nice, quiet and friendly.

Side note: I did not make my "famous" Ribbon Jello Salad for Christmas dinner (which no one ever eats anyway). As a result, Stacy believes she will need to spend time with a therapist to work through her disappointment.

Here's a little poem which I thought fit our family circumstances exactly:

WE WON'T HAVE A CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR
by Verna Teeuwissen

We won't have a Christmas this year, you say
For now the children have all gone away.
The house is so lonely, so quiet, so bare
We can't have a Christmas without them to share.

We won't have a Christmas this year, you sigh
For Christmas means things which money must buy.
Misfortunes and illness have robbed us, we fear
Of the things that we'd need to make Christmas this year.

We won't have a Christmas this year, you weep
For a loved one is gone and our grief is too deep.
It will be a long time before our hearts will heal,
And the spirit of Christmas again we will feel.

But if you lose Christmas when troubles befall,
You never have really had Christmas at all.
For once you have had it, it cannot depart
Since the true meaning of Christmas is Christ in your heart.