I'm finding I can fly, so high above with you.

Today mom shared a quote from President David O. McKay in seminary. "Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts." Yesterday, we drove up to Sis. B.'s house for piano. Every single bush was covered in beautiful lights. They looked like sheets of lights draped over the dark green. The moon was shining brightly; the sky was dark and clear and blue. And I thought to myself, "Oh. It's Christmas." I love Christmas. So much. I love the warm feeling I get when I walk into a room and know it's Christmas. I love to breath in the air, to breath in the feeling of Christmas. Everything just seems right. I love to be with my family. I love to be stuck in the kitchen Christmas Eve, surrounded by older brothers and sisters, and bake amazing amounts of treats and good-tasting things to bring to neighbors and smile at them and wish them a merry Christmas. I love to sing Angels we have Heard on High, to dance and sing and listen to John Rutter, Mannheim Steamroller. I love the feeling I get when I listen to Carol of the Bells and O Holy Night. Somehow, somehow. That's the feeling of Christmas. I know I'm incredibly blessed in so many ways. Sometimes it's hard to remember that, though. But somehow, it's not hard at all during Christmas. Somehow, you know everyone is trying to be just a little bit sweeter, just a little bit kinder, just a little more thoughtful about the people around them, just a little more smiling. I'm so glad that I get to have such a big family to love, and neighbors and friends and teachers and church family to love. I'm so glad that I get to bake for people and to smile at people, to hug them and to love them. I think that the New Testament is about the best book of scripture you could possibly be learning about during Christmastime. I'm so glad I get to learn about it from my mom, to hear her testimony. I'm so glad that we have the ability to listen to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, to talk to and to love. I'm so glad that when I see the Nativity scene on top of the piano, those wooden figures of the Savior and Mary and Joseph that mom has had for forever, I know that it's right. That this little baby boy, born in a manger, loves me more than I could ever imagine, knows me perfectly. My faults and my efforts, my strengths and my weaknesses. I am so grateful for Christmas time. For the entire season. For the cold and the warm, the music and the love and my family. For the truth, and the ability to believe it.

the Snowman