A Very Humble Christmas!

A part from my first blog where I use the word "Hell", this is officially my first blog post. It should be fun knowing that i'm telling all the internet world how i really feel about things, especially my own personal experiences and that only a few, maybe one or two, will read them. So heres to my first entry. Hope you like it.

This Christmas will be only my second Christmas since being home from my mission. The first was fun and eye opening, but didn't end in the way that was so "Merry". This Christmas on the other hand was very humbling and it really allowed me to understand what is truly important to me. It was a quiet Christmas to say the lease. It consisted of only my mom, my dad, and their youngest son, Me :). There wasn't the three of us brothers wrestling every afternoon or waking up early in the mornings to go hunting. There was no running around the kitchen picking off of moms goodies while she wasn't looking. There was no obnoxious laughter at inappropriate jokes that we would make up just to annoy my mother and father. It was very quiet and peaceful, which to me brought a lot of meaning to why I was home for this Christmas.

Besides that fact that the weather this December has been a FREEZING 65 degree average and hardly anyone had their Christmas lights up, i knew it was Christmas .... Because I was HOME!!! All my life I was amazed at how hard my mom and dad worked to make Christmas an enjoyable time .... for everyone else. They were constantly making goodies, and thinking of creative ways to do the 12 Days of Christmas. Visiting people, making plans to call relatives, accepting visits from other people. I knew making a Christmas News Letter was very stressful for my mother but she did it anyway because she was so proud of the accomplishments of her family. This year i got to see that all happen again. The only difference was that i made sure i was apart of it. "I" wanted to make sure everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. "I" wanted to be part of the reason why people smiled the following Sunday when they saw my family and I. But most of all "I" wanted to make my parents proud knowing that their example had been embedded in their youngest son. It was Christmas, and it was a time for me to return back the favor to my parents ... AND SERVE!

I was able to spend a few days with my sweetheart Arielle's family in Phoenix and it was most definitely a joyous time (Thank you Arielle!). My dad wanted me home Tuesday night in time to be able to go home teaching. As much as i wanted to be with Arielle i didn't want to let my dad down in fulfilling his priesthood responsibilities. I got home right on time! And has soon as I rang the doorbell he was all set ready to go! We taught the Strong Family. Its a half Hispanic family and the only reason why my dad wanted me to go with him was to be able to refer his message to the grandparents so they could understand. What a lesson to be learned there from my dad right :) Of course since it was Christmas we gave them a Christmas Message. They were so happy to see me there and they could not stop speaking to me in spanish. I LOVED IT!!! My dad presented his message and i translated. They were so attentive because they were finally able to understand everything. It brought me straight back to my mission and the looks i got when teaching a family that came to know the truth of the gospel. We closed with a prayer a left with hugs, kisses, and shared treats. I was nice to be there with and for my dad.

I finally had time to come home and give my mom a big hug! She needed one, she was going crazy! It was expected to see my mom covered in flour and every other ingredient you can think of since she was once again trying to make enough holiday goodies for those she had on her list. I love my mom! She was so busy but at the same time so happy. haha its hilarious actually! At that moment there really was no reason for me to take my stuff out of the car and unpack ... it was MOMMY TIME! As tempting as it was to start a food fight with my aging parents, i knew it was game time. We got a lot done and i dont think my mom realized how much we accomplished that night. A task she thought would take a few days took .... one night. The next day they were all wrapped and delivered. I was there for ALMOST every delivery. Seeing everyones reaction when they saw me home was rewarding as if i had some type of impact on them while a youth in the ward. It was great to be right there by my mothers side as she served. Love you mom!

Christmas Day! It has always been a family tradition to sleep down stairs around the Christmas tree and the following day to spend a few hours at the lake (because my parents would go to the beach every Christmas while living in Hawaii). The night of before Christmas (also known as Christmas Eve) we snuggled on the floor while watching Meet the Fockers (which was a bad idea because now all they do is joke around about doing the things Mr. and Mrs. Focker would do from the movie ... SICK!) Early the next morning we all woke up laughing because my moms stupid dog kept yelping and we all headed down to the lake. Christmas Day was PERFECT! It was so beautiful outside and we really enjoyed our time having the lake all to ourselves. We got home, unpacked all our fishing stuff and opened the few gifts we had underneath the tree. This is where the humbling begins: The time it took us to open all our gifts took about five minutes. When the last present was opened my dad said with his head down, "Well ... Merry Christmas." I will never forget that feeling i got after i saw that. I brought both my parents together with a big hug and kissed them both and thanked them for this years Christmas and reminded my dad about his home teaching lesson. Pres. Faust said that his greatest Christmas was when the gifts received eternally weren't gifts he was able to handle, but the ones he could feel inside. That was this years Christmas for me. I didn't come home for Christmas to receive gifts i could handle. I came home to receive a gift that i was finally prepared to understand. I came home to my Mom and Dad, the greatest gift i've received!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

The things girls make me do!!!

WHAT THE HELL I HAVE A BLOG!!! That's all i have to say about that. Should be fun, entertaining, and for sure hilarious!!! ENJOY!