Christmas is magical for me.
Christmas Eve was a time we met with my Dad's side of the family and had a lovely dinner.
We visited with our Papa, Aunts and Uncles, open gifts and played with our cousins.
We would arrive home, cut the special birthday cake that Mom had made
to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
We would eat some, and then leave a piece for Santa in front of the fireplace.
On Christmas morning we would run down stairs
and enjoy the gifts from our parents and Santa Claus.
Christmas day was spent with my Mom's side of the family.
Again a time of laughter, fun and cousins!
As Kurt and I married and had children we started our own traditions,
Our first Christmas trees were adorned with the cards sent by friends.
Our children dressed in the Nativity Clothing and
We read the Story of Jesus' birth from the Book of Luke in the Bible.
I was still the first one up in the morning, and Kurt would tell me to stay in bed and
not wake up the children. That wouldn't last for long and we would all be up.
This year, true to form, I was up at 5:00am.
Our Missionaries wouldn't be at the Primavera Chapel for hours, so I woke up Kurt and made him run down to the Christmas Tree with me.
We opened our gift to each other and
had breakfast (traditional cinnamon rolls and ham, sorry Jen, no soufflé this year).
I couldn't wait to call my children, see our new grandson on Christmas morning
and see what the grandkids received for Christmas...
AND to get to the church to see all of the missionaries.
We sang "Feliz Navidad ," and I put a Merry Christmas message on Facebook 
from the Missionaries to their parents.
President Marler and I spoke, about the Savior, and the importance of his message,
about the importance of us sharing it with others.
We then had a talent show and enjoyed our time with the missionaries.
We had our traditional cake in celebration Jesus' birth.
Then we went back to work, what a great day to share the message of Jesus Christ!
My, how we love our family,
all of them, our children and grandchildren in the U.S.
and our missionaries here and all of their parents.
Thank you for your Christmas wishes.
We love you.
Thanks for your prayers on all of our behalf!
