Gifts of Christmas

There is a myriad of choices when it comes to gift giving. This Christmas season I've been paying attention to the slogans of many retail stores: "Real joy, guaranteed." "Real gifts, real joy!" "One store carrys "must-haves for the whole family". Another has "perfect gifts for all occasions". "The magic of the holidays in one stop,"or " "The happiest holidays manufactured here."
The world would have us think that a worthy gift costs money, comes wrapped in glittery paper, and is the latest and greatest thing. But let's remember the greatest gifts ever given. THEY are the pattern for the way we should give to others.
Heavenly Father gave us his Only Begotten Son. Jesus Christ gave us his very life, he attoned for you and for me.
When someone gives you a gift, do you ever feel like the one you got for them doesn't compare? Or maybe you didn't even get them anything at all. Considering the supreme gifts that the Father and his Son bestowed upon us, what gift could we EVER give them that could possibly compare or repay them?
I think we already know the answer to that question!
Do you remember the lawyer who came to Jesus and tempted him? He asked, "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."(Matt 22:35)
After Jesus teaches the parable of the good samaratin, He asks all of us to "go thou and do likewise." (Luke 10:30) Doing likewise would mean that we would be more aware of what our neighbor is struggling with. And when we find out what our neighbor struggles with, we would try to lighten their load. We would love them as the Savior loves us.
"When ye are in the service of your fellow men, ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:19)
The best gift we could ever give to others is to serve them and love them! By doing this, we will be giving the best gift of all to our Father in Heaven and our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Gordon B. Hinckley said it so beautifully in the Dec. 1983 Ensign,
"Christmas means giving. The Father gave his Son and the Son gave his life. Without giving there is no true Christmas, and without sacrifice there is no true worship."
I love my Father in Heaven! I love my Savior! I hope we can keep them in our hearts and our thoughts more this new year. Then we will be a little more like them and do what they would do if they were here on Earth.
Merry Christmas!

Where Did Half a Year Go?

Finally, a quiet moment! All four kids are sleeping and the hot husband is hanging out with a friend (something he rarely does but totally needs). After I sang each child their own lullaby, I found myself wondering, "What the heck am I going to do now?" Of course I have a list a mile long of what I SHOULD be doing. But I needed to check something online quickly and I remembered that it has been half a year since I posted something on this blog.

Here's a little something about the family right now:

-Ruby can now sit up by herself! Her contageous smile makes everyone around her happy.

-Max is totally weirding me out with all of the random and very deep questions he asks me.

-Hannah is reading so much better. (She had some struggles last year.)

-Ben is crazy about reading the comics that come in the Sunday paper as soon as he wakes up.

-Chris is the 1st counselor in our ward's bishopric. He is still extremely good looking.

-I am reading the Book of Mormon more. I am a Relief Society teacher and the Cub Scout Master.

Life is so good. I have been given so much. I hope I can show my Heavenly Father that I appreciate what He does for me.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! We are having it at our house this year for the Sayer side of the family. I'm looking forward to enjoying a huge helping of my mom's special stuffing! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families!

Four Kids????

She finally came! Little miss Ruby was born in March. I had false labor twice , (nature's extremely cruel prank on any mom) but my little bundle of joy completed our family at last!

Having four children to be responsible for was pretty freaky at first. The day we brought Ruby home from the hospital, I got super sick with a fever of 102 and a nasty cough. I had somehow avoided the cough that had been making the rounds with EVERYONE IN OUR FAMILY FOR TWO MONTHS! I think once I gave birth, my body finally gave up trying to fight off all those germs. I started to feel better, and the reality of our new family hit me. Everything was chaos. Every noise seemed amplilfied by 10. Every mess appeared overwhelming. Every fight between the older three kids, 8, 6, and 4, was more annoying. And I won't bore you with the taxing ordeal of sleepless night after sleepless night.

I know anyone who has had children knows the tornado that ensues in the weeks following your newborn's arrival. And anyone who has multiple children knows you have to relearn how to manage everything all over again. Those first weeks caught me off guard.

Slowly, though, life started a new normalcy. We were all adjusting to the situation pretty well. Then, when Ruby was six weeks old, her blessing day came! It was lovely. It was wonderful. We had the family over to celebrate and enjoy refreshments. Of course many photos were taken. When Ilooked at one of pictures of Chris, all the munchkins, and me, I couldn't believe it! "We have FOUR kids!", I thought to my self. Actually, I kind of screamed to myself. Seeing our whole family on the couch stunned me. I got scared for a minute. How in the world was I going to be good at taking care of these people? Then I looked at the beautiful, innocent faces of my kids and relaxed. I have great children! I looked at the hot, handsome, loving face of my husband, Chris, and I remembered that he is here to help me. And I felt the comfort of the Holy Ghost telling me that I have a loving Heavenly Father's assistance- if I will ask for it. I have a perfect example, Jesus Christ, to follow.

I am not worried anymore. Tired, yes, Overwhelmed and burned out, yep and yep. But not worried, I have faith that if I do my part to raise these spirits I've been entrusted with, I will not be alone!