The Stockings were hung....

Christmas is in 4 days and I'm finally getting into the Christmas mode.....I know it's a little late, but finally my brother's wedding is done, finals are done and the semester is over, and my kids are on their Holiday break from school.  I have all the time in the world now to focus on Christmas.

As we were pulling our Christmas trees from the shed, we realized that we left ALL our Christmas decorations at the old house in the move....I was a little bummed about it, but honestly they were just ornaments and had no sentimental value.  We put up the trees (we have two of them)...one in the kitchen so people can see it through the window and one in the living room.  Funny story with the second and nicer Christmas tree, I got it for FREE with my coupons....hahaha that was a couple years ago, and we just don't get deals like that anymore!  Needless to say,  both of our trees are up with no decorations on them.  hahaha  Luckily the one in the kitchen is pre-lit and Ashlee threw some dollar store tinsel on it and there ya go....it's simple, but it works.  Here's our kitchen tree....with the one and only ornament calendar that Makai made at his school...hahaha

I did want to hang some stockings for the kids, and normally I would sew them myself, but since time is running low, I had to be cheap quick and creative....I ended up going to the dollar store and buying their stockings made of felt.  I went to Walmart and bought some extra white, red and green felt to add their names....It was only like $2 for the additional felt and $2 for the heat press iron on stuff...I came home and cut out everyone's name, ironed them on and made little holly berry decorations for all the girl's stockings.....they turned out pretty nice for such a cheap and quick little project!!  :)

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the shopping and baking and everything that goes on with it, people tend to lose the real meaning of Christmas.  Since schools are not suppose to talk about God or anything religious, the kids tend to grow up learning from society that Christmas is about Santa and gifts and materialistic things of that nature.  It's been a struggle for me to try and find the balance where my boys can understand that Christmas is not about getting gifts, its about Christ and giving.  This past Monday night at our family home evening, I was reminded of how blessed I am and how grateful I am to constantly be reminded of the spiritual side of things....in all things, not just at Christmas time.... from Ma.  She had the lesson for our FHE, and it was Makai's turn to conduct.  We did our opening exercises and then turned the time over to Ma for her lesson.  Before she started, she asked Makai and Mone to come and sit on the floor right in front of her. 

 As they were sitting there, she explained to them the true meaning of Christmas.  She was holding Makai's hand and asking them questions to make sure they understood (keep in mind that Ma doesn't speak any English at all so her lesson was all in Tongan)  She was asking them where Jesus was born, and then where they were born.  She explained to them that Jesus, the son of God, was born in the most humble of circumstances and even we were all born in a better situation than he was.  As she was teaching them and asking them questions, they understood her and answered her questions.  She told them that we need to be like Jesus.  We need to be humble and be happy with what we have, that it's not the presents and materialistic things that are important.  I sat there and watched Ma teach my children of the importance of humility and that Christmas is about Jesus Christ.  I cried.  I am very blessed to have her living with us.  She has the strongest spirit of anyone I know.  She lives the gospel.  She loves the gospel.  You can constantly find her reading...she reads church books and prays all throughout the day.  My kids get to see her doing that everyday.  She is going to be 88 in a couple weeks and she's getting really old.  Ova and I have tried to have the conversation of what it's going to be like when she passes on.  We don't ever get very far into the conversation because it's something we just don't like to think about.  Ma is an amazing person.  If you've followed my blog for a while, you know how much love and respect I have for her.  There is a communication barrier between us, but we always find a way to communicate.  I love her so much and I love to see the relationship she has with my kids.  What a blessing!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I really apologize for not sending a Christmas card this year, with my computer dying and with so many things to do, I never got the chance to make one.  I wish you all a very very Merry Christmas and a wonderful and happy new Year!!