THE FIRST NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS.

Slowly but surely we are creating a few Christmas traditions of our very own. Since, we are far from family I have been looking for things that we can do together early in the month before we typically travel to our extended family.

Last night we celebrated our second, annual "First Night of Christmas", and I think it's one that just may stick.

I would call it a Christmas kick-off of sorts. As I unpacked our nativity last weekend I set it aside so that we could put it together as a family for FHE. We read this book,  with words from the Bible and talked about the characters in the nativity. It was very short, and somewhat sweet (until the one-year old tore apart the nativity), but I think we're going to like it.

At the end, the girls each got to open a new set of Christmas jammies. Per tradition I have always received pj's from my grandparents on Christmas Eve. This will continue, but I wanted my kids to have some to wear all month so I thought this was a great night to break them out. Hannah was ecstatic to open a present.

It was a good Family Home Evening. It is amazing how the spirit can be felt in even the most chaotic of environments, when you are trying to do what is right.

I unwrapped our December Ensign and read for a few minutes before bed last night. I loved Elder Uchtdorf's message,  "Can We See the Christ?" He said,

"Sometimes the most difficult things to see are those that have been right in front of us all along...We who have heard the glorious message of the coming of the the Son of God, we who have taken upon us His name and have covenanted to walk in His path as His disciples--we must not fail to open our hearts and minds and truly see Him."

That is my hope this Christmas season--to truly see Him.