How cute is this?

Brady performing for the festival of trees.

Tis' The Reason For The Season

This ones for you Susan.......





I had this Christmas party with my favorite people and I thought that it would help to capture the holiday spirit.....Didn't happen. But the party was pretty darn fun.
So today as I was running around doing the shopping that I have thus far put off, it came to my attention that this is so silly......I've asked all my kids what it is they really want for Christmas and it has pretty much been like pulling teeth to get an answer out of them. So I run around looking for just the right gift or the gift that is on the list and I'm thinking.....How fun is this really going to be this year? We are going to wake up and open a pile of things that no one really needs or desperately wants. If it weren't for tradition I would say lets take the money we are going to spend and just go some where and do something....
My friend is doing just that. She is taking her family up to a cabin and spending some much needed family time with all her kids. She is like me and this will probably be the last Christmas where it is just her kids and no in-laws or Grandchildren. Where all her kids will be home and the family is still intact. I've wondered if it has hit her like it has me, that this is an end to one era and the beginning of something new and unknown?
It's not necessarily a bad thing, just different. I love Christmas....usually. I just can't seem to get my head in the game this year. Maybe its my age, maybe its their age. We need a few little people around to truly make this a magical Christmas again. It's so fun to watch those little ones with their big wide eyes. So excited and full of wonder.
My house is decorated, most of the shopping is done and the baking will commence in a day or two....I have about 8 days to get in the mood.....Come on Christmas spirit.....Come on....I know you are out there somewhere.
I think next year I will do what my friend Susan did and really find the reason for the season. We will do a count down to Christmas and find Christ in Christmas.....Our family hasn't really had any spiritual traditions. I wasn't raised in a religious home and therefore Christ was never the center of the Christmas holidays.
I will be searching this coming year for some traditions that will help us to remember what it's all about. So I think 2010 will be a good year and look forward to growing closer to my Father in Heaven.