maybe Christmas means a little bit more.

We've been getting our Christmas on here at the C house. The decorations are up, the stockings are hung on the wall with care, and the tree finally managed to get ornaments. The top section of lights went out, so we strung some colored lights on it to make it look a little better. I suppose a $20 Walmart tree isn't meant to last 6 Christmases? Ours is definitely hanging by a thread. I was feeling a little lacking in our Christmas decor. Everything we have is from our first or second Christmas. It is simple and lacks all that pizazz you see on Pinterest and in decorating magazines. We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday night while sipping eggnog, and, as prophets have a tendency to do, President Uchtdorf told me exactly what I needed to hear. He spoke of all the decor and planning and presents and perfect expectations we place on Christmas, and said that without fail, something doesn't go as planned.

"As a result, the Christmas season is often a time of stress, anxiety, frustration, and perhaps even disappointment. . . "

But he said if we open our hearts, the Spirit will show us that Christmas means more than the minor things of life that we use to adorn it.

"We realize in these precious moments what we feel and know in our hearts--that Christmas is about the Christ."

Because the fact is, Carly's eyes still light up when she sees the lights on our meager Christmas tree. She still circles the tree pointing and identifying different ornaments. She points to the stockings and excitedly exclaims "Daddy stonking, mommy stonking, Carly stonking!" And she is learning of a special baby that was born on that very first Christmas so long ago.

Christmas is also about service. I've been trying to make it a habit to give a little to the Salvation Army bell-ringers whenever we see them. Carly is mostly interested in the "jingle bells!", but I try to explain the reason for giving. A few days ago, I was at a gas station filling up. A woman approached me and asked if I had any cans or bottles she might have to exchange for money for gas. I told her I was sorry, but I didn't (which was true), and went on pumping gas. She went on digging in the trash cans. As I drove away, the words of King Benjamin echoed in my head: "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same Being, even God for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?" (Mosiah 4:19). How hard would it have been to lock Carly in the car, keep an eye on her, and walk 10 feet and put $10 of gas in her car? Am I not blessed enough that I could have managed that? It bothered me all day, and still bothers me, and I resolved to try a little harder to be a little better. Not only at Christmastime, but all the time.

And Christmas is about thinking about others. The recent sudden passing of an acquaintance I haven't seen since high school has me praying for and mourning with a young wife and little children I've never met. Cancer and sicknesses continue to impact those who we love, as well as people we don't know; stories that are abstract to us, but painful realities to others. Chris has some incredibly busy weeks during these final weeks, but when I think of how lucky we are, and how many people are having very difficult holiday seasons, it just makes me want to hug my little girl harder, complain a little less about my back pain, and count my blessings when I see my husband walk through the front door, even if it is 3 hours later than I would prefer. Because this Christmas, not everyone has that luxary. And all I can offer them is prayers.

Christmas is about joy. It is Carly's first Christmas where she is kind of "getting it", and it is so much fun. I think because our last encounter with presents was my birthday, she seems to think Santa Claus is only "bringing presents for mommy!" It is sweet though, because she is excited about it, and she asks if she can open mommy's presents too. I have assured her many times that Carly will be getting presents from Santa too.  In fact, Santa is seriously excited about giving her her presents. I think of them down in the basement and can't wait to give them to her. Its not about the presents, but it is fun to see a child so innocently excited. Having Carly adds a whole new magic to the Christmas season, and as we celebrate her third (third!) Christmas, my heart swells to think of all the fun Christmases we have ahead of us with her and her little siblings.

[what you get when you tell the girl to smile.]

Christmas is about family, whether you will be sitting next to them, or sending your love through the mail and over a webcam. I look forward to fun times and upheld traditions in Chicago and Indiana. I still struggle daily knowing I will not see my side of the family at Christmas time, but I'm grateful to have a family I love enough to miss so much. And I'm grateful they will miss us. And I'm grateful for the two  little reasons we cannot go. And I'm grateful that we'll get to see my parents when those two little reasons make their way into the world. So while Christmas will be hard without those Idaho mountains, I make it a point to remind myself of just how blessed I am.

But above everything else, as President Uchtdorf said, Christmas is about the Christ. It is about trying to be a little bit more like Him, being a little more grateful for the life He lived, and for the Sacrifice He made. And it is about celebrating the night of His birth, perhaps the sweetest story in all of scripture.

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. . . .

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."