Y and Z

Y and Z are for Yawn and get some Zzzzz's

"And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given." - 3 Nephi 1:19

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:17

Silent Night

Sing or read The Night Before Christmas

My mother is big on traditions. She began, a little less than 40 years ago, celebrating Christmas based on the traditions of other countries. Each year, she would pick a country, spend the year in study and then when December rolled around, the month was spent honoring that country's traditions (everything from the holiday decor to Christmas dinner). This made Christmas time a culturally rich experience among other things. This also translated into the children wearing some sort of costume for the Christmas card. Case in point:

Japanese Christmas, 1985

Hawaiian Christmas, 1986

French Christmas, 1987

I spared myself from posting the last Christmas picture that was taken of us all in costume. I will just say that I was a freshman in college and I was wearing a sombrero. It did a lot for my dating life.

This year, the focus as been on the country of Suriname. (A South American country who shares its Southern border with Brazil. Also, only one of four countries in South America that is non-Spanish speaking - they speak Dutch). Last night, my mom hosted the annual family Christmas party where we enjoyed Surinamese fair and broke a pinata. (My cousin Mitch returned from an LDS mission there a little over a year ago.)

Owen couldn't handle all the candles used as decorations. It tried his patience. He desperately wanted to blow them out! I told him he had to wait until everyone left and dinner was over. As we were saying good bye, I found him on the table quietly singing "Happy Birthday" to each candle and then blowing them out.


We feel very fortunate at this time of year. Merry Christmas!