25 Days of Christmas - Days 3 & 4

Day 3 was a great one, from beginning to end! SOOOOO fun! We decided that for day 3 we would visit someone who was sick or lonely. Immediately a sweet sister in our ward came to mind. She is elderly, a widow, and recently moved into a new care facility, which I can imagine would be hard for her. Her memory isn't great, either, and I suspect that, though her family is fantastic about visiting, she doesn't remember being visited and probably feels lonely from time to time. I put the girls to 'work' making cards for Gretta. They weren't satisfied to just make ANY cards, they asked me so many questions about what she likes, what her interests were. I've only visited with her a few times, so I told them what I knew. She loves music, and loves singing - so TJ drew an eloborate picture of a choir singing.
I told B that Gretta liked cats, so she wrote about how SHE likes cats, too, even though she is allergic to them. Then she drew a Nativity scene, complete with a very lovely camel that she was SO proud of.
I took the older 3 to school, then bundled up JJ and we went off to visit Gretta! JJ wasn't satisfied with a simple hat... oh no.... the ear muffs were just what she needed to complete her ensemble.
Gretta was so happy to see us, though she didn't remember who I was at first. We visited for just over an hour, and I have to tell you - it was the highlight of me week! I just love her sweet spirit. She and her husband served 3 missions! WOW! I loved listening to her conversion story - which I've heard before, but I just marvel at how ready she was to hear the Gospel when she opened the doors to those two missionaries. In fact, the reason she let them in to begin with was because of the shining example of two young men she met at a dance as a youth, who were so gentlemanly and kind to her. So, does setting a good example, being kind and neighborly make a difference? YOU BET! Because of the example of those tow young men, this sweet lady and her family were baptized and have been such stalwart members of the church ever since!

I ran some errands, had tithing settlement with our bishop, then had a Relief Society Presidency meeting at my house. We were working on a project to give the ladies in our congregation, which I HOPE they'll like. In the middle of our meeting, the doorbell rang, and I opened it up to see our ward's young women and their leaders standing around singing Christmas carols! They handed me 2 bags of yummy cookies with a sweet card. I don't think I have ever been "caroled" before! LOL! It was such a cold night, I wish I had hot chocolate ready for them or something! What a sweet gesture. It really completed my day. Thank you ladies!

Day 4 is today, so it's not quite over. The fun thing about today is, it's PAJAMA day! YAY! The kids get to wear their jammies to school where they will have chocolate milk and a cookie. I was going to wear jammies all day, too, except my only real 'set' of jammies are satin ones - and with the wind chill making the weather here -26 degrees, I DON'T THINK SO! LOL! The kids were all cozy in their fuzzy jammies, though. They even wore their clothes underneath to make SURE they were warm enough.

Later this afternoon they get to have a "Pie a teacher in the face" assembly. I don't think I'll b e making it as I took a spill down the stairs to my basement and my back is starting to get quite sore. I was holding JJ at the time, but thankfully she was cushioned by my ample built in "FLUFF". LOL! She's totally fine, THANK HEAVENS!

So, that's my last couple of days. I can't tell you how much my mood has improved these last few days, how much more patience I've had, and how much my heart has been overflowing. We start each day with a scripture and Christmas story around the breakfast table, and I can't believe what a difference it makes in my day. It's indescribable! It's also been a great way to kind of stretch the joy of the season through the month, rather than having it all be about ONE day, you know?