In a few minutes we’ll sit down and read aloud the Christmas story from the Bible. This has been a family tradition for many, many years. We’ve had a very nice Christmas Eve. The choir program in Sacrament Meeting this morning actually went pretty well. The program at the prison this afternoon was very good. They were well prepared and presented a lovely program. The piano at the prison, however, needs to be replaced with a functional instrument. This may well turn into a service project in the coming year.

We had a very nice time with mom and dad yesterday afternoon. Mother now has the printers where she’d like them on her desk. It took a bit to make that happen as one of the cords wasn’t very cooperative. However, after tearing the desk apart underneath, dad was able to get the cable out so the printer could be repositioned. They are both feeling much better and should soon be back to their normal activities.

I think this is the first Christmas Eve we’ve spent alone in our entire married life. It’s been very quiet. We’ve been just doing stuff around the house, listening to Christmas music, and reading. Ninas good friend from Australia called … it’s already Christmas Day in that part of the world. Jared has arrived in El Paso safely. Everyone else in the family seems to be safe and warm and having a nice Christmas Eve.

This holiday was set by the Catholic Church at a time to displace a pagan holiday even though scholars agree that the setting in the Bible could only have happened in the spring of the year. That doesn’t really matter … it’s the reason for the celebration that matters. While Santa Claus is a lovely sentiment, the real reason for this holiday is to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I love the music, the stories, and gift giving of Christmas as it symbolizes God’s infinite gift to us — his Only Begotten Son who has made salvation possible for us. I am eternally thankful for that gift of gifts.

As Nina wrote on her blog, we tried as parents to instill a strong sense of Christmas traditions and we’re happy that some of these are propogating down to the next generation while new traditions are being developed. This is a most wonderful time of the year! Merry Christmas!