thirteenth day of Christmas

"Because it's Christmas, I've been thinking more than usual about what you taught me,

about how God sent His Son to be born in a manger, to live, to teach, to die, and to be born again, resurrected, for us. 

I know that's true.

I've been thinking about how I used to count down to the big day. 

We would try so hard to think of Jesus, but we knew the traps. 

We knew the meaning of Christmas had become lost in the ripped wrapping paper on the floor. 

So we try to remember Him. 

On Christmas Eve, Dad would read His story from Luke in the New Testament. 

We felt good about ourselves that we'd worked so hard to remember that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus.

Then what?

On December 26th we return the clothes that didn't fit, and we begin to put Christmas 

back in the box.

In the basement. 

Or by the curb. 

We mark the day off the calendar and prepare for the next holiday and the chance to ring in the new year. 

What a shame that the day after Christmas 

just might be the least memorable day of the year.

I've learned that it doesn't matter 

how I'm living my life today, or tomorrow, or on Christmas Day, 

or how much I remember Him and His birth, 

if I don't wake up a different man on December 26.

Isn't that what He wants?

Not to simply celebrate Jesus' birth on one day, 

but to celebrate His life by living like Him the other 364?

Do we workshop the infant for a day, but not the man and His teachings all year long?

Do we put Him away with the decorations?

Or do we try to be more like Him?

That's my Christmas gift to you. I hope you get this by Christmas, but if you don't, think of me on the day after.

Now that I've reread this letter, I'd say December 26 might be my new favorite day of the year. 

I guess you could call that the 13th Day of Christmas.

Please enjoy my gift. It's the most valuable thing I have: 

December 26th."

"The 13th Day of Christmas" by Jason F. Wright, pages 235-236.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

in case you missed it...
TODAY WAS CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!

I LOVE Christmas.
And today was even better than I expected.

Woke up early, played with the family, and stayed in pajamas. All day long.
Home videos of Christmas past.
Eating lots of food. and cookies. and candy. and food. and treats.
Laughs from past memories and [now] some new ones. Items involved: bathrobe, puzzles, baby dolls, and picture books.
The beautiful joy of giving to others.

I just love this day of the year.

AND we had a white Christmas!!! It snowed about an inch last week, but it's been so cold it never melted.
Thankful for the subzero temperatures of Chicago for once.

Most importantly, remembering the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For with Him, nothing will ever be impossible. And that is a simply beautiful truth.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with your friends and loved ones. 

family photos and decorations

[day twenty-three]

my parents

My mom and dad are just about the best parents I could have asked for. They have supported me unconditionally through all my challenges. They push me to be my best self. They have taught me the importance of being an example to my younger [but bigger] siblings. They continue to teach me about the gospel and how to strengthen my own testimony.
Mom and Dad are also pretty great at expressing their creativity in gifts. They have a fantastic sense of humor, particularly past nine o'clock at night. They are my greatest examples of how to stay smiling and laughing even through the darkest times.
And they are the most adorable couple on the planet.

I love them to death.

So it's the day after Thanksgiving. aka the official start of the Christmas season.
aka Black Friday, but we don't participate in those shopping activities.

We spent most of our day putting up Christmas decorations. Namely, our snow village set, the fake Christmas tree in the family room [complete with lights and ornaments], and finishing the outside lights.

And then we took family photos. Enjoy a few of the bloopers.

PS: Christmas music is officially legal! Which means Christmas music 24-7 in our apartment.

Did I mention I LOVE Christmas?

didn't I tell you - most adorable couple right there.

well hello there

I have not completely disappeared.
And I do have my 30 days of Thanksgiving posts finished.

BUT
Blogger says that I have apparently reached my free photo limit... whatever that means.
So I'm in the middle of trying to figure out how to get all my photos up before I publish those Thanksgiving posts.

In the meantime, I am working towards finals and moving out of my apartment all before next Saturday. It's a little crazy. So I apologize for neglecting the blog, but other things are taking higher priority.

Good luck with finals to all of you in school!
To the rest of you... good luck as well.

In honor of the wonderful Christmas season, here is the newest song released by the Piano Guys.

"O Come, Emmanuel"

The Piano Guys

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Valentine's Day!! a few days later...

So Blogger is being dumb and wouldn't let me copy and paste the post I typed up into the posting box so I had to completely retype the whole thing then I forgot that it only puts the pictures at the top of the editing box and that the box is so small you can't move any of the pictures. So all my pictures are stuck here at the top of the post completely out of order. You might want to scroll down and read the post first before you look at the pictures. Regardless, I'm sorry I haven't blogged lately - life's been kind of crazy.

Birthday gift...a horseback ride with Dad! For Christmas, Dad started this whole Barbie-presents-the-present theme, so Mom also wrapped up a Barbie in a dress for the dress she gave me (which we are going shopping for this weekend).


My birthday cake...isn't he adorable!
Megan broke her arm at a basketball game, but she's handling the whole thing really well! Ironically, I was the first kid in our family to break a bone - my right arm right below the shoulder got fractured when I missed a trapeze bar and landed on a sprinkler head.

Another one of my birthday gifts - this little adapter has six headphone jacks. One is always attached to an iPod, and the others are open for headphones for everyone! You can also attach a second iPod and play two songs at the same time.

The immense icicle that was hanging precariously outside my bedroom window.

My hair is finally growing back - it's about an 1.5 inches long now.

Happy birthday to me!

The finished cake....

The cake in the works.

Nathan trying on my wig - doesn't he look cute!

Our new ping pong table!

Christmas day breakfast - homemade cinnamon rolls and quieche. Yum!

One of my gifts was money to purchase a laptop when I go to college! Dad decided to wrap up a Barbie and the theme kind of stuck for my birthday presents, too.

Christmas morning!

My last CT scan was completely clear, and my last heart tests were perfectly fine. We're just working on adjusting some med levels. I caught laryngitis the day after finals and missed the first week of second semester, but my voice is back and I'm feeling great!

Christmas was wonderful - everyone was healthy and feeling good! I especially enjoyed the break from homework, makeup work, etc. We had so much food and treats and presents! It's always such a cheerful time of year. New Year's Eve was fun - Nathan got a ping pong table for Christmas so we played many games waiting for the ball to drop. Most of us slept under the Christmas tree.

Then we come to January 7th - My 17th birthday! I've now had my license for a year! We went to California Pizza Kitchen (my favorite - the Thai Chicken Pizza is delicious!) for dinner. Mom and Rachel (who stayed home sick that day) created an amazing horse head cake from two round chocolate cakes and one 9x13 funfetti cake. It was delicious and adorable! I got some fun presents including piano music, a dress, and a horseback ride with Dad!! Obviously we have to wait for some slightly warmer weather until that can happen. At least it's improving - today the sun was actually out as we walked home from school!

I finished off the first semester with a 4.0 GPA. We've started having college nights and I took my first ACT on February 6. I've been looking out for scholarships to pay my way through college. I actually found one for $1993 if you were born in 1993 - it's amazing the things they'll give out scholarships for. It's a little frightening to think at this time next year I'll know what school I'll be going to! Yikes!

Besides that, nothing much has happened. Mom went to Utah last Wednesday and was gone until the 16th (Tuesday night). Since they had to cancel my flight to Utah last summer, we had a free ticket that had to be used before April. So Mom went to help out my aunt and uncle and visit her family. This was probably my first Valentine's Day without her here! We managed all right at home...we had food to eat every night and didn't stay up TOO terribly late watching the Olympics.

Valentine's Day was exciting - another heart day for me to celebrate! I can't believe it was five years ago I received my second heart transplant!

This week has been pretty crazy! Monday we had school off so I went and saw the Tooth Fairy with a friend. It was hilarious and totally clean! I highly recommend the movie! On Tuesday Megan broke her arm at a basketball game so Dad had to take her to the ER while Nathan hung out with me at our Young Women's activity. He came in handy when he taught all of us laurels how to do the Hoedown Throwdown for our upcoming talent show! Wednesday I had the honor of staying at school for 13 hours while Megan was at home with her broken arm and Rachel was home feeling nauseous. Nathan even woke up with a sore throat, but somehow I managed to stay healthy - ironic, but YAY! I had a long yearbook night and then had to go to a two hour meeting to fill out paperwork for National Honors Society. We'll have to see if anything comes of it...

Hope you're all enjoying the last few weeks of winter and watch some Olympics this weekend! Spring is finally in the air. Remember to keep smiling!