Christmas Thoughts

As Christmas quickly approaches I have wanted to share my thoughts and feelings of this Season. So hang on tight..... As a child one of my most favorite stories was a true story of a young named Virginia who wrote a letter to the New York Sun seeking an answer to her question...Is there a Santa? She had begun to doubt because her friends told her he did not exist. Virginia's Father suggested she write the paper saying "If you see it in the Sun it must be so."

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Her letter reached one Francis_Pharcellus_Church. He struggled how to answer this young girls question, but it is his answer that touched me so much.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Although this correspondence was from 1897, I believe that Mr. Church could have been speaking to our day.

I believe that our world has become so politically correct that we have lost sight of what Christmas is about. Store clerks say Happy Holidays in lieu of Merry Christmas as not to offend. Christ's Name is taken out of signs. Even Adam's daycare this year has not one Christmas decoration in the hallways or up front and have only been placed sparingly in the rooms. Santa represents the joy, peace, and love were given to this world at CHRIST's birth. My wish is that we never loose sight of the real reason for this season. "Christ!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Christmas Time

You may be wondering...Is this their dining room table? No this was our way of watching the The first Presidency's Christmas Devotional. We gathered around the computer and ate dinner.

Adam loves the Christmas Tree and thinks that it is fun to get behind it and turn on and off the lights. The ornaments are not staying on either. Guess it is good that my glass ball ornaments are in a large vase on my table.

Decorating day.

Lauren's Gingerbread House Master Piece.

Winter Wonderland

Welcome to our winter wonderland, normally in sunny Las Vegas. One night last week Lauren was watching the news with me, when the weather report started her ears perked up. SNOW!!!! That may have been the only word she had heard. But with that she began to pray for snow. "I think it would be great if it snowed." Well Monday came and went in our area of town there was no snow. The mountains looked beautiful with the dusting they received. I thought she would be happy to see that. But Lauren needed to touch the snow. So she continued to pray for a little white stuff. Her pray was answered with the wildest snow storm on record in Las Vegas in 30 years. While at work today we went to the pool deck of the Venetian and watch the snow. It was beautiful. The best sight was Lauren's face as I pulled up to the house. She was outside playing. Building a little snow man on our front step. Jeff and I went outside with her and helped her build a bigger snowman. He was almost as tall as she is.
She was so wet and very cold when we came in, but she had a blast. She begged me to get a Ziploc bag so she could get some snow to bring inside. So I have a gallon bag of snow being saved in the freezer for an art project. (That is what she told her dad.) I think she is saving it so incase it melts that she will not loose that memory. She was even more excited to find out that school has been cancelled do to the weather. I am sure my niece and nephews in Utah would get a kick out of school being closed over 3.6 inches of snow. Guess it pays to live in a town that has not snow plows.

Dance with me Princess

The other night I had put a Jim Brickman's Disney CD in the Computer. As the music started Lauren ran to her room and put on her Cinderella costume. (99.9% of her life is centered around horses, but once in a while she decides to be a princess.) "Mom, please put on the Cinderella Video..." Lauren asked. I could hardly resist. On this Particular Jim Brickman CD there is a video for the song Beautiful, sung by Wayne Brady. Lauren loves to watch and dance just like Cinderella. As the video started Lauren began to dance. She was so cute. But what tickled my heart was what happened next. Adam ran over to his sister and said, "Princess dance with me." They danced over and over. It was so much fun to see Adam spin his sister around the room. When Jeff arrived home Lauren asked her daddy to dance with her. He of course has always been her first prince charming. Jeff picked Lauren up and whirled her around as well. But Adam was not having any part it. He jumped in with his sword in hand and told his dad to put down his princess.

PBR or bust

On a recent Saturday we recived PBR world finals tickets from my boss. She was so excited to give them to us as she knew how much my kids love rodeo events. But what she did not know is how much Adam loves watching bull riding. After the last rodeo we attended Adam would ask his dad to play with him. "Dad you be the bull and I will fall off." So he understands the idea behind the sport. So when the kids heard we had tickets they were so excited. Each had to wear their cowboy best. Adam had his wranglers and boots, Lauren had her jeans and her boots as well.
The crowds were large, and loud as we arrived. Adam was very uncertain about what was going on. The fireworks scared him. I don't think he even saw a minute of the opening show. Which was amazing. It was only when the lights came up and the Cowboys started to ride that Adam came alive. I tried to capture his expressions as he watch intently each ride. But.....Adam would put his hand up and say "not me mom, the bulls. So I set the carmera on the sport setting and let it rip. He asked quite often since then to see the bulls in my camera. And look out dad, if Jeff gets down on his hands and knees Adam is on his back with one hand in the air. "GO DADDY GO!"


Adam tells me that when he grows up he wants to be a "BULL RIDER." Heaven help me!!!!

For the Love of Horses

When we first moved to Nevada, Lauren and I were given an opportunity to attend National Finals Rodeo. At first Lauren was a little leary of how loud it was, but it did not take her long to get into th event. That could have been partially due to every cowboy wore pink that night, but I think it has more to do with a love that she has for horses. From that night on all she could talk about was the horse. She asked for a pink cowgirl hat for Christmas. She wore that hat until it was falling apart.

Now five years later Lauren is still crazy about horse. She has a stuff horse that has had every name under the sun. She sleeps with it every night. It has been on many vacations with us and she has dragged it out to go running and jumping. Lauren cares for that horse as if it were real. One day I asked her what she was doing as she brushed the matted mane of her horse. She smiled and responded practicing for when I have my real horse one day.

Lauren amazes me. She saves every penny she gets for her horse she wants to buy. She wants a black stallion.

So you can imagine the look on Lauren's face when her dad told her she would be starting horse back riding lessons. She has only had 5 lesson but she is doing so well. She controls "scooter" very well. When here trainer yells at her to trot the horse Lauren's legs just start kicking. She has no fear.

Lauren I am so impressed by your love and dedication. I am impressed with your never giving up on your dreams. I love how gentle you are with these animals. Never loose sight of your dreams.

Disneyland Vacation 2008

This past week our family went on vacation to Disneyland. Our family adventures in the park started on Tuesday morning at 9:30. With excitement we entered the park. It was amazing. For me it had been 25 years since I last walked down Main Street USA. But there is a magic that happens when you walk through the gate, a magic that takes you back all those years. Jeff and I were excited to share it all with the kids.

After taking in all the festive "Halloween" Decorations that awaited us on Main Street we went into "City Hall" to get first time pins for Adam and Lauren. Lauren also received her birthday pin as well. Then it was on to a world wind day of rides. Jeff and I had prepared ourselves to go from bell to bell.

Snow White Dark Adventure was our first stop. Adam was not to happy. He did not like it and he let us know. Dumbo, the Animal train and the Merry-go-round seemed to be more his speed. But then it was on to the Matterhorn. YES, Adam went and he did not care for that as well. Lauren seemed to like the ride, she just did not care for the abominable snow monster. However, this is where we were handed a great opportunity. The "Dream Givers" of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion were at the exit. They were handing out passes the said, " have you ever wondered what it would be like to stay in the park after it closes?" Well, yes I had and let me tell you it was fun. We, along with 3,000 others were giving the chance to experience an extra hour in the park. There were no long lines. I don't think that Adam and Lauren really appreciated the extra hour but... one day they may realize what they had the chance to do.
The rest of the day on Tuesday we went from ride to ride ~ from Critter Country to Tomorrow land. The kids were great. Adam loved "Mickey's Toon Town" the best. That is were he saw Pluto up close. For Him it became all about the characters and how he could convince mom and dad not to take him on another ride. Although Lauren liked the characters she liked being adventurous ~ all except the Haunted Mansion. Maybe next time.

Wednesday, October 8th was day 2 after 12 hours in the Park the day before. But most important it was Lauren's 7th birthday. So today became all about her. When the gates opened we there heading directly for the Princess Fantasy Faire. There Lauren was able to take pictures with Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella, and Mulan. She was a little disappointed that Sleeping Beauty and Belle were not there to sign her autograph book. She had to have a crown to wear the rest of the day. She chose pink Mikey Mouse ears the had a crown on top. She proudly wore them all day.

Lauren's Birthday dinner was at Goofy's Kitchen. Which was the perfect top to our vacation. There we met many characters including Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Cinderella's Fairy God Mother and Lauren's new heart throb. Prince Philip. There is a reason that Disneyland is called "the Happiest Place on Earth." There is a magic that happens in both old and young as you enter the gates and you are welcomed home. I watched that magic in my children's eyes every time they met one of the characters they treasure so much. The real magic occurred as Jeff and I shared our past with our present who will someday share it with the future. We created memories with our children that will last a life time.