On Christmas night we all gathered in Kent and I's room by the fireplace to do our MacKay Family Christmas Program. It is so fun now that the kids are learning the words to the songs more and more, and can help with the reading.
I read the first page from our book and then we all went to bed. It had been a wonderful day!
The next day was Boxing Day and we worked hard! Here is my post from fb:
Happy Boxing Day! We celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas from December 25th to January 6th by having a special activity each day leading up to Epiphany Day. The day after Christmas we organize and clean and get some things together to donate that we don't need anymore. Everyone worked so hard! My husband has definitely figured out how to score big points with his wife!! I am so grateful he goes along with my somewhat-crazy traditions and also for the organization bug that bites him every once and a while! Thanks Kent for being so great today!!
I posted about our Christ-centered traditions throughout Christmas and especially these days because of a discussion I had with my friend Carly who is a ward missionary right now. She challenged me to post daily about how the gospel is making a difference in my life. I'm not sure I can do it every single day this year, but on these days it was easier.
Anyway, Kent and Natalie rearranged Natalie's room so that she could move her school desk up into this corner.
Here is her new bookshelf. She LOVES it! And she felt so grown up getting to help Kent put it together.
Then Kent and Caleb reorganized the cold storage room and the athletic/storage room. They did a great job! It makes me so happy to get some more space to fill down there. =o]
And here is what I was doing all day! I went through each room with each person and we de-cluttered the house to make room for our new presents, and then we put the new presents away. It was beautiful!! Again from fb:
Our bags for DI! This is a perfect activity for the day after Christmas because everyone is in a giving mood! smile emoticon
Thank you King Wenceslas for your example at the Feast of Stephen all those centuries ago! Even if it turns out to only be a legend, I still think you and your song are cool!
From fb:
Today for the 12 Days of Christmas we studied about Jesus instituting the sacrament. My favorite part of the discussion was discovering just how blessed we are to get to participate in the sacrament each week when BILLIONS of Heavenly Father's children have never experienced that ordinance. I believe with all my heart that we are given this blessing because we need the protection and strength it can provide if we utilize it! Happy Sabbath to you!!
Today for the 3rd day of Christmas we studied about the interactions of Jesus Christ with the people who lived in America. We also continued our tradition for this day of marking a copy of the Book of Mormon to give to a close friend who didn't have one already. We each chose one story and a color to highlight with, and then I wrote in the margins and underlined with a pen. I hope the friends we gave this gift to can feel our love for them. I hope they can gain peace and strength as we have as a family from this remarkable book. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ! I am so grateful for my family! I am so grateful for Christmastime!
It took me basically all day to get this done. Mostly because I was interrupted like every minute. But I'm so glad I persevered because it was a great experience to go and give the book to our friends the Lizano family.
I also gave another copy of the Book of Mormon to my friend Jenn this Christmas. It took me months to read and mark for her though, because I read the whole thing and marked all the references to women in it. I wrote my testimony in the back of the copy- it took 27 pages. I hope she will read it.
From fb:
Today for the 12 Days of Christmas we wrote our thank you cards. Aka we did art projects that happen to say thank you on them. Someday they will express gratitude specifically about the gifts they received, but for now this will do!
I love the tradition of making gingerbread houses! We made them each year growing up and had the best time creating delectable winter wonders! But now I love this tradition because it reminds me of how much we need the Savior. I mean, look as these houses! Our best efforts are futile. Our houses are ridiculously fragile and flawed! But He would never laugh at us or make us feel ashamed when we have tried our best. He will help us transform our little cardboard shacks into celestial mansions if will just let Him in when He comes knocking on our door. He loves each of us so much!
Today for the 12 Days of Christmas we learned about Jesus being intentional. This is one of the most important words in my testimony of His Gospel. During the day I took the time with each kid to read over their blessings from the past year, and the goals they set last New Year's Eve. Then tonight we set goals individually and as a family for the coming year and honestly, I couldn't be more excited to see what we make of it! After some celebrating and putting the kids to bed Kent and I read our patriarchal blessings together. This is one of my most cherished traditions. I can't think of a better way to start the new year intentionally. Bring it on 2016!!
I made Chex Mix for Kent and he got to watch some football games. He was in heaven!
We played this hilarious game Caleb gave Kent for Christmas. We love pancakes and games so it is the perfect match!
Seth even scored a goal!!
Rockin' out in our ghetto basement! We love riding scooters around down there now that there is snow outside so oh well!
Kent surprised us with some extra New Year's Eve fun- poppers!
Coming up with new goals was so awesome! It was hard for me to let go of my goal "make our home like the temple" from last year because I feel like we still need improvement, but we can always circle back around to it next year! And I LOVE how often our family goals have come up since this night! It is a built in motivator!
We are going to potty-train Seth. We are going to learn to not yell or die trying! We are going to remember to close the door when using the toilet, not splash around wildly when using the bathtub, and not smear toothpaste and the like on the sink/counter/mirror!! The next one is self explanatory and has been brought up multiple times every day by everyone from Kent to Jenna! I taught Family Home Evening about the Sabbath this past Monday and I have to say it was quite possibly the most calm FHE we have ever had. Everyone participated and was engaged the whole time! Granted, the lesson lasted less than 10 minutes, but progress is progress people! Seth saying the sweetest prayer I have ever heard ALL BY HIMSELF for the first time is probably what set the tone for the meeting. The first Sabbath of the year, especially being a fast Sunday, was a meaningful one for me. I hope the trend continues. And the last goal stems from the trap I am scared of falling into of doing everything for the kids because I don't have a baby to take care of. I don't know if this makes sense to you, but I catch myself doing things because it is just faster and easier for me to do them sometimes instead of making everyone do their own part. But we want to kids to do what they can, and learn to do what they can't! It is more than fine to get help after we have tried our best, and it is also more than fine to need help because we don't even know where to start! What is not okay is having a house elf: me. I am not a servant and I am working myself out of a job this year so help me!
The last phrase is our family motto this year. It comes from a show the kids used to watch a long time ago called the Wonder Pets. Jenna and Seth hadn't seen it but they knew the ditty because we sing it all the time. We showed them an episode so they would understand it better. LOVE IT!
Then I took everyone upstairs to get on pajamas while Kent set up another surprise- popping streamers!!
Such good times! The kids went to bed without even complaining about not getting to stay up late, In fact, Kent and I didn't stay up until midnight either, though we got woken up by all the fireworks. We live in the fireworks state!!
It has been such a full year. So much goodness! So many blessings!! I am looking forward to the awesome memories we will make in 2016!!!
thank you for sharing all these special things and your thoughts it makes me not so far away
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