Surviving the Holidays

He started rolling to his tummy at 4 months old!

Once you make it through Halloween, Thanksgiving flies by and then it's already Christmas. This Thanksgiving, I made my first turkey dinner ever. I've never cooked a turkey and I was so worried about ruining it. Luckily I was really only cooking for 3 other people, Jerry, Xander and my brother Michael (Uncle Jose). The turkey was still frozen solid when I took it out of the fridge on Thanksgiving morning, even though I had placed it in the fridge 2 days before. I had to thaw it in a sink with cold water, and that did the trick. My parents and my sister and brother-in-law were all out of town and I didn't feel like dragging two kids everywhere to eat other relatives' food. I have always wanted to make my own dinner anyway. I missed out on some of my favorite dishes, but I did make some of the traditional ones. I did the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries and rolls. I think my mom usually makes a shrimp salad, yams and fruit salad too, but I didn't have time. I hate yams anyway! I also made my favorite thing, the fruit cocktail with 7up. It all turned out well and we were all stuffed afterwards.

Now I'm working to get Christmas together. There is still so much to do, but I'm trying not to be stressed about it, I will get done what I can get done. I think we mostly just need to shop for Xander and Wesley. It's hard hauling around two kids, but we still try to see the lights on temple square. I love going there and seeing it all lit up. You really do get so caught up in the presents and everything else that you need to step back and let yourself be reminded of the true spirit of Christmas. For those who are religious the meaning is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (even though his birthday is really in April). We celebrate his life by helping others around us, friend, family and strangers. I try to keep this with me throughout the year. My biggest excuse for not helping others enough is that I feel so busy. I am busy, but I know that if you truly want to do something you make time. Just like I love to workout at the gym, I make that time almost every single day. I need to make time once a week or more often to do service for others. I did make yummy treats for my neighbors to enjoy, but I know there is so much more I can do to help out. I also love doing the angel tree every year and buying things for children, who just want one toy, or just desperately need a new pair of shoes to give them a good Christmas.

I hope this Christmas can be a really good one for everybody. We only have 12 days left until the 25th!