I love holidays...

I love feeling festive. Which means that I especially love the holidays at the end of the year. My sister will share these feelings with me probably... we're practically the same in this area. :) Along with loving holidays... I also love traditions. There are SO many traditions that my family did growing up that I'd like to do with my own family now. JB has traditions too, but not as many. So my want/need for traditions has caught him off guard a bit. Every holiday has a tradition. And every tradition makes me happy. So, we continue the traditions. He's such a good sport.

Although I live in California where there isn't much of a seasonal change... I love it when the leaves change. It's so beautiful. It means all the fun holidays are coming. It means Christmas is almost here. It means bundling up in front of the fireplace, baking yummy things, and listening to Christmas cd's. Happiness.

There are a few things that are a must for the Christmas season. First is "The Muppet Christmas Carol".

We MUST watch it. Usually those that appreciate it most in my family are myself and my sister. One year just my sister and I watched it while we were up at BYU. We needed to feel festive and we were missing home so we rented the movie and watched it in my Heritage Halls apartment on a tiny TINY TV in my kitchen. That's how important this was to us.

And then there's the American Idol Christmas cd.
The best is Ruben Studdard's "This Christmas." (Awww... look at him. He looks cool doesn't he?
In his festive red and everything!
"Shake your hands, shake your hands, yea!" - Ruben Studdard)

Oh what rapturous and happy feelings that song gives me! And those feelings come most when I'm listening to it with my sis. Like I said... she is a sister after my own heart. Two peas in a pod are we when festivities and fun Christmas feelings are concerned.I love Christmas. What a glorious season of service and family and traditions. Summer is nice. But at the end of the year when everything is still and quiet, when the emphasis is put on others and not yourself, when we get to celebrate Christ's birth, when family seems more important than ever, and when traditions really make life happy is truly my most glorious time. Yes, the holiday season is my favorite. Nothing beats it. Not even the Summer.