Christmas Tree & Shop with a cop

Beware. It's late. Everyone is asleep. And I'm just sitting here thinking that my blog has been kinda lame lately. I guess I'm not sure what to write.

So...

I'll just let my thoughts ramble & see what happens - OK? This may end up being more of a journal entry than an events entry.

Well, I'm sitting here under the glow of our Christmas tree. I love to squint my eyes & see all the fuzzy colors. This year, for the first time, we have colored lights. We've always done the white lights because I always thought they looked classier. Well, I guess that tells you. We're more interested in making our kids happy than being classy. And you know what? It's OK with me right now. We had an adventure today cutting this tree down. We drove up Parowan Canyon. Hiked in the snow with the girls. And my manly man trekked farther into the forest & the deep snow to bring back the Hamilton Family Christmas Tree (we were making Griswald jokes the whole time). We had a good time, but were downright cold by the time we were done.

I'm glad our tree is finally up. I LOVE waking up in the morning for time with my Maker and kneeling under the glow of the tree. I LOVE reading books to my kids in the evening by its light. I LOVE cuddling with my darlin' at night as we are mesmerized by the soft glow. I love the smell. I love the memories it brings.

McKinley asked if she could sleep under the tree tonight & my first impulse was to say no, but I stopped myself. Why not?

It seems life has been too rushed lately. Too many decisions to be made. Too little time for the fun stuff. We still have big decisions ahead about building our home. And insurance. And budgets. And on and on. Maybe that's another reason why I love the Christmas tree. It seems to slow things down a bit. Ahhhhh...

This morning - before 7am - I went to Walmart. Not to shop...though I still have plenty of that to do. It was the shop with the cop program. What's that? Well, I'm sure I couldn't tell you a week or two ago, but after today, I know a little more. Policemen, firefighters, etc - come to Walmart and get to shop for Christmas with a child in need. When I got within a block of Walmart, I saw flashing lights & blaring sirens. It looked like WWIII for sure. There had to be 50 fire trucks, police cars & ambulances in that parking lot & street. It was really amazing to see. Really. Amazing. The Young Men & Young Women in our ward came (along with many other youth groups) to help wrap the gifts forthese children. I can't tell you how neat and fun it was to participate in that. Truly. To see those children's eyes light up as they tell you how excited they are for Christmas & how important they feel with this policemen? Pretty awesome stuff. Really put the Christmas spirit in my heart. Here's a video of the entrance, though it doesn't do it justice:

We've still got lots of white stuff on the ground. It's still pretty downright chilly. But beautiful blue skies. LOVING no smog here, people. Loving it.

Well, there's a rant for you :)