Celebrating Christmas, version 4.7

Like lots of moms, I struggle with how to celebrate that big giant holiday at the end of December. It has felt overwhelming for a long time, pretty much since I had two little boys born the week before Christmas, adding their birthday celebrations to the mix, along with my mother-in-law's and my father's. Buying presents for all my relatives for all the big events in December can be a stress factory. I have tried different ways to "celebrate Christmas" and haven't been totally satisfied with any of them.

Jan and his fiancee, Sallie.

This year is potentially more overwhelming because my second son is getting married 4 days after Christmas in California. His birthday is a week before Christmas so he is going to have all his big holidays within 11 days! We're excited for both of them though.

As soon as they got officially engaged September 24th I knew I had to go into high-speed. So I made a list for both the wedding and Christmas and I've been working on it ever since. I also let go of my ideals of getting the perfect presents or perfect anything. And I keep reminding myself of that.

Here it is, November 28th. How am I feeling? At this exact moment, actually pretty good. Maybe I'm delusional but it's feeling doable. I've figured out my gifts for just about everybody and they're mostly purchased. The gifts I have to mail (including our missionary's) have been shipped. The clothes for the wedding are mostly ready, except for my dress which is in progress. I'm sewing it, my friend is helping me, and I'm hopeful that it's going to look okay. There's still a lot to do but I'm hopeful it will happen.

Today we put up our Christmas tree--probably the earliest ever. It helped put me in the Christmas spirit. We put up our many nativity sets and tomorrow we'll start celebrating Advent. I'm hopeful that this year maybe I'll find the right combination for our Christmas celebration.

Talmage doing a selfie.

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