Cliche Christmas Post!

For Christmas every year, we draw names in my family to buy each other gifts.  This year, Chelsey drew my name, and she got me such an awesome present!  It's this Cateye Strada bike computer, which will help me monitor my speed and time, and the distances I've gone on my bike (once I get it back).  I'm really excited because it's very small so it won't be bulky or weigh my bike down or anything.

I drew Celeste's name.  For the past few months, she's kind of been obsessed with a website called "My Life is Average".

So when I got her name, I wasn't sure what to get her, but then as I was reading on this site, I saw the link "MLIA swag is here" or something like that, so I found out they have t-shirts for exactly what our set limit was!  It was a Christmas miracle!  So I bought it, and waited for it to arrive, so I could wrap it without her seeing it.  Then, on Festivus, (Dec. 23rd), I was leaving work, and saw a huge box lined with tons of bubble wrap!  If you are familiar with MLIA at all, you'll know that many "average" people are enthralled and overly excited about bubble wrap, so I wrapped her shirt in it.  I was so excited to see her face, and it was better than expected!  My sisters rock.

This is the coolest gift of them all (I think).  So as adults, we don't expect as "large" a Christmas as we used to as kids.  We each got our stockings, the exchange gifts, and then one gift each from Santa.  After it all wound down, our Dad handed out to each of us kids a small bag with nothing but a couple of pieces of paper in them.  One was a set of instructions, the other was a clue we each had to follow.  They were hard clues, but finding the small, rolled up pieces of paper at the place the clue described was sometimes even harder!  Each clue had a piece of a drawn, burned map wrapped around it.  After each of us had gathered about 8 or 9 pieces of 4 different maps, we combined our efforts to put the maps together.  They involved different allusions from The Lord of the Rings, Princess Bride, and some other made-up, similarly fictional landmarks.  We each followed the map to try to decide if the "Cliffs of Insanity" were the outside wall of our house, or the banister in our living room, if "Mount Doom" was the oven or the grill outside, or if the "Blowholes" were the heater vents or spouts in our downstairs shower.  We then found our individual, wrapped presents.  Mine was a wooden turtle-shaped box, similar to this one, but much cooler.  Inside, I found some Christmas cash and a note from my parents telling me how much they love and appreciate me.  I'm sure my sisters received the same.  My parents are so creative and so willing to spend time to serve us kids.  I'm very grateful for them.

Even more, I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loved us so much He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for me, and for each one of us.  It's a gift I can't comprehend fully, but I'm grateful that during Christmas, I have the added opportunity to spend time pondering that sacrifice, and think of ways I can try to show my gratitude.  Oh, how I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!  (See top right widget for more inspiring thoughts on Christmas.)