O Tannenbaum...

(no wonder he is the heart-throb of Kindergarten...)

We searched for that perfect, heart warming, memory making tree. We braved the chilly wintery weather, we fought the crowds, and finally, it found us! We crammed it in our minivan, I won't tell you how we had to configure seating arrangements... Jeff and I tried to sing "O Christmas Tree" on the way home, only to realize, neither one of us really knew the song... So, we sang Feliz Navidad instead, which can never be sung without producing a smile.

Here it is. A beautiful tree to light our home. We spent a better part of Saturday night "fluffing needles," I'd rather you heard Lily say that... "plupping needles." We love our Lily. Anyway, it was fun.

I love the twinkling lights. The chilled air. Dressy clothes and hats. Cookies. Pies. Cakes. OK, I digress, but I love it all really.

Especially as we remember why. Why we celebrate. One of my favorite Christmas books is by Richard Paul Evans. The question is posed, "What was the first gift of Christmas?"

Of course, it was God's Son. He gave His Son to the world. And that is why we celebrate Christmas. I remind the kids of this as often as possible. This message is a small quiet one that fights through the crowds of commercialism, but it is the first and best gift of all.