My sisters and I wanted something different this Christmas season. We didn’t want a mountain of gifts – we just wanted to feel the Christmas Spirit – so we devised a plan. Meghan whispered it to our younger brothers. At first they weren’t sure about it, but when we told them our ideas, their eyes grew wide with excitement. Then we all addressed our parents.
I told them, “We have an idea. Instead of getting gifts this Christmas, what if we gave gifts?”
Throughout December, we made gifts for friends, family and neighbors. We also drew names out of a hat and each of us made a gift for one member of the family.
Take a look at what we made…

Kendra’s Knit Monkey (For Ammon)

Joseph's Drawings of (LT to RT: Alisa & Meghan)

Alisa's Knit Scripture Bag (For Meghan)

Mom sewed Dad one of his favorite pair of dress pants (but I figured you wouldn’t want to see a picture of pants)

LaRae's Illustrations for Alisa's Poem (That's Me!)

This is not a gift, but it made me laugh... Ammon made a beard out of the stuffing from a box of fudge (Thanks, Billie + Lola!)

Sean's Drawing of Me (This made me cry)

Mom Sewed Each of us a Scripture Case

Joseph & Meghan Wrote Short Story Books (Like O'Henry's style)

Ammon Sewed a Pillow for Mom (He had Mom help him sew it. She Never Knew it was For Her!)

I woke up Christmas morning. There was no snow outside, but it didn’t matter to me anymore. I felt more satisfied and grateful than I ever have before. This really was the best Christmas ever!