Our Little Nativity

For just about every previous Christmas holiday, both Becky and I have been with our families. This was the first year that neither of us didn't travel anywhere. And of course, it was also the first year that we celebrated Christmas as a traditional nuclear family, now that we have Alex.

Becky's mom was visiting Friday, which allowed us to go out and have food and conversation with some other couples in our ward at a get together. I realize these opportunities to socialize amongst adult company will be rare for the next little while. 

During the weekend we also enjoyed exchanging gifts of Christmas goodies with a few neighbors and also visiting with some friends who stopped by to share gifts.

One of our neighbors that I home teach leads an effort every year to place luminaries all along our street. It really makes living on this street special. So the evening of Christmas eve, after Ruben sandwiches for dinner by the fire, we bundled up Alex in his stroller and took a walk down the street among the luminaries. That put Alex peacefully to sleep for some time (he loves rides in the stroller), and Becky and I watched some shows and enjoyed cocoa, and read about the miracle we celebrate in the Gospel of Luke.

Fig. 1. The annual tradition of Christmas luminaries on Fairfield Street.

Fig. 2. Alex all bundled up for a chilly Arizona evening.

Fig. 3. Christmas Eve by the fire.

At some point during the night, our heater stopped working. Thankfully, in Phoenix that is not a crisis situation. It just got a little chilly, as it was actually a very windy and rainy Christmas eve. The luminaries lasted until 11 pm, at which point they were extinguished by that rain.

Fortunately, we have our previously mentioned little fire place which we planned on making use of anyways because it's Christmas! After sleeping in this morning, we made cinnamon rolls and opened presents together by the fire. Becky got a cookbook and sweater, Alex got baby stuff, and Rob got a cooking scale and some very stylin' socks (from his friends company Vybe Socks). Among other things, Santa also brought us some bluetooth headphones.

Fig. 3. Alex in his new threads, courtesy of Santa, among other gifts.

We planned to attend our church service today, and we got dressed up and pushed the stroller over there (the church is just around the corner from our house), but no one was there. Obviously, we missed the announcement about the special Christmas service being held at a different hour this week. I blame the fact that we are in Primary and therefore aloof in regards to general ward matters. Anyways, the good intentions were there.

Fig. 4. Dad and Alex, hanging out Christmas morning.

Aside from that, we enjoyed time relaxing at home in our pajamas, cleaning up around the house a bit, snacking, talking to our families, and watching some of the classics (It's a Wonderful Life, and Home Alone).

Being able to celebrate Christmas as husband and wife with our newborn infant in the similitude of that which we honor with this holiday has been particularly special this year. In a way, it has been our own nativity with beautiful lights, gifts from wise friends, friendly beasts (the cats in our backyard), and a precious little child swaddled up beside us.

We hope that your Christmas has been special too, in its own unique way. What I love about this holiday is how it can be common enough to transcend cultures and religious beliefs, yet at the same time personal enough to have so many variations in how it is celebrated and what it means for each of us.