Christmas Giving

So I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever posted twice in one day, but I just really wanted to post about this. My friend Rosalyn who took our family pictures is having a contest right now on her blog about Christmas Giving. You can read about it here: http://rosalynphotography.blogspot.com/2010/12/gift-for-giving.html

Anyway, I decided to enter and it reminded me of an awesome tradition that we had in my family growing up. My favorite tradition was doing the 12 Days of Christmas. It was this awesome thing that my parents came up with where they would make up rhymes for each of the "days of christmas" involving everything from canned pears to kazoos. We would then pick out 2 or 3 families that we thought could benefit from it. Sometimes it was a new family in our ward, or a friend from school. Then, on December 13th, the fun began! Each night, we would take our "gift" and poem to their house, ring the doorbell, and run/hide. Growing up, being the runner was the thing we all wanted to do. So, that would go on for 11 nights as we tried our best not to get caught or give away who we were. Then, on night twelve, Christmas Eve, we did everything the same as usual, but this time, at the end of our poem we said Love, The Rands. That last gift was the best, too. It was a print that my sister had done of the Baby Jesus in pointillism. It was our way of sharing the gospel and the true Christmas spirit with those around us. It was something I'll never forget, and an amazing way that my parents instilled the spirit of service in all of us. I haven't done this yet since I've left home, but I definitely want to! It's hard since we usually travel over christmas, but I am determined to make time for it.