Christmas Time Is Here

No fewer than 20 individuals, all told, gathered at the Plowman house to spend Christmas Eve together Friday night. Not all of those who attended are related to me by blood - a few are considered, for the moment, adopted/honorary Plowmans - but, as Charles Dickens wrote in Nicholas Nickleby: "Family need not be defined merely as though with whom we share blood, but as those for whom we would give our blood."

A fantastic dinner was followed by our annual family Christmas pageant, focusing on the Christmas stories in Luke 2 and 3 Nephi 1, which Biz took great care to organize. I was cast, for some reason, as a wise man (rim shot).

Among the other cast members participating were Jenna and Kira, two very cute angels; my fellow wise man, Dallin; and Luke, as a shepherd:



Some gifts were then exchanged - the rest were, presumably, opened the next morning, though I can vouch only for my parents and unmarried siblings - and I must say that watching my nieces and nephews open their presents has increasingly become my favorite part of the holiday. Jackson, in particular, was very pleased with his Sheriff Woody doll, which is a nice companion to his Buzz Lightyear toy. Kira was also pleasantly surprised to receive a Minnie Mouse doll.

The Christmas celebration continued Sunday at church, during which we sang multiple congregational hymns, including "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Away in a Manger," "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Silent Night."

And so, yet another Christmas holiday has come and gone, but the spirit of Christmas need not depart, as long as we strive to keep it all year round, Scrooge style (something else Dickens would say).

And so, as Tiny Tim observed: "God bless us, everyone!"