Awww Moments and The Christmas Spirit

How can you not look at this kid and say, "awww . . .!!" Drakkin was blessed on Sunday, and I must say, he looked adorable in his little Chinese coat his grandma made him. Of course, he looks cute in just about anything! I mean, seriously. Just look at him!!

Any way, the blessing was extra nice . . . for more reasons that just seeing Drakkin in a cute outfit. For the first time in literally years, all of my siblings were at church. And we all got to be there together. With all the nieces and nephews. It was nice, like the "warm fuzzies" kind of nice, to have all my siblings at church. And being able to show off all the cute nieces and nephews was just an added perk.

On Sunday night, I also got to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at the Conference Center. That was cool. I love seeing the Conference Center all decked out for Christmas. I love seeing the lights on Temple Square. It's like a highly-concentrated shot of Christmas Spirit that you would assume would keep you high all year long. Alas, it didn't work quite as well this year. On my way home from work today, I decided that there are certain things that kill the Christmas spirit.

1. Naughty Children
I don't mean your garden variety "I sprayed lysol all over the bathroom" or "you mean butter isn't meant for VCR's?" naughty. I mean downright, make other children cry and adults cringe at the naughtiness that comes out of your mouth. Seriously. I'd take a buttered VCR any day over the things I heard in school today!

2. Hover Mothers
I know I've blogged about hover mothers before. But seriously. It just keeps getting worse as the year goes on.

3. People Who Don't Have the Christmas Spirit
How many of you would jump at the chance to buy a small gift like a doll or a toy car for a kid who would otherwise not get a Christmas present? Maybe it's just me, but opportunities like that are my favorite way to get into the Christmas Spirit. It makes me sad to see others who are very capable of giving miss that opportunity. Somehow I don't think singing, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch . . . " to them would help get them the Christmas Spirit!

4. Finals
Okay, so I'm not really in school right now, but who decided it was a good idea to have finals during the month of December? I don't think I was ever NOT stressed about a finals week in college . . . except the one right before I left on my mission. Actually, I was very un-stressed that week, much to the annoyance of my classmates! Ironically enough, that semester I did better on my finals than any other semester in college. Go figure. Any way, I digress. Finals are stressful. Christmas time is stressful. Why combine the two?

So, what is one to do to maintain the Christmas Spirit in spite of the many Christmas Spirit killers? Wear Christmas socks. Seriously. I got a few new pairs today, and that made everything better. I'm rejuvenated with the Christmas Spirit. They are like the patch that gets an addict through the day. You can't be a Scrooge when you have monkeys hanging off strings of lights adorning your feet. While you might not agree on the Christmas Spirit killers, trust me on the socks!