This is my family on Christmas morning. Will, my twin brother and I are there, along with my parents, and my cousin, Stormy. My older brother Ryan and his family were having their own Christmas in Houston, and Jessica, my older sister was still in Albuquerque, NM.
Christmas was good this year, and it wasn't because of the presents. It was actually the fun time we had together Christmas morning. As you can see from some of these corny pictures, we just had a lot of fun goofing off, and enjoying the gifts. I still would-have had a wonderful Christmas even without the presents. (Even though you can see how excited I was to get my camera...)
I am a big believer that Christmas excitement should never come from receiving gifts, it should be about spending quality time together, getting to know those you love even more than you already do. Christmas is about remembering why you love each other as a family, and most importantly, it's about remembering everyone you care about's relationship with the Savior, and his birth. I really don't think we remember Him enough sometimes during the Christmas season, and I think we should more.
I think one year, we should go without any Christmas presents at all, and we should just enjoy being with each other, and see how different we feel when presents aren't in the picture. Plus, it would save me some money at the end of the year.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as I did.