Remembering Lydia

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in St. Louis (thanks for asking). Husband literally begged me to make a pie. I wasn't in charge of the pies, but he wanted left-overs for "Friday Morning Pie Extravaganza" (aka, eat left-over pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving). I finally gave in. But one pie was not enough because there must be "choices" on F.M.P.E. Sigh. Good thing I'm the best wife ever. I made a pie and an almost-pie (apple crisp - I didn't want to worry about a crust). So here we are on F.M.P.E. enjoying pie (a tradition I am grateful we have - so fun and so delish and making a banana cream pie from scratch is SUPER easy.)

The rest of F.M.P.E. was spent putting up Christmas while husband studied. You can't tell from the picture, but our FREE pre-lit Christmas tree smells like a combination of an old lady, cigarettes, and wet cat. Thanks to an entire can of Febreeze and our scentsy we don't even notice it anymore. :)

If you look close you can see the butterfly ornaments - of course for Lydia. Love them.

While I absolutely love this time of year, it does not come without some sadness. Most of my Christmas decorations were either given to me by my Mom, or inherited after she died. Each has a memory and a sense of longing for things that are no more. Oh how I wanted to place Lydia under the sparkling Christmas tree so she could enjoy staring at the lights. But amidst the tears that I allowed to flow freely on that day, I could not deny the feelings of Peace, Joy, and Love that came from decorating for the CHRISTmas season. What a wonderful Gift we have been given in the gift of the Savior's birth and life.

Thanks to a good friend who helped inspire this idea, we have come up with a way to help remember Lydia at Christmas.  For each act of service we give during the month of December,we add a hershey Kiss to her stocking. (Yes, doing the dishes counts as an act of service in my book - I figure the more kisses the better.) I might not be able to kiss my baby now, but I can honor her and love her in other ways. I can't wait until Lydia has younger siblings who can help us fill the stocking - I think it will be a great way for them to connect with their big sis.

We're heading back home in 11 days. SO EXCITED! Can't wait to stuff my face all week long, spend time with family, and visit Lydia's grave. It will be a wonderful week. Merry Christmas one and all!