CHRISTmas

I LOVE Christmas. I've always loved Christmas, but when I moved to Cedar I learned to love it even more. I know weather doesn't technically make a holiday, but it does make it more magical. New snow on a red mountain? Gives me goosebumps. One of my very favorite Christmas traditions is the President's Holiday Gala at SUU. Most years it's in the Great Hall which looks similar to the Great Hall in Harry Potter. We fill it with beautiful Christmas decorations and a great musician or two. It's a thank you to the year's VIP donors and some of my favorite event memories come from the Gala.

Today in Cedar City, UT is the President's Gala. I knew it was coming, I event sent a Christmas card to the Alumni House letting them know I was thinking of them since I knew this year's Gala would be more ... complicated. They had to organize with a few more people then they normally do, and it would be split between multiple venues which is always tricky. I woke up with the Gala on my mind. As I ran errands with my mom all I could think about was what the event crew would be working on at that moment, what Chartwells would be serving, what would be decorating the tables that night, if they were using Dennis' fireplace at coat check, sound check, etc.

Then I went to my ward's Christmas dinner. And for two hours I didn't think about the Gala, I didn't think about the SUU Men's Basketball game going on at that point, but I thought of a mother over 2000 years ago and wondered if she really knew how special her Son would be. I thought about her Son and how He has shaped my life and the life of everyone I love. It's quite amazing how the absolute awe of Him can take over your whole thought process and bring a peace like nothing else can. He is the reason for the season.