Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store. -Dr. Seuss

The other Saturday Mr. Bluth was in full swing with his finals and I managed to keep myself busy with a few trips to the grocery store. We had a heavy snowfall and the snow just kept coming which made walking to the grocery store a little difficult. The bags were dragging my shoulders and my whole posture forward which brought my eyes down. Before reaching our apartment I managed to look up and I was struck by the beauty of the snow covered street. I stopped thinking about how heavy my bags were and how I wish I would have made Mr. Bluth stop to get milk and appreciated the chance I had to be out and enjoying life. There really is beauty all around.

The rest of the month has been spent with Mr. Bluth finishing his semester and a long couple of weeks of finals. We also managed to celebrate Mr. Bluth's liberation at the end of the semester by trying to cram all the holiday festivities into one night. Zoo lights and the Christkindlemarket were our top favorites and we were able to enjoy both of those activities on a night that was relatively warm.

The sprinkles on top of our December Sundae actually occurred yesterday because we were able to spend time with some amazing people. We first had a feast with Sister Carmen. Sister Carmen is from the Philippines and has lived in Chicago for awhile. She was baptized into the Church 13 years ago and she is extremely dedicated and faithful. Just one example of her dedication is how she has worked in the temple every week for the past 10 years. While traveling around Chicago is fairly easy with public transportation attending the temple is almost not possible. She has found a way after taking multiple buses, a couple trains and a long walk so that she can arrive in about two hours.

We arrived for lunch and found ourselves a feast and we ended up taking a huge Trader Joe's bag home because she insisted we take the leftovers home.

We were spoiled with her love and she has a gift to make us strive to be more like Christ.

We later went to a fiesta with a family from Guatemala and found that practicing Spanish was not the best part of the night. The six tables with Christmas decorations and the other walls with trinkets sure made our night. Zoo lights did not even compare to their home.

Finally we ended the night with some close friends and lucked out with some great white elephant gifts.

There has been a lot of things to be wrapped up in this month and we are grateful for the moments we have had to reflect on Jesus Christ and feel of His love through small moments such as looking up on the way home from the grocery store to devouring an Oreintal feast. His Spirit and light is manifested in so many ways.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!