Ephraim Turns Five

How time flies. This little angel  was born five years ago. He was my Christmas baby! Being a Christmas baby myself, I understand all that it implies, now... He was the best baby ever! He was a happy boy, a great eater, awesome sleeper... oh wait, he is still all those things! Even when I ask him to go take a nap, he just complies and grabs a few toys and snuggles up and falls asleep. I love him so much, and with everything that has happened recently in Connecticut and Sandy Hook, I just want to keep him close and hug him every chance I get. This year it was fun because I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner and he looked at me, thinking for a minute, and said, "A turkey please." When I brought out the frozen turkey he asked me what it was and looked a little sad as he told me he thought that dad was going to go hunting to bring home his turkey. He still enjoyed his mashed potatoes and turkey even if it was from the freezer. I love this age. It is the most impressionable age. It is that age where they want to be just like you, but yet they are starting to become independent and personal. Eph would sit with you for hours and tell you a story. He has to snuggle when he wakes up from a nap. He likes to follow Ben and Will wherever they go. He'll let Joselyn read to him, and even share with Ruby when he feels like it.

I love you Ephraim. Happy 5th Birthday!

Cook Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas

I love this time of year. It brings together family and friends. It reminds us of Christ and how the Savior of the world was brought into this world in humble beginnings. He lived on the earth with love, not searching for power or position, but always seeking to make others better off. His example of giving inspires us to do more for others. Remembering what the symbols of Christmas mean helps to bring the true feeling of Christmas for me. The evergreen tree. What an appropriate name. It is always grean. It does not become dormant in the winter as most other trees do. The color green represents new life and the needles point up towards heaven. It symbolizes our everlasting life with Jesus Christ. We should be as the evergreen tree - always full of life, never becoming dormant in our life with Christ as our arms are lifted Heavenward.

I love Christmas cookies. I see the dough as all of us, being molded into the masterpieces that God wants us to become. We only need to be moldable and willing. I also love to put decorations on the tree. Each of us decorate our trees to fit us personally. I usually have kid friendly ornaments that can fall off and be put back on all day long. Each of those ornaments are like the blessings in our lives. Our lives, like the tree, just wouldn't be complete without the blessings from God. Everthing that we have is due to a loving Heavenly Father. Just as each of our ornaments are different, we are also given different and individual blessings from our Heavenly Father.

This year I was able to make a real wreath after we climbed the mountain and brought home a real tree. We had to cut and trim the tree to fit into our home and I had many boughs to use to make a Christmas wreath. Wreaths have branches bent in a circle so that the ends touch, having no beginning or end, as does the love of our Savior has no beginning or ending. Now think of all the jingle bells you hear, this symbolizes the bell that rings to lead lost sheep back to the fold. All of us are precious to Jesus and He is our shepherd and is calling us to come unto Him. He also leads us with His light, and we light our homes and our trees so that we are not in darkness. Heavenly Father has given us His light to shine forth and we should shine as He to bring others unto His fold.

Now a symbol many do not know, the holly. The leaves of the holly represent the crown of thorns that were placed upon the head of our Savior as he was being crucified. The berries symbolize His blood He so willingly shed for us.  And the candy cane represents many things. If you hold it up it looks like a shepherds crook. Shepherds came to see the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, and also Jesus is the Shepherd of us all and if you turn it upside down it looks like a J. There is white and red on the traditional candy cane, and the white represents the purity of our Savior while the red represents the blood that He shed for each of us. The traditional candy canes also had three stripes running down them to represent the Godhead.   

Another that I love to think about is the star. The star that was a heavenly sign of prophecy fulfilled ages ago, shining hope to all mankind. The star led the wise men to find the baby Jesus. These wise men traveled many mils following a star in the sky. The star was their guiding light to the Savior. Each time when I pull our my star to put on my tree I think about what I am doing (or not doing) to follow that star and  come unto the Savior. I can only imagine what it would be like when I die and look into my Savior's eyes and know that I am home. To feel His arms wrapped around me. Those are the feelings and symbols of Christmas that I want to share all year and all my life. 

I hope that you can find that too. Merry Christmas!