planning our traditions

I am not, shall we say, a seamstress. Or a sewing woman of any kind. (I originally typed "sewer woman." For the record, I'm not one of those, either.)

But Scott is a Christmas Man. He and his thousands of Christmas lights, his special Christmas flatware, his dozens of Christmas storybooks, his Sunday Christmas sing-alongs -- yes, Christmas is a big deal 'round these parts.

Which is why I gave in and decided to make Bucilla stockings: I knew it would make him happy. And I'm a sucker for a happy husband. His mom handmade each of her children (and in-laws) their own Bucilla stockings so there's plenty of syrupy, delicious sentiment in them.

Now, let me totally distract you from all that Bucilla-ness and take you somewhere else entirely: Back in the days when Scott and I were in the same ward, our YW/YM did a Christmas activity every year called Gift of the Christchild. The gist: you thought about what gift you could give Christ this year -- usually the setting of a new spiritual goal -- and gave away a sort of physical representation of said goal to another kid in the ward.

When my family moved away, we kept up the tradition for several years, and I've always wanted to make it a part of our little family's tradition, too. What with all the seasonal decor Scott puts up, I decided we should have at least one decocration that had to do with Gift of the Christchild -- something that would remind the kids it was coming up, and to be thinking.

Enter: Prettiest Bucilla Stocking Ever. Note Mary's face. Beautiful, no? Also note the angel's awesome hairdo and trumpet. I want to look just like that when I'm an angel.

So now, at our house, I guess Jesus will have his very own stocking.