Our lives have had a lot of twists and turns over the last 14 years. We’ve lived in 3 different states, 6 different towns and 9 different homes. This is my 14th year of music ministry and Pete’s 16th year working with teens. We are both thankful that the one constant thing during all of this moving around has been coming “home” for Christmas. This year we are especially happy to be living in Idaho again; the state we love the most.

It is always nice to be close to family but there is something especially comforting about being close to those you love during this time of year. This Advent season has been busy. We have both been busy in our ministries but now as things wind down and we get closer to Christmas, we are making time for family and holiday traditions. Pete makes sure that we watch all the “classic” Christmas specials and is happily busy in the kitchen cooking and listening to Christmas music. Every year he finds an excuse to make a big Basque dinner and this year is no different. I am getting things ready for our trip down to our hometown (where Pete and I grew up) to visit friends and family and I’m very excited that we will get to visit my dad’s cabin this year in the Sawtooth Valley. It has been several years since I really got to “play in the snow.” Last night we attended the Advent reconciliation service at our Parish and we are both looking forward to our Christmas Eve tradition of attending Midnight Mass at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Twin Falls. I guess for us, like for so many others, Christmas is a mix of faith, family and friends. One new thing we’re doing this year is a family picture with Pete’s family. His mother has informed us that we are all going to dress up to recreate the Nativity scene. As Catholics we definitely believe that Jesus is the “reason for the season” but we’re not so sure that there will be “peace on Earth” during this photo shoot. We’ll let you know how it went in January’s blog.

We’d love to hear about your family traditions at Christmas, please comment and share on the website at www.jtmusic.net

We wish all of you a happy Advent season and a VERY Merry Christmas. May your holidays be filled with love and family and may the blessings of our Savior rest upon you and yours during this special time of year.