The Smiths: Christmas

Few things make my heart sing more than seeing all of the people I love, in one spot, loving each other and making memories together. I was told once that mother's are the memory keepers and while I have said that a few times on this blog before, I live and breathe that motto. I am obviously not a mother...yet, but I remember when I was little how desperately my mom tried to follow with traditions and make memories for us. Last year we took Taylor ice skating for the first time in his life at the crown center ice terrace. I will have to dig out old pics of me and Erika doing the very same thing, because we started as tiny kids. I will say I was a much better skater then than I am now. Erika is fantastic now and Steve has always been good because he used to play hockey. Taylor and I are terrible but it's ok. It's not about your ice skating skill. It's about the memory that you made while trying. Just like the memories about crown center, with the toy store with the real frog in it and the christmas shop full of ornaments and the cheery reminder "don't touch, girls" and the fudge factory where even last year we sampled hot fresh fudge right off the marble slab they made it on. My heart sings when we make memories like that, it sings along with the christmas music playing over the loud speakers and it sings to snuggle in my pajamas next to my family curled on the couch and open gifts. I get a little teary eyed I will admit. I can't quit thinking about blessed I am that my mother is a memory keeper and how desperately I want to carry that on for my own kids. This is why I scrapbook, why I blog. Why I document life through photos and words and sparkly paper and stickers. I have a million questions I wish I could ask my grandparents and my dad, but I was too young when they all left this earth to be able to think of them then.

I wish they documented life more so that I could get the answers. I want my kids to know what I did as a little girl for christmas, how we celebrated birthdays, what made our family time special.

I know they will get annoyed with the constant picture taking like I did when I was little, but they, like I am now, will be thankful for the pictures down the road. I am already thankful for them now.

So without further ado, here are the memories made this christmas, in more pictures than words.