Got a good Christmas memory? Please share. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old and it was a very cold Christmas night. I can't remember even faintly what gifts we got but I do remember the wonderful feeling of Christmas when I felt close to the whole world, even my family. This was before Paul and Dennis arrived on the scene. I wanted this to continue so went out to the barn that clear crisp cold Idaho night to assist with the chores, something I did not ever do. Dad, Richard and David did the evening chores in the barn. My job was to gather the eggs and keep the bucket of water in the chicken coop filled (or melted, when it was very cold). That meant emptying it at night, and refilling it later.

As I walked to the barn, all bundled up, the wonder of the Christmas story seemed very close. I wondered which of the bright stars was the Christmas star. David squirted some milk into a little empty sardine tin for the wild black barn cat that had lost a foot, likely after getting in the way of the mowing machine in the summer. I was surprised how it waited for that milk, and then quickly lapped it up, since it did not ever come close. I helped put grain into the little box in the horse manger, and just couldn't imagine a newborn baby in that entire environment. It was very real, as I thought of Mary and Joseph. I felt very warm - a feeling I recognized when I got older as a confirmation from the Spirit or Holy Ghost. I tried to recapture it the next days but soon gave up. The barn was just smelly, and the night dark, and I was glad I was a girl and had other chores inside, not outside. I nver forgot the special felling however, of that particular Christmas when I knew the Christmas story was true.