all my heart this night rejoices!

happy christmas eve to everyone!! :)

1. working at the bakery
even though it's christmas eve, it was great to work at the bakery. i love doing things to make people happy, and the santa hat man came in again. al came in again (just like every day). have i talked about al? he's a regular. same thing every morning. anyway, it was a good time, even though my knuckles were so dry they were cracking, even though i got in a fight with a baguette (seriously, i have the cuts to prove it - those things can be sharp!), and even though i stayed later than i was scheduled for. example of a happy thing: michelle and i were restocking the buche de noels, sometimes just referred to as buches, when one broke. oh well, happy christmas eve to us! we got to snack on it in the back. it was delicious.

"bite the buche!!" -michelle and me. that may or may not be my bite mark.

2. the gift from al, a tender heart moment
so as i mentioned before, al is a regular at the bakery. every morning he comes in around 8 for the same thing: the san francisco chronicle + a small coffee + the mug discount. he knows us all by name, and we sure know him. today he got his usual order, we chatted, and he left. around 2:30, he was back again with an envelope for everyone with their names written on it. i thanked him and told him merry christmas, but i didn't look at it's contents until i got out to my car. i was so tired, a little cranky (i worked some overtime today), and ready to go home. then i remembered the envelope in my apron pocket. i pulled it out, opened it up, and saw what he had placed in it for me. it was twenty dollars. i had to take a minute to have a tender heart moment and cry just a little bit. it was the sweetest gift. i'm so grateful for the reminder that this holiday season is about giving, and in remembrance of the gift that our savior gave to all of us - the gift of eternal life.

3. seeing my family
this afternoon when i got home, we drove to santa rosa to grandma coco's house. we had our usual christmas eve celebrations with grandma and the cook family! they are so funny, i just love listening to them tell their stories and have little conversations. it's always so nice to see family and i don't get to see them very often. yay family! yay for temples! yay for being together for time and all eternity! :)

4. christmas pj's
this year i got the most AWESOME christmas pj's evah!! yeah, i just only got a leopard print onsie, no big. i know you're jealous. you should be. but it's okay. i know santa will bring you something almost as awesome. haha. tomorrow i'll try to remember to post a photo. you definitely want to see this.

5. all my heart this night rejoices
this is the title of a christmas hymn written in 1656. this line, my dad and i think, is one of the most beautiful lines of christmas music ever written. this christmas season really is a time of rejoicing. my heart rejoices because our loving heavenly father sent us the gift of his son. it rejoices because christ was born. it rejoices because he died for us. it rejoices because through his death and the atonement, we are able to repent and return to live with him and our heavenly father again. it rejoices because we have been given the gift of eternal life. these two gifts alone - the gift of the son and the gift of the atonement - are the only gifts that i think i will ever really need (though others are lovely and appreciated, of course). i am eternally grateful to my savior and my heavenly father for all they have done for me and my family.

i'm grateful for the gospel in my life. i'm grateful for a family that loves me and that i get to be with for time and all eternity. i'm grateful for this holiday season. merry christmas, everyone! have a wonderful day tomorrow! :)