Err....The Mary Fight.

"The better Mary"???? THE BETTER MARY!??!?!? *shriek of protest*

Dearest darlingest Crystal cousin of mine,

At this season, this time of year, can't we just put this behind us? And by that, I mean, won't you just back off already and just let me be Mary? I mean, really, can't you see how you're totally blocking me in this picture? Just because I once was a darling little blonde doesn't mean you can just romp all over everything with your brunette-ness. Look at me! I was a natural with my little prayer shawl and my hands in such prayerful poses...I mean, you'd make a really great angel or something. Don't get me wrong. Just...back off my moment, okay?

I'm just trying to follow counsel... (See quote innocently inserted below.)

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again. –Howard W. Hunter, “The Gifts of Christmas,” Ensign, Dec 2002, 16

I'm willing to mend our quarrel...are you? Mmm'kay, good. I'm soooo super glad we've discussed this. :)

With much love and cousinly devotion,
your dearest darlingest cousin DeeAura

Oh my heck. If you only knew how much we love Christmas Eve every year for this very reason. :) I love traditions, I love Christmas, and I love my family. Every year, we all get together on Christmas Eve and eat food and sing carols and hymns, and reenact the Christmas story - complete with dress-ups - (as I know a lot of people do, but...)

But every year, Crystal and I laugh and joke about the year all the girl cousins fought over who got to be Mary. As you can see, the result was four Marys and my little brother getting caught in the middle of everything. :) (He might've been the baby Jesus that year. A little overgrown, but you get the picture.) I'd like to state for the record, however, that it is not always a joke. May the Mary Fight endure the wide expanse of space and time. :)

Okay, so Crystal already wrote about it, and insisted she was "the better Mary". In complete and utter retaliation, I shamelessly stole that top picture from her.
But. She didn't have this: (insert Yzma cackle from Emperor's New Groove for full effect.)best. wise man/shepherd. ever.
I can't wait for him to come back.
start the chant!
Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve! :)

race you to the stable, cousin.
mark, set, go. :)

(...that's absolutely appropriate, by the way...)