A Service Christmas

So, my family decided that we would give as Christmas gifts this year, gifts of service. We started on Monday with my grandparents down in Tucson. We went to visit and asked my aunt, grandma and grandpa what they would like as their service.

My grandma asked my mom to dust her books and bookshelves:

It can be tough work!

She asked Angela and I to dust her china cabinet and all of the items in it.

It was great because she would tell us about each piece as we were cleaning it. Some of it had great history and some of it made us nervous because of the wonderful sentimental value it had.

Angela, mom and I also raked out grandma and grandpa's walkway rocks to smooth them out and sort the rocks that didn't belong there.


Nathaniel gave his gift to my aunt. He cleaned out her engine bay. She was very happy and said that her mechanic would want to hug him.

On Tuesday, Mom and I got our gifts from our family. They came to our classrooms and helped us for a few hours. I am amazed at what 4 people can get done in a classroom in just 2 hours!

On Wednesday, we went over to my in-laws to give Nathaniel his gift. He wanted us to help do yard work for his parents. So we chopped cactus, pruned a tree and hula hoed their yard.

The finished product:

This little guy was wondering what we were doing and a little upset... he didn't want us to ruin his home of fairy duster.

Still to come is my mom and dad's gift of cleaning their front room. Nathaniel is going to bring our carpet cleaner and do their carpets.

The gift for my sister will be mom and I giving her recipes and making some of our favorite dishes with her.


This was all wonderful because we got to spend time together during the holiday season and serve one another. Plus, it didn't cost anything.