Not to Be Forgotten

To start the Christmas season, we went to The Forgotten Carols, a musical written by Michael McLean.

It brought back many memories that will not be forgotten.

My first experience with the Forgotten Carols was in 1992. My family had received the book and CD from some neighbors. My brothers were both on missions at the time. My dad started reading the book out loud to us on Christmas Eve. We started with the intentions to just read a few chapters. We stayed up till 2:00am to finish the book. Up till then, I had been in bed by 10:00 every night of my life. It was amazing!

Sixteen years ago, Aaron and I went to the Forgotten Carols musical at USU. It was one of our last dates as an engaged couple. It was just what I needed at the time. I was overwhelmed with life and worried about finals the next week and my wedding the week after that. I needed to be reminded why we celebrate Christmas.

This time around, we took our kids. The boys have seen it before but, it was the first time for the girls. I loved their amazement when we walked into the concert hall. Vanessa asked 1000 questions. (That is no exaggeration.) Is this a true story? Is that man real? Why does that sound like a car when it's only pretend? On and on and on.

I thought about how much has changed in the 16 years since I first saw it with Aaron. Some things are different. This time around we have more money (We had nothing before so that's not saying much.). We have 5 kids and 16 years of adventures together. Some things were still the same. I was still worried about finals, overwhelmed with life, and in need of a reminder the importance of why we really celebrate Christmas.