My wishes to everyone for a very happy New Year. I was thinking about what to write for the Christmas blog, and during our Christmas party it struck me what my 2018 was going to be about. Let me take a moment to share a bit about my family’s annual Christmas party which I look forward to every year.

Every year on Christmas Eve, our family gets together for an amazing party. My uncle started this tradition before I was even born. What I know from my family is that it started off being a simple get-together as a family to play games such as white elephant. Since I have been participating, my uncle changed the whole thing and started to combine the game with the act of giving back to the community. Some of the ones I remember really changed who I am, such as upgrading our temple by painting it and putting book covers on old books. Another year we went to an adult care center and sang to people and gave socks, mittens, and gloves.

This year’s event was unique and touched me in a very special way. While some of our past parties have been loads of fun or emotionally touching, this year we had a race with nine clues. The race started off with building a nature wreath, followed by all of us making packages with sandwiches that were then donated to the local homeless shelter. Next we went to a mall where we wrapped gifts for random people and made balloon animals for their kids. The race at the mall ended by us making an ad for an item or service. After that we went to laundromat and recreated a scene from a hollywood or bollywood movie and learned a Spanish song. Then we all came back to my uncle’s house for dinner and watched each team’s ad, scene, and song.

It was while watching the videos that I had my realization. I recognized that the games and party were fun, but seeing the faces on everyone who we wrapped gifts for and gave balloons to was the biggest gift of the day for me. If you see the picture below then you know what I mean. At that moment, I realized that 2018 is going to be about giving small things and finding inner joy within me.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a very happy New Year. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences in 2018.