We started at the grocery store gathering everything to make pretzel snowmen and made our way home to undertake this adventure. About three hours into it, covered in chocolate and laughing like crazy at our funny snowmen who sometimes looked like mexican snowmen with sombreros, sometimes looked like rap snowmen, sometimes looked like ganster snowmen and sometimes looked like snowmen with sweat bands around their heads, we made our way back to the store for more supplies. At the store I stood in the isle looking at Symphony candy bars and asked the girls if we should just buy candy bars for the rest of the neighbors and ditch the snowmen idea...both girls, at the exact time said "Nooooo, we love making the snowmen together." I tried and tried to convince them by telling them how much easier it would be, but they were insistent that we finish the snowmen together.
Then I remember a talk from one of the general conferences about a father restoring an old car with his son. In the end it wasn't at all about fixing a car, it was about raising a son. My resolve changed and I felt humbled as I made these cute and sometimes funny snowmen with my girls as we laughed together and sometimes laughed at each other...in my mind I kept thinking about that talk. It's not about the task, it's about the time we spend together involved in the task. It's about taking and making that time with our children. For me, this time together was about raising daughters.
Making pretzel snowmen will become an annual tradition at our house...mostly because of the fun we had together, but also because so many of our neighbors have asked for more.
