'Twas the Night Before Christmas and Who Should Arrive?

Our house was abuzz with commotion when my parents, my siblings and their families joined in with Glen, me and our kids for the annual Christmas Eve party.

We did something a little different this year when we included a bridal shower for my niece Kaelyn as part of the activities of the evening.

Lorene had prepared a question game for us to get to know Dennis a little bit better. Too bad Dennis's truck-driving job prevented him from being at the party. He was stuck in bad weather in some other part of the country. Kaelyn guessed at his answers and we'll have to check with him later to see if she got them all correct.

We were hoping that he would be able to make it home for their wedding the following week.

As Kaelyn opened each gift, we had the man of that family give some marital advice to her. It was definitely a different perspective hearing pearls of wisdom from the men instead of the women as we usually do.

We ate our dinner of delicious food everyone had contributed and then got settled for our program.

Amanda and her able assistant, Maggie, had the group play a bridal matching game.

Preston played the saxophone, Rachel played the kazoo, Maggie played the piano and Glen sang a song.

Nani encouraged everyone to participate in a "Minute To Win It" contest to see who could get a gingerbread cookie from forehead to mouth without using hands.

Pretty great entertainment for the audience to see all the face contortions going on. Dad chose to join in from the comfort of his seat on the couch.

After Nani's rousing game, she pulled out the treats--caramels and fudge--to go along with the other good stuff for dessert.

Abe was so sad that he and Klarissa arrived from the airport after dinner and after the program and after all of Nani's holiday ice cream slush drink was gone.

But, they had a different kind of treat waiting for them--Eli Excell. It was the first time they met him.

We were so glad to have the Excell family, the Golden family, and Abe and Klarissa here here for what followed when the party ended.

When Ben called from Malaysia late that evening for his missionary Christmas phone call, we got Jacob on the cell phone and held it up to the home phone and for a few minutes that night, we had all the family together.

Nothing quite like getting a phone call from your missionary to top off an already wonderful evening.

Dinner Before Concert

Our good friends, Grant and Diane Stewart, invited a few couples over for dinner before we all went to the Christmas Concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra.

Diane decorates her home so beautifully and it is especially lovely at this time of the year.

We all contributed something to the dinner.

Here we have Diane, LaVona and Lane Lewis, us, and Colleen and Bruno Kossin.

We enjoyed the delicious meal and then had a very good time attending the concert. What a great experience to be in that big, beautiful conference center listening to the festive Christmas music and getting in the spirit of Christmas.

We learned we had the hottest tickets in town and we were not disappointed when David Archuletta came on stage and began to sing. Michael York, the special guest narrator, was also very delightful. It was a wonderful evening!

Collin Home Before Christmas

The Jensen family has received a very fine gift for Christmas. Elder Collin Jensen returned home safely from the Indiana Indianapolis Mission today.

Jamie did not make a countdown chain for Collin like Glen has done for Ben, but for the past couple of months, she has verbally been sharing with anyone and everyone the date and the precise time of his arrival. She was just beaming that she now has her son home.

It was great to see Collin. Jamie invited people to stop by to welcome Collin home and eat some lunch. I gave him a package of Keebler elf cookies because that's what used to be his favorite snack when he was hanging out here with Ben.

I am sincerely excited for the Jensen family to have their son home for the holidays.

BUT...

...there is a tiny bit of bitterness when I think about how he left after Christmas and here he is coming home before Christmas. That means Collin only missed one Christmas.

As Glen pointed out, if our son truly stays on his mission until the end of July as has been speculated, that means he'll be gone for three of his birthdays (he entered the MTC eight days before his birthday).  Now that hardly seems fair at all.

But, despite my petty grievances, WELCOME HOME, COLLIN!!!

Trimming the Tree

I loved that we had help decorating the Christmas tree. And what cute helpers they were. Thanks, Rebecca and grandkids for trimming the tree this year.

Jacob's family timed their departure just perfectly. The weatherman was predicting a heavy snowfall, and they were leaving ahead of the storm.

Turns out the warning was correct and we got tons of snow. There was so much snow that it reached the bench on the picnic table.

We gave all the kids hugs good-bye--but only managed to take a picture of us with Logan.

With the camera I did capture what one grandchild left behind. It happens to be a big vomit stain right on the carpet leading into our family room.

How does one deal with that problem with a dinner party scheduled at our house in a couple of days?

Problem solved with a strategically-placed, festive, cute holiday rug.

Any suggestions for what to do with the spot after Christmas is over and the decorations are put away? Do you think the green "believe" is appropriate for all year long?