Christmas Dinners and Festivities

We were in Hawaii last year during the first part of December and missed some fun Christmas dinners. So, this year we were anxious to attend our Great Salt Lake District Christmas dinner. These are all the leaders who serve in each branch at the prison. 

The dinner was held at the new transition branch building in West Valley. The new branch was formed for the men and women exiting prison to have a place to attend church where they may feel more comfortable, and where they will continue to be able to be active participants in the meetings as they have done in the prison.

Our district presidency and their wives outdid themselves with fixing a delicious brisket dinner for us.

A young girl was playing the harp all through dinner and it was so beautiful. After dinner she was the first performance in the program with her harp solo. She was amazing!!! 

One of our women leaders is a tap dancer who works with tappers for BYU performances. She had a portable tap floor laid out for the performers she had invited to come and entertain us. Several different kinds of tapping dances were performed and it was very entertaining.

The last performers were five members of the BYU Ambassadors singing group. They sang several beautiful songs and then ended with a song that touched our hearts so deeply. It is called "O Come, All You Unfaithful." At first we thought we heard the opening line wrong. Then as the song continued, we understood the meaning of the title. 

Their group now has this song available on YouTube for viewing. It is worth it to find it. The words are so touching for each one of us.

Glen and I loved the song so much that we decided it would be a perfect song to end our Christmas program with for our Sunday worship service on Christmas Eve morning at the prison. The men loved it as their hearts were touched deeply.

There was so much meat leftover that the district presidency bagged it all up and begged all of us to take some home. That made Glen happy. They also sent each couple home with a poinsettia. I think this is the healthiest poinsettia plant I have ever owned. I love it sitting on our kitchen cabinet.

They also gifted us with President Nelson's latest book. Glen commented that not many people can say, "What 100 years of living have taught me" like President Nelson can.

Abe sent some photos of his family getting in the Christmas spirit. Newland and Monty both wore their Christmas hats to school. 

Monty is the third one from the left on the back row.

How about a little cocoa, crafting, live nativity, and Christmas lights.

Monty is the one in the middle.

This looks like a fun activity for Abe and this bunch of boys. (Newland is on the right.)

Newland looks so grown up in this photo. He is definitely Abe's little clone.

We went to Provo to attend a BYU basketball game and met Natalie and Emma for dinner. They picked Teppanyaki for their restaurant of choice. 

We were VERY bummed when we discovered our season ticket seats this year are up in the rafters three rows down from the top. NOT GOOD!! 

We have decided our front-row seats in front of our big-screen TV in our basement gives us a much better view of the games. And the bonus is we don't have to go out in the cold to go to the games. 

Although I know Glen will be taking me to some of the future games despite the cold and the less-than-desirable seats.

One evening we met our missionary Benjamin Flitton and his new fiancé at Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

Funny story about this elder is his father lived right across the street from me when I was growing up on 22nd Street in Ogden. It was hilarious when we made that connection and I told him I babysat his dad. How random is that??

Talking about babysitting... I watched Ben and Haley's three boys one evening so they could go to an escape room. 

Haley had told me Maverick is getting pretty good at sitting up, so we gave it a try with Kade being his grabber if he started to topple.

I absolutely love this picture Haley took of Levi. 

When Levi comes to visit, he likes to rearrange the nativity scene. The first time he did it, I asked him which was Baby Jesus. He pointed to the right one and then put his finger up to his mouth and said, "Shhhhh, Baby Jesus is sleeping."

This time he put every tree, animal and person in a line with Baby Jesus face down in front of the donkey. I wish I knew what he was thinking as he made this arrangement. I didn't notice it until after they had left.

Andy and Amanda's daughter Rachel recently returned home from her Washington Spokane Spanish speaking mission. She is such a fun-loving, spunky girl and did a great job on our talk. We had enjoyed reading her weekly emails and looking at her mission photos.

Natalie and Rachel are great friends (besides being first cousins). 

Natalie went to the airport with Rachel's family to greet her upon her arrival home. She went with us to church to hear Rachel give her report. Then we enjoyed a most delicious lunch afterward at Andy and Amanda's home.

Another Christmas dinner party Glen and I missed last year, which we were anxious to attend this year, was at Bill and Jan Evans's home. Jan goes all out in her decorating and it is fun to look at everything she has on display.

And as usual, she had set the most lovely dinner table. 

She had a journal gift for each one of us at each place setting with the words "Think Celestial" embossed in gold on the front.

Bill carved up some prime rib. Jan had also cooked crab legs and oven-roasted potatoes. We brought the shrimp. Jane and Dennis brought cheese and cracker appetizer. Grant and Diane brought homemade rolls. Bruno and Colleen brought the salad. And Rick and Debi made the cheesecake dessert. YUM to all of it!! 

A special treat was the wassail Jan had her son Will make for us. I loved that stuff!! Tastiest wassail I have ever had!

After dinner, we went into their family room and exchanged gifts. It is always fun to see what is inside each package and then decide to keep or to steal from someone else. Fun evening with our good friends.

We were invited to attend Caroline and Madison's Christmas piano recital. 

I was impressed with how well-prepared our granddaughters were with their numbers. 

I was also impressed with the variety of Christmas songs that the piano teacher had planned for her students to perform. It was very enjoyable.

I got a little chuckle when I realized the fancy Christmas skirt Madison was wearing was their Christmas tree skirt. Rebecca said Madison had worn it to school and even Caroline had taken a turn wearing it to school. Well, after all, it IS called a "skirt." 

As we were anticipating Christmas fast approaching, it wasn't feeling totally like Christmas to me quite yet. Then the day before Christmas Eve, it snowed just enough for us to have a white Christmas feel. 

It was perfect to have it snow that day because the next day we were hosting a Christmas Eve dinner for my side of the family. We set up five tables in anticipation of the same large crowd we had on Thanksgiving. Then people kept dropping off due to sickness. 

Mike and Lorene were sick. Cheryl's family was sick. Seth's family had their youngest son in the hospital with an infection. Four of the six people in Sarah's family were sick and so they also missed the party. 

We were thankful for the family members who were able to attend. It was fun to have Rachel there as she had missed the family gatherings when she was serving her mission.

We had an overabundance of food due to all the absent people. But we enjoyed our Christmas Eve feast complete with the ice cream slush drink that Nani always brings. It is a tradition that must never be broken!! We all love it!!

We bid the family members a farewell with a wish for all to have a Merry Christmas the next day.

Quotes of the Week

 We testify that as you seek our Savior's love, peace, and rest, you will find it. You will be blessed to feel the true spirit of Christmas, the eternal joy that comes only from Him.

--The First Presidency

The gift of the Son of God is a priceless gift. He is the gift that lights our way and lifts us. He is the gift that sustains us through the difficult days of our mortal journey. He is the gift that offers divine love, lasting hope, and true joy.

--Henry B. Eyring

Help someone turn to the Savior and find enduring peace and divine rest. I marvel at the increased goodwill and human kindness that always emerges during this sacred season.

--Russell M. Nelson

Amid all the hustle and bustle of gifts and gathering, will you let your life reflect the light and life of Jesus Christ? With the dawning of each day could you identify someone who needs your light?

--Russell M. Nelson

Abe's Family in Plymouth; Mark's Family Here for Thanksgiving; Uncle Merlin Passed Away

It is fun to see photos of Emma with her roommates doing fun things at BYU. She is second from the right. 

Emma and Natalie came up to spend the night before they flew off to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday in Omaha with their family.

Emma's request was going to Slackwater for a pizza dinner. 

Once the girls got to Omaha, Jacob's family participated in the Church's Light the World Giving Machine showing which items they purchased which will help people in need.

The way Abe's family got prepared for Thanksgiving was a visit to Plymouth to learn more about the history of the pilgrims with actors bringing the stories and history to life.

They also went to Cape Cod where it looks like they were all enjoying holding and eating lobsters. These children have sure learned to eat a variety of foods in their short lifetimes.

Meanwhile, on the western side of the continent... Mark and Michelle's family made the drive from Yakima, Washington to spend the Thanksgiving weekend in Utah and they stayed with us. 

We had gotten our home all set up to feed over 50 people. Those who attended were my parents, Nani, Sam's family, Mike's family, Andy's family, Mark's family, Rebecca's family, Sarah's family, Ben's family, and Glen and me.

I can't even believe I did not think to get a photo of our turkey dinner. I guess it was because it got a little hectic during the feeding frenzy. But, I did manage to capture a few of us ready to dig into the desserts. 

Nina did such a great job getting little Maverick to sleep.

Thadeus is now so very tall. When I saw the hot pad with his tiny handprint which their family had given us many years ago--along with two other ones with Hailey and Caleb's handprints--I just had to get a comparison hand photo.

These are the ones who lingered longer into the evening--and got to have a second helping of dessert.

It had been a great day with Glen cooking the turkeys, potatoes and gravy with everyone else bringing everything else. We felt very thankful to be with so many family members that day. 

Mark's family left the next day, so I decided it was a great day to put away the Thanksgiving decorations and get the house all decorated for Christmas. 

Glen always tries to convince me we don't need to set up the Christmas tree, but then he acquiesces and puts it up. He will string the lights, but that is as far as he goes. It is up to others to put the ornaments on the tree. 

Madison and Levi happily helped put ornaments on the tree with Haley taking over from there to get the higher limbs decorated. I really appreciated their efforts.

A great way to celebrate getting all the Christmas decorating done was to order pizza for dinner.

Kade always enjoys eating boiled potatoes whenever he eats here. With his dairy, egg and nut allergies, he is limited on what he can eat. 

As we were driving up our street one day, we had to stop for all the deer to cross. 

Baby Maverick is now learning to eat baby food. 

We went to dinner at Maddox with Maurine, Ray, Barbara and Rich. We were shocked the other day when we got the news that Ray had suffered a stroke. That always brings back all the feelings we felt when I had a stroke 14 years ago on Jacob's birthday two days before Thanksgiving. Scary!!!!

His occurred in his carotid artery affecting his brain. Thankfully, Ray has not experienced any deficits from the stroke. He has truly experienced a miracle which he attributes to having just paid his year's worth of tithing. He said he absolutely knows the scripture in Malachi 3:10 is the reason for it.

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, ...and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Dad's brother Merlin passed away and we went to his funeral. 

I just love this photo of Uncle Merlin. He and Dad worked together at Cache Valley Electric for many, many years. It was interesting to see that the CVE initials were on Uncle Merlin's casket. 

The saddest part of one person in a marriage passing away is the one left behind. Aunt Helen is a dear and I am thankful she has family close by to help her and watch over her.

After that sad thought, let's move on to something entertaining. 

It was attending Jonah's basketball game. He is #8 on the purple team.

Aside from enjoying visiting with Jeff and Sarah during the game, the highlight was watching Jonah's moves on the court.

Jonah is the tiniest one on the court and was in his own world out there. He would be doing high, prancing jumps.

The boy he was assigned to guard was always a foot taller than he is. One thing is when Jonah is in guard mode, he doesn't ever take his eye off the boy he is guarding. Jonah might not know where the ball is, but he sure knows who he is guarding. 

We sure got a kick out of watching that boy. We went to another game and were once again entertained. 

Jonah's heart is not as much into basketball as it is in baseball. During his last game, he was counting down the seconds until the game was over--which meant the season was over--and he was done with basketball. 

Now here's a report on Glen and his CPAP machine. It has taken months and a half dozen different masks and sizes for Glen to land on the one that works best for him. 

I have been impressed that he has stuck with it because he had great nights of sleep before he started using the CPAP. Now his sleep is always interrupted by the huge bursts of air. But, the positive thing is he is seeing positive results on his numbers, which is a good incentive for him (my numbers-and-data-loving man). 

The one thing that I have noticed is the straps leave marks on his cheeks and neck that lasts for hours and hours. 

The price of beauty is sacrificed for a more consistent, higher blood oxygen level.