This week we were able to enjoy several fun Christmas
activities. We had a Street Christmas
party Monday night. Usually, it's at my
home. I got roped into it a few years
ago. My neighbor wanted to do something
in place of neighborhood gifts. Her idea
was to have a party and have everyone bring an appetizer, then everyone who
wanted could bring a donation to put on a Christmas Tree. We'd give the tree to the bishop and he could
deliver it to a family in need. The
thing is, she didn't really want to put on the party. I agreed to help out, not realizing that
after a few years, I'd get burned out doing all the work (my neighbor always
made the invitations and got the mini Christmas tree as well as putting
together a craft activity for the kids).
This year, we were deciding the date and I told her I'd be out of town
the first Monday night (when it has usually been held). I was game to move it to the 2nd Monday, but
then Roy told me he'd be out of town on business that day. I'd done this once before when he was out of
town, and it was much more difficult. I
was worried about all the little kids and his train, etc. So I told Margaret I didn't think I could do
it. She decided her house would be
adequate after all, and she held the party.
We didn't have nearly the turnout this year, but it was still nice and
best of all, I was able to relax and enjoy it.
Another fun activity was Caitlyn's School Music Concert. It was the orchestra and all the choirs at Bountiful High. It is always a wonderful event, but I don't go if I don't have a child performing. We ended up combining this activitiy with a High Priest Activity. The High Priests were taking all the widows and divorcees in the ward to the Choir event after taking them to dinner. We took Laura Stayner whom we home teach. (Laura is also a descendent of George Washington Clyde Senior and Cynthia Davis Clyde). The Choir leader, Larry Smith, always does a fabulous job and it was another great way to feel the spirit of Christmas this year. When the Orchestra came on stage, they filled it up. They had divided the Orchestra into 3rds, and each 3rd played 2 nights out of 3. That is how big the Orchestra at Bountiful High is. It was amazing to get all that sound --choir and orchestra--reverberating throughout the theater. Though it was long, it was a great concert and we enjoyed it tremendously.
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| Caitlyn's hidden somewhere in the middle of this picture. |
I was very proud to be invited to my first
"grandparent's day" at Hyeji's school. I got to go watch her Kindergarten class
perform a little play they'd practiced called, "The Arctic Gingerbread
Man" Hyeji knew all the words and
she even got to be the Gingerbread man for a couple of Stanza's. She also got to wear a bird mask--maybe a
puffin, I can't remember for sure.
You can see by the above pictures that Jieun's mom is here visiting from Boston. She got to go to Grandparent's day, too.
Friday dad and I had the opportunity to tend Gunnar and Ollie while Adrienne went to lunch with AJ's work associates. Grandpa took them to lunch at McDonalds. They said they wanted hamburgers, but they didn't really like them, so he bought them some nuggets, which Ollie ate. At my house they asked for chocolate chip pancakes--and got them, of course. They are 2 very busy brothers. Grandpa allowed Gunnar to run the trains. He's pretty good with them. I helped them sew a snowman and their name on a blanket. Gunnar wanted to wash his blanket right away, so there wouldn't be any paper or plastic left on it from the embroidery.
Caitlyn came home from skating Friday with a sore foot. I don't see her use our hot tub very much, but she had taken a couple of good falls and was hurting, so she had a dip.
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| She probably won't be happy with me for using this picture. |
Saturday Roy and I went to Caputos for lunch. That's one of our Christmastime traditions. We had yummy sandwiches and salad and sampled a few of their chocolates. Usually they guard the samples, but they did have a couple of plates of samples out for the taking, and I had a few tastes. Then we went to Trader Joes and tried a couple of samples there as well.
Saturday I received a few pictures of Max enjoying the Christmas season in Texas. Elise said I didn't have to put the pictures in my blog, but this is my journal and a good place for me to display my pictures.
Our last Christmas activity was our Choir program today at church. Caitlyn and I played a couple of numbers with the choir and speaker. It was a beautiful program and we were uplifted by it and blessed to have taken part in it. It is kind of a sacrifice to sing in the choir because of all the practices, but it has its rewards.
It has been a wonderful Christmas season so far this year. There have been lots of opportunities for us to remember our Savior. We are looking forward to the coming week as well and hope to spend time with all our loved ones.
