Christmas

We had a nice Christmas Eve devotional, with our candlelight singing.  I have realized that we don't sound very good singing, but it's still meaningful to sing together, and Weston was belting out the songs this year.  We shared some testimonies and thoughts following the singing.  We did something a little different after that - Jared suggested we make snowflakes and write something on it as a gift we'll give to the Lord this year (we've done something similar before, but not writing it down to look at next year).  One of our friends gave a talk recently at church also describing how they write something down and put it in a nice present-box to look at the following Christmas.  So we all took a few moments to make a snowflake, write a gift to give, and put it in a little basket for next year.  Then we got to eat our sugar cookies.    

We usually open a family present as well, which wasn't very spiritual, but it was some church comedy movies.  We watched one of those called "Church Ball".  The kids all get their favorite box of cereal for Christmas morning, which they can easily eat as soon as they wake up (usually earlier than I want to get up).  Then we open presents, and while everyone else is enjoying their presents, I make brunch.  I actually prepared the cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve and then baked them in the morning, so it wasn't much work.  I also made a breakfast casserole.  By the time we have brunch, it's usually 11:00 or 11:30, so we don't even do lunch.  But then it's on to preparing for Christmas dinner - rolls, ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and sweet potato casserole.  It's almost like preparing Thanksgiving meal without the turkey.  We also had 3 different desserts - apple pie, key lime pie, and Twix cheesecake bars.  I made the bars and key lime pie on Christmas Eve but made the apple pie on Christmas Day.  There's not much rest for the adults on Christmas (or in my case - pretty much me doing all the baking).  But luckily all the presents were wrapped before Christmas and ready to go, so it was just a lot of cooking (and cleaning).  Alex helped clean everything up.  

We did get to zoom in with family on Christmas morning with Alex's parents and Aunt Jane and with my family on Christmas afternoon.  We got to see my parents open their Bandera book.  The kids all seemed pretty happy with their gifts - I love the joy and excitement on their faces, even when they open something that was on their wish list (shouldn't be much of a surprise).  It's not as exciting for Nathan and Jared - they're past the Lego phase, so they get random things like hats, clothes, wallets, money, or gift cards.  We couldn't even get them to make a wish list.  Nathan got a fancy rain jacket, which will probably be useful for his mission.  It was fun to see Nathan get an OSU hat from Alex's parents (in OK) and a K-State shirt from Jane (in KS) - they're putting their "votes" in for Nathan's college selection!  I guess a couple of my siblings and in-laws should have sent something BYU for him.  (BYU actually might be the top spot if he gets accepted, as Nathan has realized the financial differences - BYU is much more affordable.)   

Weston seems to have started a tradition of getting Charmin toilet paper - he had it on his wish list again.  It's so funny to see how excited he gets about his own nice toilet paper.  Owen, Weston, and Savannah were equally excited about the new Lego sets.  Savannah got some Calico Critters too, which she's really into right now.  I guess Christmas was a success again!  Lots of happy faces and good food.  I'm happy to have "survived" another Christmas - it's a lot of work... but also sentimental as another last with Nathan.     

They don't look very excited... but they do like doing our candlelight devotional.  

Before Christmas fun

Alex took Jared, Owen, and Weston and went with some friends on a 3-day, 2-night camping trip in Death Valley on December 20th.  It was still pretty cold at night, getting down in the 30's, but they stayed warm and had fun.  They enjoyed playing on the dunes and watching a jet fly back and forth over the desert.  They also saw a waterfall, played kickball, had a snowball fight, and went to the lowest point in North America.  Weston spelled his name in the sand.  

Meanwhile, back at home, Savannah and I had some girl time.  We had a girls night on Savannah's birthday (we did the cake and presents with family before they left).  We had homemade pizza, movie (While You Were Sleeping), cheesecake, and chocolate pie.  We didn't have a lot of room for watching the movie, so we just invited the girls from the 2 families that went camping with Alex.  I think the girls got the better end of the deal, in our warm home, eating cheesecake and watching movies - while the boys were out camping in the cold desert, eating Ramen noodles.  

The girls got a little crazy with the balloons - who knew that balloons could be so fun?   

Another day, Savannah and I went to Nathan's basketball tournament, about 1.5 hours away.  He stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights in a hotel with his team.  We went the 1st game (Alex and me on Saturday) and 3rd game of the tournament (Savannah and me).  He didn't get any playing time... but we were there to support him.  And since we didn't even get to talk to him after the game, I thought it would be fun for Savannah to run over and hug Nathan after the game and give him an apple - one of his favorite snacks.  However...Savannah ran down there a little too early, before they did the handshakes to the other team... so it was hilarious watching Nathan do handshakes with an apple in one hand.  I bet that's the first time that's been done!  Nathan was embarrassed, but at least it will be memorable for him.  Savannah and I went out to lunch after the game and watched Encanto in the theater.  

We planned to go the next day as well (and even made a sign for Nathan), but the game got cancelled, due to one of Nathan's teammates testing positive for Covid.  So they came home early.  (Nathan tested negative, but a few of his teammates tested positive, with more testing positive later in the week after the initial test.) He's in a tournament this week, and his team is down to 6 players.  It did work in his favor for playing time.  He's been a bench warmer this year, so playing time is rare for him.      

December birthdays

Owen turned 13 (another teenager in the house) and Savannah turned 9!  We didn't have a good day to do friend parties, so we're planning to do those in January.  We did have time for cake and presents and a dinner out to Chili's.  

 

Christmas gifts

We sent out our traditional Christmas letters (in a few rounds, since they weren't all done at the same time) - I did a history themed letter, since for much of the year I was either working on my own personal history book or one for my parents, documenting their years living in Bandera, TX.  I did a book about my first 25 years, so I spent a lot of time going through photos and journals.  I'm really grateful for all the friends and family members who have been important connections for us.  For our Christmas letter this year (in addition to the form letter), we wrote personal letters to our friends and family, highlighting some of our memories together.  So it was quite a bit more time consuming... but fun to think back on those memories and send them out.  

I got a little help from my siblings for the book for my parents, getting them to write some of their favorite Bandera memories.  Most of it was photo memories though.  I started the book in August and didn't finish until the end of November.  It ended up being a big project - about 300 pages, but again it was worth the time to go through and document all those memories in a book.  

We had several teachers at church to give gifts to, with 5 kids and 2 teachers each for Sunday school or primary, plus 3 x the 2 YM teachers each - that's 16, plus 4 seminary teachers, 2 elementary school teachers, and primary presidency and song leaders (7) = a lot of gifts (29).  We had to keep it simple, so they got some chocolates and 2 cookies.  We also delivered about 25 chocolate candy cane loaves to friends and ward members.  

We got lots of treats in return (which I didn't take pictures of) and several Christmas cards.  A few thoughtful gifts to us were poinsettias, a book about the temple endowment, and a handmade ornament (Adore Him).  Nathan and Jared also gave a gift this year - a simple photo ornament and a thoughtful note.  It was one of my favorite gifts, just because this Christmas is our last with Nathan home (and I know I'll probably get tearful when I put that ornament on the tree next year).     

 

Singing and such

Savannah did a talent show for activity days at church.  She sang a solo in front of about 25 people.  She sang "Part of your World" from The Little Mermaid.  An activity for December was decorating gingerbread houses - so much sugar involved!  They were wired.  

Owen sang with the junior high choir for a concert.  They had to wear masks while singing, but still sounded good.  His friend Becca is in choir too.  We carpool to the early Monday and Friday morning practices.   

Here's a couple short clips from the concert:

Thanksgiving

We had another great time with friends for Thanksgiving.  (Another last with Nathan...)  We enjoyed the meal outside in their big backyard.  It was fun with the lights and the giant tree.  We had quite a variety of food - the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, and such, as well as fried chicken, tamales, and tri-tip.  We had tons of dessert - rice krispie treats, several kinds of pie, cheesecake, and ice cream.  

To round out the weekend, we watched OSU beat OU in football and put up our Christmas tree.  The boys hung up some interesting custom Lego ornaments and Weston wanted a pig in the baby buggy.  

 

Fun with friends and family

We did one night of camping the weekend before Thanksgiving with several friends.  We enjoyed hanging out around the big campfire.  The kids enjoyed playing games and baseball in the morning.  We weren't too far away from my brother's house, where my parents were visiting, so we spent a day with them.  Kai was with us too, so she got to be in on the fun.  She liked running around with Mike and Carrie's new dog Snickers.  Fun weekend!