The Rest of Christmas Break

Capping off Christmas vacation we went ice skating with the Stevens and Cora and had a New Year's Eve Party. 

We started out the evening with a map adventure. I left little items at (ward members') houses around the neighborhood. The cousins, divided into two teams, had to walk around the neighborhood and collect all the items aided by the old school map. They did pretty well with it. While the oldest kids ditched out for the dance, the rest of us played games and ate snacks. In keeping with tradition, Auntie Mel brought the hit game of the evening. It involved being able to pick up a paper bag with your mouth, and not touching it or the ground with your hands. After you successfully picked up the bag you tor off the part that your mouth had touched, thus making the bag a bit shorter for the next person to have to pick up. It sounds simple, but it got surprisingly competitive. We all rang in the new year together, Caldwell cousins stayed for a slumber party, and are looking forward to a wonderful 2025 as we said goodbye to a great 2024! 

 

Christmas 2024

On Christmas Eve we did our shepherd's dinner again. We each took turns reading a section from the Living Christ and lighting a candle. It was a great way to get us ready for Christmas the next day.

This year instead of pajamas everyone got slippers.

As always Christmas day was pretty chill. We opened stockings, ate breakfast, and then opened the rest of the presents. Everyone was happy with their gifts and we enjoyed having a relaxing day after all of the hustle and bustle that led up to Christmas. We had crepes for dinner which was a great way to end the day.

 

Mid-December

PAG Christmas party above, and ward Christmas party below

 

12 Days of Christmas 2024

 

Gingerbread Houses, Cookie Decorating, Etc.

Random photo of lovely Leona, ready for church.

Leona and Tim dancing around the inflatable gingerbread man that G & G Cole bought us for Christmas. For years the kids have begged us for inflatable decorations and we've always said no. They were very pleased with this gift.

We went and got passports for all the kids ahead of the big summer trip to Europe. Tim and Leona look like sad, little orphans hoping to be adopted in their passport photos while Eliza and Clara look more like children recruited to be Russian spies.

The Caldwells brought fancy gingerbread kits in their suitcases from Belgium, so this year our gingerbread house game was stronger than ever. They turned out much nicer looking than the graham cracker ones we usually do. However they weren't as edible. We tried using frosting to assemble them but it wasn't working. We ended up hot gluing the houses to complete their construction.

The kids also wanted to have some friends over for cookie decorating so we did that too.

 

Nativity 2025

For the first time this year the Nativity opened up being Mary to Primary kids. At first Leona was a little hesitant, but willing to help out so that the Nativity could have the extra special touch of a live Nativity. She ended up loving it so much that she asked to be signed up for a second shift. 

Leona was a beautiful Mary. She was so warm and inviting, just how I think Mary was. At one point a little girl asked Leona if she could hold her Baby, and Leona told her to come sit next to her and she could hold "Baby Jesus". It really touched my heart to think of Mary letting the shepherds, wisemen, and other visitors that she must have had hold her precious Baby. Leona had a steady stream of little girls wanting to chat with her and take their photo with her and hold her baby, and I think it was because they could feel the Spirit coming from Leona and they wanted to be around her.

Since Leona was switching from accordion to piano we wanted to have one last opportunity for her to perform on the accordion. I signed up for a slot at the Nativity and Grace, Veronica, Eliza, Clara, and Leona graciously filled that time with beautiful Christmas music. We invited all of Leona's teachers to come see her play and Ms. Shipley, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Anders all came. They loved hearing Leona, it was their first time hearing the accordion live, and were full of compliments. They also really enjoyed the Nativity displays. It was lovely all around!

 

2025 Ornaments

I made (and burnt, per the tradition) a lighthouse. Collin made a Statue of Liberty. Eliza made the 2024 state winning Hebron Band Amorphous logo. Clara made a star, because we ran out of white, but later made a Cross Country logo to represent her first ribbon earning season of cross country running. Leona made her new team's (formerly the Pink Unicorns, now the Legend) soccer jersey. Tim made Christmas lights. The artistry gets better every year!

Bonus Pic- Leona and I went to a painting class at Hebron Valley. It was super fun and once again, I was impressed with Leona's artistic ability. She is so talented and creates beauty in the world around her in many ways.