Neighborhood New Year's Eve Party

Mike and McKenzie Drake host a neighborhood New Year's Eve party every year. The last couple of years it has been on December 30th which I really like. For all of the years we have been going, we have brought a very dry, very burnable Christmas tree we have found on the side of the road. The wire, the smoke, the flames, the danger is all very, very exciting! 

Today after the movie, Kent and I drove around to try and find a suitable offering. We found one and this is the texting exchange that followed:

At the end of the evening, after delicious nosh and visiting, the tree was a terrific burn!

The Boys in the Boat

Kent and I went to see The Boys in the Boat, the movie based off the book about the 1936 US Olympic rowing team who won gold. The book was wonderful and the movie did a great job of staying true to the material and story. I was very emotional as I read the book, and it was exactly the same in the movie. I knew how it was going to end, but I still cried on and off through the whole thing, but especially at the end when they win. It was clean and uplifting and we loved it!

 

Christmas

It wasn't the most joyful Christmas on record. In fact, from my perspective, it was a very sad Christmas. But rather than give a detailed description of what went wrong, I will say five positive things.

Most of us gathered at Grammy Sue's house for game playing. 

The food was yummy. 

The little children were excited and active and full of Christmas cheer.

The house looked festive.

I got a hippo ornament from Isabella.

Coolness times three

So much good food!

Cora was the driver behind a zoo that cropped up in Grandma Sue's backyard.

The sign above welcomed us all.

It says, "Welcome to our zoon! Home of the wonderful animals listed: flamingo, monkey's, lion's volves, chetta's Jaguar's honey badger's. WE love all animal's but we had a budget."

What I love about this sign is that the whole zoo is make-believe, but realistic enough to realize they can't do it all because of budget restraints.

If it's all make-believe, why not just pretend you've got all the money you need and have the zoo be as big as you'd like?

Barrus Family Christmas Party

We gathered with the Barruses tonight for our annual Christmas party. Normally we are together on Christmas Eve, but last year some of our nieces and nephews who have young children asked if we might do our gathering on a different night. That all seemed very reasonable, and so we picked a different day. We met at the Sandy Institute as we have in years past, we had a delicious dinner, played games, did the nativity, and then our traditional white elephant gift exchange. I was going to drive up separately because of work going until 6pm, but then Alvin let me go early so we drove together.

The Nativity was slightly different than in the years past, but I thought it was terrific. Noel, Seth's husband, put together a nativity for The Friend magazine, so we performed her version. Brandt acted as a wise man (as usual) and Ruth, who joined us, was a sheep. Sadly, Isabella chose not to attend. 

It is always wonderful to be with family and to celebrate the birth of our savior. 

Down Under

Brandt, in the company of his buddies Nate and Landon, went and crawled around under the school today. Why, might you ask? Because he was told not to. Should I, as his mother, be worried about this blatant ignoring of what he shouldn't be doing? Probably not. I think if I had been told not to go crawl around under the school, I would immediately have started looking for how to get down there too. And what did they find? A tunnel they didn't explore because it was dark and they only had the lights on their phones, and a chair.

Trapdoor above Landon's head.

Neighborhood Christmas Party

For the past several years, the Stovalls, who live at the end of our cul-de-sac, have hosted a wassail party for those of us who live in the cul-de-sac. They provide wassail and hot chocolate, and the rest of us bring tasty treats to go along with it. We visit, eat, and we sing Christmas carols with chimes the Stovalls have. It's always wonderful to be together.

This year, the Atkinson's offered to host and they decided to have a dinner. They decided we would have Christmas in Hawaii and made Hawaiian haystacks. The rest of us brought things to go along with haystacks. The Atkinsons are very social, generous, and wonderful people and invited many other families outside the cul-de-sac to join us. There probably had 50 people at their house. Because it's winter and cold, we were inside which made for comfy seating arrangements. 

In spite of the crowded nature of the gathering, it was so much fun to be together. The Atkinsons asked us to be prepared to share a Christmas tradition that are family does each year. When it came our turn to share, Brandt said, "Every year we bring a Christmas tree!" I'm not sure that's really our Christmas tradition as much as it is our post-Christmas tradition, but we do burn a tree every year, so I suppose that counts. 

Dan and Nancy Passmore's son-in-law does a Santa gig during Christmas, and he made an appearance. The kids sat on his lap and as a family we took a picture. It was the only one I took. It was a wonderful evening spent with people who live near and are dear to our hearts.

Although Isabella came with us initially,

she was overwhelmed by the crowd and went hoome.

Christmas Thoughts

Kent and I sing in the ward choir. I love it. The act of singing songs of praise to God and Jesus Christ in a group is powerful. For our Christmas Eve program, we have been preparing a song that runs through my mind at least once a day. The song is called "Shine for Me Again, Star of Bethlehem." 

The lyrics tell a beautiful story of a shepherd boy, a bit player in the big story of the nativity. Here are the lyrics:

The night was long, we traveled far, at times I looked but could not see the star. Yet still it shone, unveiling then, the way to Bethlehem.

My heart held fear 'mid puzzled joy, for I was only a small shepherd boy. And on a hillside soft and green, I head an angel sing. I saw the midnight sky aflame with radiant angels bath in light, holy light, bringing word that Christ was born and beckoning to find Him. Go and find Him.

A sweeter face I ne'er will see than of those loving eyes smiling up at me. I found a King, I found a Friend that night in Bethlehem. 

But life goes on, years beyond one brief night of my youth. Time clouds my vision of truth. And tho' I stumble and fall, I can hear someone call, "Do not despair, your star is still there."

That Christmas night so long ago has filled my life with light because I know that He lives now as He did then, a King in Bethlehem; Whose love never ends. Shine for me again, Star of Bethlehem. 

Over the last couple of months, as the choir has prepared this and other songs for Christmas, I have thought about my own experiences with Christ. As a child and youth, I felt the Spirit testify so strongly of Christ. In Primary, Young Women, at camp, in the temple performing baptisms, and especially as a missionary, I felt Christ with me as a friend. I know the pure faith I had as a young person was real and powerful. I felt his loving eyes smiling down at me. It was easy to believe as I was filled with holy light.

Then life became complicated. Daily challenges have weighed me down. Disappointment, fear, despair, heartache, and sadness have clouded my visions of truth. I have struggled with my faith, with my obedience, and being able to feel Christ's love. I have felt alone and hopeless in a dark world, unable to see or feel the light, so distant from the radiance of holy light. 

Yet though I might wander in the dark, the invitation to "Go and find Him" remains open and real. The Savior himself issued the invitation, "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me.” The line in the song, "Do not despair, your star is still there," makes me cry every time we sing it.  Christ, the Light of the World, is still there. He is always there. He is the light and the life of the World. He lives now as he lived then, my friend, my advocate, my comfort and joy. He will guide me; He will bring me out of darkness and despair for He is the Light of the World. He loves me. 

In this Christmas season, I rejoice in the birth of Christ, in his life, example, atonement, and resurrection. I testify of his love and look forward to the moment when his loving eyes will smile on me.

Wonka

In the company of Mikayla, Cora, Brick, Mom, and Vika, Brandt, Isabella, and I went to see the much-anticipated Wonka staring the darling Timothée Chalamet. It did not disappoint! The music was terrific, it was visually bright and interesting, and the storyline was fun. Two thumbs up!

 

DeMartini Family Bunco

Some of the boys in the family--Blake, Luke, Brandt--have been low-key complaining that some of the girls in the family play Bunco. How fun does it sound to play a game for fabulous prizes while eating yummy food? Totally fun! So Mikayla, always one for a party and always one to try and meet the needs of those she loves, organized a family Bunco game.

We gathered at Mom's house, brought tasty treats, and rolled our dice! I won with the most Buncos, Brandt "won" with the lowest score, and practically everyone had a great time. We'll need to do it again.

I chose the Texas Roadhouse gift card and chocolate.

Brandt chose the hairclip and chocolate to give to Ruth as a Christmas present.

Relief Society Christmas Dinner

This evening was our ward Relief Society Christmas Dinner at the Covey's house. The food was catered by Marvellous Catering and was delicious! There was some music and lots of talking. I sat with Maureen Ogles, Corene Jensen, and a couple other neighbors. Jeri Covey had a big basket of funny Christmas headwear, but no one had anything on their heads when I arrived. I put on a Christmas tree and encouraged others to put on something too. I was only successful in convincing a couple other women. Andrea Blad put on a huge Christmas hat which I wished I had seen before I put on the Christmas tree. I liked hers better. Janie Rasmussen arrived and I was not at all surprised to see she also put on a Christmas tree. Great minds think alike. Jessica McDonald also put on a headband. It was truly a delightful evening.

Riverwoods and Waffles

We made our annual DeMartini Family trip to the Riverwoods to see the lights this evening. It was cold, but we bundled up and stopped periodically to huddle around a fire. The kids were squirrely and running all over the place. We lost several of them several times. Provo Beach Resort was offering free carousel rides to anyone who was there for the evening festivities, so I took three littles and one big (Kal, Freya, Thea, and Luke) to ride the carousel. We went round and round and warmed up a bit. The little kids visited Santa who sat in a sleigh apart from direct human interaction. Perhaps that's a step in the right direction, but perhaps not.

We ended the evening at our house eating waffles and drinking hot chocolate. They were yummy and warmthing. It was fun to be together, to talk and laugh, and eat, perhaps our very favorite thing to do.

A Celebration of Christmas

Today with many of the DeMartinis and extended family members, we attended A Celebration of Christmas. The music, as always was wonderful. It was fun to see several cousins I don't see very often. The concert is always the perfect way to start off the Christmas season.

Lights On at Zions Bank

Today was the Lights On event at my branch at work, and I missed it all.  I wasn't going to do a Lights On event this year because last year's wasn't a big success, but then I changed my mind at the last minute and contacted the PTA president at Rock Canyon. She sent out an email, I shopped for some treats, and we prepared the tree for decorating. 

A month ago, Amy Morris, manager at the Orem branch who used to be my manager in Provo, asked if I could come and cover her branch today. I said I could. I planned the Lights On event at our branch for today because Friday is early out at school, and I thought more people might be able to attend. I planned on returning to my branch for the hour of our event, then returning to Orem. Sadly, when the time came for me to leave and go to Provo, I was helping a client. He was one of my clients who had specifically come to Orem to have me help him, but he was very late for our appointment. I asked him to come at noon, knowing I needed to be back in Provo by 2:00, and figured two hours would be plenty of time to help him. It was enough time to help him, but he didn't arrive until 1:00. I completely missed the whole thing at my own branch. 

I was very, very sad. Mikayla came with her kids. Mackenzie Drake came with lots of little girls, Hilary Davis brought slightly bigger boys, and the PTA president came with two of her boys. Gregg Pugmire came with a homemade gingerbread man which he said was delicious and which I should eat over the next couple of days. Brandt was there, and Dan Passmore showed up too. It was all so fun for everybody except me. It really made me very very sad. 

But my tree looks so cute, and I will plan on doing it all again next year.

Last night at our craft night, Mikayla made me a hippo ornament!

Brady Elder, Maxwell Drake, ?, Sam Davis

?, Hannah Drake, Camille and Jenna Bracken, ?

The PTA president's boys

The Johnsens

Gregg, Dan, Brandt

Gregg's gingerbread cookie was good.

I ate most of it.

Christmas Craft Night

Zions Bank has a long running tradition of holding a Lights On event wherein the children at a local school make Christmas ornaments that they then bring to the branch and decorate the tree.  I have enlisted the Rock Canyon PTA to join our branch in celebrating Christmas. 

Tonight, to prepare for that, I went over and had a Christmas craft night with Mikayla and her children. I have a whole box of Christmas craft stuff that has been in the basement for a long time, and we had lots of things to do. We used paper and balls and felts and tin foil and perler beads and all sorts of things to make different kinds of ornaments. It was so fun to be with Mikayla and all of her kids. It was a crazy big mess but we had a marvelous time. I'm excited to have them come and decorate my Christmas tree tomorrow at work.

Mikayla decorated this ornament with fabric and ribbon.

When she held it up, Kal said, "It's a reindeer egg!"