Dear Friend,
How are you? Have you had your first winter cold yet? I won’t ask you if your Christmas gifts are all ready, but I will ask, what are you loving about your Christmas celebration this year? I am adding more lights everywhere and asking my boys to cook with me almost every night.
Richard went with the youth last night to see the lights at Temple Square and everyone was thankful for the heated parking lot across the street.
On Monday night we held Sloth Family Home Evening. One boy just stared blankly at the wall when we asked him questions. I looked around the room and we were all slumped over in our chairs. We are working on helping our boys articulate the things they learn and spiritual impressions they have as we watch General Conference talks each week. Some weeks we have great answers. This week it was painful. I think that the cold that we’ve passed around to one another has affected our morale.
We watched Elder Andersen’s talk about sharing the gospel. As I watched, an uncomfortable feeling came that I should share a recent blog post on social media, so I did. You know how I don’t like public comments about my writing, so this was not a fun thing. Richard saw my grimace as I hovered over the “post” button and asked what was wrong. It was not a perfect post I was sharing, and not really developed, and it didn’t have the perfect ending. There was no photo. But I told people that the Savior loved them in it. Some people have reached out to me because of it on social media and elsewhere, and the discussion has developed in many directions, from funny stories about the kids, health, service, and avoiding comparisons with other mothers.
Have you tried the little battery-powered LED lights? They have the tiniest wires so you hardly see them wrapped around things. I have seen them used in centerpieces and wreaths. I have some wrapped around some pine cones down the center of my table that my friend Charlene collected and spray painted gold as a Christmas gift for me. It is really pretty.
My Aunt Jeanne sent me some photos of my grandmother who passed away earlier this year. I framed one of them. She is holding me near a Christmas tree and I am about three years old. I love it!
Today there is a party with my quilt group. There will be food and some of my favorite people there. I’m really looking forward to that. Also, since December is so busy, I have canceled all Relief Society presidency meetings and all we are doing is visiting sisters. Tonight we are stopping by 8 houses. This is one of my favorite memories from last Christmas in Relief Society, the marathon delivery nights where we stopped in just for a few minutes at each house to spread some cheer.
Our annual Christmas video production is underway. Instead of a lip sync, we DANCED! The same boy that stared blankly at the wall when we asked him questions on Monday, stared blankly at the wall when we told him it was time to dance. But then we blasted the music and even the blank stare child danced, danced, danced. Richard and I aged about 5 years during the filming, but it’s going to be worth it. Yes, I think it will be worth it. I hope it will. It better be.
I found the perfect Christmas card, but the store only had 30 of them. If you want one, tell me on Facebook. Just kidding. I really dislike that trend of making people ask you for invitations to events through Facebook. Addresses aren’t that hard to find. It’s not a deal breaker for me, though. Sometimes we do what we have to do. And sometimes we have to use Facebook.
Mark and I are studying the tensions over religion in Europe during the 1600’s-1700’s. In a recent essay he wrote, “James II was a Catholic. *GASP!*” and I probably laughed out loud. He is writing an essay this week about the things he would do to improve our house. He thinks we should raise the ceilings, paint his room, and make everything bigger! He obviously doesn’t have to vacuum the house often enough.
Daniel and I are working on the Piano Guy’s arrangement of O Come O Come Emmanuel for church on the 18th. Our friends are returning from their mission and speaking in church that day. I realized that I played at their “farewell” sacrament meeting, too. What are the odds of that?
I should be sewing, but my fingers are sore. My Christmas gifts are almost ready, but I have to pace myself.
Timothy’s 14th birthday is coming soon. All he wants is to go to the opening night of Rogue One. Richard took him to the midnight premier of the Star Wars movie last year and apparently, it was life-changing for Tim.
Paige is in her last day of classes before finals. How quickly the semester goes when you’re not the one in classes. We are looking forward to having her home.
I wish you the best of days. Let me know how you are doing.
Love,
A