Christmas Memories

Mary playing the saxophone in her band concert.
Peter and Libby in their Christmas concert.
It was magical to have a White, and I mean really White Christmas. We had four snowstorms the week of Christmas, each dropping at least 3-4 inches. Peter absolutely had a ball in this snow. He would go out and play, come in and strip all his snow gear off and dry it in the dryer, and then put it all on and go out again. He reminds me so much of Bruce in that way - he's not afraid of the work it takes to have fun.


Someone - bless their souls - did the 12 Days of Christmas for our Family. Whoever did this - we cannot thank you enough! Your presents were so tailored-made to our family - I can't help thinking that it is someone that knows us really well. We loved every present, and the Nativity Set will be a treasured heirloom in our home for the rest of our lives. Your thoughtfulness and love will always be remembered as the highlight of our Christmas. I love this video of Libby singing part of your poem.
Every Christmas Eve, we have a traditional festive Mexican Soup called Posole. It is made of chicken broth, chicken and hominy. The six toppings are lettuce, chopped onion, radishes, oregano, chili powder, and my favorite - fresh lime juice. It is so yummy!
After dinner, we gathered around the Christmas Tree and Bruce read the Christmas story.Stetson and Whitney arrived on the 23rd to spend five days with us! It was SO FUN to have them here. More about them in a minute...
We were also lucky enough to have our cousins and Lorna with us, as they were stranded from traveling because of the snowstorm. What fun to have them around. We LOVE our cousins!
After the reading of the Christmas story, we had everyone go around the room and share something about the Savior or his life, which of course brought a very sweet spirit into the room. We said our family prayers, and then our kids got to open one present from Santa. This of course, is the same thing for all of them - pajamas!
I love these pictures through the years!
Even thought these pajamas look four sizes too big, isn't this the most angelic face you've ever seen? Yes, I thought so!

The kids wend off to bed after this. Well, that is a relative term, as we all know. They went upstairs to the FORT they had built. The Fort consists of every blanket, sheet, pillow and pillow case in the house that people weren't using, and piling it in the middle of the couches upstairs in the ER (what we call our Entertainment Room). Stetson and Whitney joined the kids sleeping in the Fort, a thing which they later declared they shall never do again! I wanted to warn them, but I just couldn't - they had to find out for themselves.

You must know that at 5am Libby, threw up all over. Stetson got up and by himself cleaned it all up and never said a word to me or Bruce. I had been sleeping a whole hour by that time, so I was VERY grateful for what he did. How many men do you know that would do that for their wife's six year old cousin??? I know about one - and his name is Stetson. She continued to throw up all morning long. She would open a present, lay down, throw up, then sit up and open another present, then lay down and throw up again. It only lasted until early afternoon, however, so it wasn't too bad. Stetson definitely took care of the worst of it. Thank you so much Stetson!!

Here is a link to my Picasa Web site, where I have uploaded the rest of the Christmas Day pictures. We had a wonderful day, playing games and hanging out together.

I love this time of year because of all the family togetherness time it gives us, and the focus on our Savior Jesus Christ and his life and mission on the earth. Truly, the angels brought "tidings of great joy!"

Coming soon... Our 19th Anniversary and pictures of Peter's rocket launching.