December Part 1

December flew by but was also the longest month of my life. I felt like I aged ten years and was frequently getting flashbacks from finals week at BYU because I was that exhausted. Time drags when you don’t spend any of it actually sleeping. Randy was busier than usual with all things seminary and we didn’t really see him until December 21st. No joke. Luckily for him, I took care of the Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, and neighbor gifts. And he got all the Christmas lights up in record time!  Then added a few more for good measure.  Our front yard is so bright it’s like noon day and you can probably see our house from outer space. 

We had so many things going on here and there that I’ll let the pictures tell the story. Read between the lines and see how I over-scheduled myself all in the name of lighting the world. I wouldn’t change a thing except for the part when I had to order more Christmas cards because I ran out, but I bit the bullet and ordered more, and still missed a few cards. Oh well.  I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas cards.  I love creating ours, and getting cards, but keeping track of addresses and updating all the new ones is WORK!

Parker joined the ranks of all his older brothers and joined choir. He had his first choir concert and he did great! Please bless he is the kid who actually learns how to sing tenor/bass!

Screenshot of Landon on Instagram. Yes, he’s still playing lacrosse for both Skyline and the Starz.  He’s so good and trying desperately to grow and gain weight so he can be a force as a freshman.   

I signed up to give Christmas for two boys for Toys For Tots. I envisioned all of us shopping together but it ended up being a last-minute dash to the store with Parker who was not happy about it. But once we started shopping (with a deadline of one hour to deliver the gifts) he was loving it! Hooray for lighting the world and giving!

Henry will do anything including Christmas shopping when bribed with Panda Express. 

We found a new star for the tree along with a few new ornaments. 

Pure gorgeousness. But don’t worry, this tree didn’t get up until December 7th!!

Sunday family FaceTime calls are fun

Spent a few hours volunteering at the Giving Machine with my friend and purchased a month of heat for a family in need. After losing power for a week, I appreciate this basic necessity.

Volunteered multiple times at the Festival of the Nativity. This event is huge and draws hundreds of people to it every day. I helped with set-up, take-down, and worked as a guide. 

There are over 600 nativity sets from around the world. Some are donated temporarily and some are part of the event. 

The details to make this event so beautiful are just amazing!

I collected donations to help the members of our Spanish branch have Christmas. Members from around the stake ordered gift cards and they were delivered to me for distribution.

We ended up with about $5,000 in gift cards. So awesome!

The annual ward Christmas party

Ethan brought his girlfriend with us to see the nativities. Henry and I found all the items on the scavenger hunt in record time—perks to spending so much time there volunteering. 

And Marcus was at a huge Christmas party with his girlfriend 

Randy’s epic seminary extravaganza. Here’s the temple they built out of cardboard

I brought the boys to check things out and see why their dad was MIA for several days :)