Christmas

It has been a great season for me. Early this month we had a party here for Heber Valley Camp missionaries that we had served with. There were 103 of us that served and 30 people came to the party. We felt like that was a great attendance 2 years after we had served together. We had one couple from Idaho and some from Northern Utah. Most were just an hour or so away. It was great to visit with each other.

We have had two great family dinners together. Last Sunday Connie and Steph's families came down and joined us and Adam's family. It was fun to watch the children playing together. Last night for Christmas Eve we all gathered at Benson's for another great dinner. I love my family so much and it is such a pleasure to be with them. We were sorry that Shelly and Laurel's families couldn't complete the group.

This morning we opened presents with Adam, Amy and Wesson. It was fun to see a little one get so excited. They spent the morning here and then left after lunch to go and spend 10 days with Amy's family.

I had a fun afternoon. One of my gifts was a new pillow from Mike. I spent about an hour testing it and it is perfect. After my nap I filled the jet tub so that I could use my new bubble bath. The last person in the tub was Wesson and I probably should have been a bit more cautious. As I pushed the button for the jets water flew up the wall and across the room. Once I quit laughing, got them adjusted and added the bubble bath I had a very relaxing time.

We have talked to all of our kids, responded to several Christmas wishes from Chinese students, washed a few dishes, watched some Church videos and a few other shows and just relaxed most of the day. It was indeed a Merry Christmas.

Yesterday we got a really good snowfall. Adam, Amy and Wesson got into winter dress and built a snowman. Sadly it was a rather warm day and his nose fell out before dark. He was gone by evening but we're lucky Mike had taken this picture.

It was night and I didn't even turn the lights on but this is the artificial tree in the bedroom.

This is the beautiful fresh tree that Adam and Amy bought and decorated.

It is also special for me to have a Christmas tree this season. It is the first time since we have been in this house that one has been put up. I've missed thinking of what to give people, making things, wrapping them and putting things under the tree. I decided that instead of just writing a check for a wonderful cause I would do that and give presents, too, this year. I've been making things and shopping since October and it has made Christmas so much more fun for me. They are now all wrapped and under the tree (except for the ones that went in the mail today.)

We were saving the assembly and decoration of the Christmas tree until Adam and Amy arrived. She really, really wanted a fresh tree that she could smell. We called all over Sanpete County and NO ONE was selling Christmas trees. Many people go and cut them but we do not have 4-wheel drive and we'd need to take both the car and the truck for all of us to go anyway so we decided to go to a lot..... until we couldn't find one. I finally decided to call Spanish Fork City, which is about 40 minutes from here and left a message there asking if there was anyone there selling trees. I got a call back later that afternoon and about 4:00 we loaded into the car and truck and drove down to get a tree.

It cost quite a bit of money and they had to buy a stand, too, because we long ago threw ours away. I was touched later that evening when Adam said something like, "I know that was a lot of money but I don't always get Christmas with my family and I want it to be a good memory."
Amy was thrilled with it. They spent lots of time taking the lights off of our artificial tree and decorating their tree. I suggested that they had plenty of room in the bedroom they are staying in to put up the artificial tree, too. I was joking but they did it! It looks good, too.

I've been singing with a group of women in a group called "Time Out". It was given that name because we all like to take time out in our week to enjoy singing with each other. We just practice for an hour each week but most of us have experience singing with choirs and we learn quite quickly. We have given 6 performances this season (mostly for clubs and Senior Citizen's groups). It is fun for me to sing Christmas music and it has been a good opportunity to meet some new people in our area.

Fun in the Christmas Holiday

This week I went to Parker's first grade class and taught music. We talked about bells and Christmas. They were each able to make a jingle bell shaker and then we played "Jingle Bells" as a class. They decorated their shakers while small groups of them came over and played the different kinds of bells that I had brought.

Mom

Yesterday I had one of the most difficult times of my life. I went to visit Mom . She is so frail and weak. She just sits in her wheelchair and sleeps much of the time. She can't hear anything, she can't see, she couldn't remember and she is so very unhappy with her present situation. I came home heartbroken that I could do nothing more than cheer her a bit with a new hair-do and some visiting. She was so confused and so different than she had been even a week ago when I was there.

I was also upset that the blow dryer for her hair and a plastic shower cap that I left there last week were missing. There are so many people in the center and there seems to be little organization. Any guest, patient or worker could walk in while she is asleep (or awake for that matter) and take things. I thought of reporting it but different people are there every time you walk in and out of a room. I remembered how we had to sign in so carefully the twins were born and how TOTALLY opposite I feel about the organization of this place.

I was cheered a bit when my brother, Todd, called to say that he had been able to fix her one hearing aid (the other has been lost since she has been in the rehab center) and that she
had seemed a bit more aware and able to communicate when he was there. (She told me that he regularly was coming but hadn't been there in a few days. Actually he has been there the last 9 days straight. He, Judy, Lanny and Shirley stayed in her room through the whole First Presidency Christmas Broadcast just two days ago.)

Charlotte is going to contact the hearing aid company today to see about getting working hearing aids. Hopefully that will give her some contact with the outside world. As it is she really can do nothing and she feels so lonely and hopeless there. Here are some pictures of pictures of Mom.

In the 1st one she was about 6 years old. The last one was in 1990. This is the unbelieveable Mom that I remember. What a wonderful example she has been for all of us.


I feel certain that the Lord is looking tenderly upon her as she finishes her life her on earth. I'm sure that she is still here for those of us who are caring for her to learn and appreciate.

It was time to get out my nativity sets today. It is lots of work to take down the Noah's and put up the nativities but it is so much fun to look at them again and see the way that different cultures view the birth of Christ.

My biggest set is olive wood from Jerusalem. Charlotte and David brought them to me as a gift for watching their children while they were there. It was probably about 1975. This set is one of my greatest treasures.



This set is from Peru. It is special to me because my brother Todd and his wife brought it back to us. She had just found out that she had terminal cancer and we sat together on a couch in her bedroom and unwrapped each piece to see that they had arrived safely. She passed away about four weeks later.


This is our wood carving from China. A Christian company in Bejing does them. In the box was a scripture from Isaiah 9:2 "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness- on them light has shined. "

This one was a gift from Laurel and Shelly. it is amazing how many little pieces (mostly 1"-2" high) are in the set. They are from India.

Adam gave us this set for Christmas one year. It is is an American set made by Willow Tree. Joseph is about 10" tall.

We bought this one in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the Old Town. It is a gourd with wood carvings, a miniature rug and Indian pot. It has a hole in the back for a light to fit in. Does anyone know where we can find a single light, perhaps a tiny flashlight, that we could get?

Charlotte brought this one from Zimbabwe. The animals must be made of lead. They are very heavy.

Connie and Ryan brought this one from Hawaii. It is too large for my little shelves so it fits on the bookcase.

We got these two in Mexico in December 2007.


I bought this set in Provo. The style is like many of the items that we saw in Harbin, China which is close to the Russian boarder. It says, "made in China" but to make it more authentic I'm going to to pretend that it was made in Harbin, China where many Russian things are made.

We saw many cute nativities when we were in Alaska but I was looking for Noah's at the time and didn't get one. I found this one on the web and had a bit of fun talking with the salesman up near Fairbanks somewhere. It was probably made in China, too, but the guy stuffed in some rabbit's fur for me to set it on for snow. Not my best art piece but fun.

I ordered a few on the web two years ago so that I would have nice ones for each shelf. This one is from Nepal.

I actually bought this one from Deseret Book in Provo. It is from Thailand.

This one is also from Deseret Book. It just said, "Africa".

This one is the most simplistic. It is like clumps of clay wrapped in fabric, more like a child would make. This is another one from the web and it is from Cambodia.

It is midnight and I can't get the light correct for the color to be right on my wall but this give an idea how some of the nativities are displayed. Others are on the fireplace mantle, on the piano and on the bookcase. It's beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas season now.