Christmas Catch-Up

Wow! It's been a whole three weeks since I've had the cahnce to blog, and right before I need to print our yearly blog book. Yikes! This month has been crazy busy with all the Christmas activities, so I'll just give the rundown:

• On December 4th I got to play the Symphony's holiday concert. It was my first regular season concert playing 1st violin, and I had a lot of fun. 
• December 5th was dad's 51st birthday. We went out to dinner, but it was a pretty low-key celebration. Very fun!
• Our ward Christmas party was December 16th and Max got to see Santa yet again. We ate great food and sang some carols. I love all the kids in our ward, and Max loved getting to see his friends. We always have so much fun at ward events!
• Darreck's first day of break was December 17th, and we've been living it up ever since. We mostly hung out with our families, including watching Christmas movies and decorating gingerbread houses. I think we officially fit in all the fun traditions we wanted to do. The gingerbread houses were especially fun, and we'll have to remember to do it again next year. 
• The highlight of this week was that my Grandma Necia got to come home from a break in her mission. She's spending the whole week with us, and we're so excited to see her again.
• Christmas Eve was split between the Hales and the Slaviks. We played lots of games, opened presents, and got to meet Ben, a boy that Pennie and Time are trying to adopt. The highlight for me was getting to drive around and look at the lights. Because of our unseasonably warm weather, there were lots of lights this year- very, very fun!
• Christmas day was extra special this year because we got to go to church! It was a nice way to split up our humble present assemblage here with the extravaganza at my parents. Darreck sang with the young men and I played in a string quartet. It was a really special program. Unfortunately, Tim also cut his finger at work on Christmas day at work, and he spent a large portion of the day in the hospital in Lewistown. He's doing much better now. 
• Which brings us to December 26th, which was when we finally got celebrate Christmas day with Darreck's family. We got another Christmas dinner, and we got to celebrate Ben's birthday a day early.

I'm so thankful for the Christmas season; it helps me remember my Savior in more meaningful way than I do for the rest of the year. We had a simple Christmas this year, and it was wonderful to focus on the spirit of giving. The most meaningful part of our season was participating in our ward's giving tree. We adopted 4 local families in need and provided them with Christmas presents for their family. We may not have had a lot of family presents this year, but it felt so good to provide for those who needed it so much more. That is the reason for the season. 

Seeing Santa (and mom missing out!)

This weekend was they symphony holiday concert which meant rehearsals. So, Max got to spend some good, quality time with Grandma and Grandpa, including going with them to their ward party. He got to enjoy the good food and even meet Santa, but Darreck and I both missed out seeing it! So sad! Anyways, mom and dad said he did well, even if he was a little shy. He's normally shy when he's in new situations, which is so contrary to his nature at home. In case you haven't heard yet, all Max wants for Christmas is a baseball glove, and he's been practicing telling Santa for weeks. When the big time came, he forgot, of course, but Grandma helped him out.