In Review

2024 is ending with a thunderstorm. In fact, the year itself had several figurative thunderstorms in addition to the real ones. But it also had some major miracles happen and long-held prayers answered. It was a year of changes for our family with Peter going to college and a realignment of our ward boundaries. The kids have all grown and learned new things. I learned a lot from building the bookcases and Bryan fueled that (and future) learning by gifting me a miter saw for my birthday and a palm router for Christmas. I also began to learn about being a Primary president. I think after one year in this role I'm still just learning. Switching wards halfway through the year definitely changed my learning curve.

In 2025 I hope to keep learning, reading, and strengthening the relationships that matter the most. And while it's probably useless to continue counting it on my resolutions list, I'd like to sleep a little more next year too.

Neigh

We went on our annual carriage ride with our friends on Saturday night. It went mostly smoothly, although both Topher and Violet were scolded by the carriage drivers after they decided they really wanted to pat the horses at the conclusion of the ride. We didn't let them get that far, but they did try. That's why they're both being restrained by older sisters in this picture.

The Day Of

On Christmas morning the children (and Uncle Paul) were summoned downstairs by the sounds of Manheim Steamroller.

They dove into their stockings and then we paused to eat cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, sausages, and hash browns. Then we got back to opening presents. Topher was eager to deliver the gifts he'd picked out at his school holiday shop first.

Most of the kids got robes and slippers (so of course we had to show them this SNL sketch), though Peter has limited suitcase space and got a cozy scarf instead.

Paul was included in the gifts and got his own set of want, need, wear, read items.

Kids: (said with shock at my previously unmentioned skill with picking out electronics) Mom, did you buy that gift for Dad?

Me: Do you mean did I wrap this gift for him? Yes, I did.

Uncle Paul brought us a game all about holiday cheer. The kids had fun playing it on Christmas. I was in the kitchen cooking most of the day, so I'm still looking forward to playing it.

Sophie got boots and loooooooves them.

Phoebe got her own boots and loooooooves them, too.

Just before this picture was taken:

Family: Phoebe, what did you ask Santa for for Christmas?

Phoebe: LIBERATION!

Phoebe then opened her next gift, a pair of socks that say "Master has given Dobby a sock, Dobby is free!" She was delighted.

I guess you're never too old for Legos.

I got a toy too. Bryan got me a palm router. It's so fancy.

Then Bryan and I spent a ridiculous number of hours cooking, even after spending most of Christmas Eve cooking as well. The food was delicious.

Christmas night was spent supervising while a locksmith tried for 30 minutes to breaking into the home of our friends. Cooper is taking care of their pets while they're gone and their electronic keypad lock died earlier that day. Cooper and I shivered in the cold until he finally drilled out the lock and Cooper could let the dog outside.

Seriously, so cold.

After an hour we got home and watched a Christmas movie. We all stumbled to bed a little after midnight. It was a full and fun Christmas day.

On the Eve

After our Christmas Eve soup and bread, and opening Christmas pajamas, we watched The Muppet Christmas Carol. They all started out on furniture but ended up on the floor by the end.

Topher asked if we could put out milk and cookies "for Mom and Dad." We did, and he then declared it a new tradition he had started.

We finally chased all the kids to bed and got to work setting out the stockings. Do you notice an extra one up there? Bryan's brother Paul joined us for Christmas this year. We loved having him visit and made sure he had a stocking as well.

Even doing our four gift rule (want, need, wear, read, not including gifts from siblings and grandparents) the tree was full. Gifts for eight people take up a lot of space.

We set out the stocking supplies and were in bed around 1 o'clock in the morning. Thank goodness our kids have never been the type to wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning. Santa and Mrs. Clause needed a solid night of sleep.

Christmas Eve Jammies

Merry Christmas!

Tell Me About When Jesus Was Born

Remember that video I was editing together a week and a half ago? Well, here's the finished product. There was a lot of inspiration involved in this project, including asking the kids to tell me about when Jesus was born and recording their answers. I got those done the day before we had to show the movie at our ward Christmas party. There's nothing quite like editing and rendering until 2:15 in the morning the day the project is due.

I'm quite pleased with the result.

Somewhere In My Memory

Since 2019 (with the exceptions of 2020 when it didn't happen and 2021 when we were still at home, though I did consult on that one from a distance) I've been heavily involved with organizing an interfaith Christmas concert. When our congregation boundaries were redrawn in June, one of the things I mourned was not being part of this concert. Then I remembered that our children's choir would likely sing at it, so I would at least be part of it in that way. It was a small consolation.

In September I talked with my Bishop and he agreed that our new ward should still participate. I was given the task of putting together a musical number to take to the concert from our new unit. Not too long after that I was asked to join a Zoom meeting with the fellow in charge of the concert. My kid choir co-director was on the call too, so we assumed he would be telling us how many songs to prepare. Nope. The meeting was short and consisted of him telling us he was too busy to do the concert (he was trying to finish his dissertation) and apologetically asking if we would take over. We both said yes.

Among the many (many many many) things I've needed to organize this season, this has probably been the biggest. The concert included members from a Lutheran congregation and a Messianic Jewish synagogue, two wards from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (that's us), a harpist and her tenor husband, and our children's choir. There were lots of texts and meetings and rehearsals and Marco Polos involved in the planning. 

Here's our early Saturday morning dress rehearsal with the kids.

The concert was scheduled for the evening of December 15. When our former Bishop passed away we were prepared to postpone if needed. We didn't have to, but the memorial on Saturday and the concert on Sunday made for a very long weekend. When Bryan and I went over the schedule for those two days he said, "So it's basically one long day." Yep.

After some eleventh hour drama, the concert came together beautifully. The songs were wonderful. If I'd thought about it I would have asked someone to record the song I directed from my ward, a triple quartet that sang Good Christian Men, but it didn't occur to me. It was lovely. The music the Rabbi brought from his synagogue was amazing and had us all standing and clapping. Both the Rabbi and the music leader from the Lutheran church told us afterward how wonderful the evening was and how much they enjoyed sharing our beliefs with each other.

Bryan did think to record the song I directed from our little choir. Actually, it's grown each season, so I guess it's not so little anymore. Cooper joined us for Christmas, along with two other young men, so we could add a baritone line. I think this is the best they've ever sung it.

It was a spiritually uplifting night of music and it was just what I hoped it would be.

Yesterday we took these kids to perform their Christmas songs, plus several group sing-alongs, at a retirement home. We thought it was an appropriate way to do service on the Sabbath. They did a wonderful job. 

And with that, our extremely full musical season is done.

Good and Faithful Servant

The last two weeks have been full of emotions. Two Fridays ago our former Bishop and Stake Presidency member passed away very unexpectedly. This came just a few days after one of Bryan's classmates from the MBA program passed away from cancer. Our hearts felt broken over these two sudden losses.

We spent the next week mourning as a family and with our former ward family. We both reached out to his widow to send our love and did our best to respect the privacy of their family. We attended their ward Christmas party and hugged and cried. At the end we all took luminaries and placed them along their driveway to show our love. The next Monday at seminary was spent talking about grief and loss and preparing the kids for the return of their friend and classmate who had lost his dad. Phoebe, Sophie, and I were asked to sing in a small women's choir at the memorial. On Thursday evening I attended a book club comprised of friends who spent some time sharing our heartache.

Topher offered our family prayers a few days after his death. He said, "Please help the D family to be happy. And please help Brother D to have a good time in heaven and to see Jesus." I cried at the tragedy and the beauty of that prayer.

Those of us singing took different paths to prepare. One friend approached it clinically to keep her emotions in check, focusing on musical dynamics and crisp diction. Another friend listened to the song, Peace in Christ, over and over and over, trying to get all the feelings out in advance. I did some of that as well, but I also knew that I would be feeling everything while we sang, that's my nature. I asked my aunt, an experienced singer and voice teacher, for her counsel. She suggested that we pray that we feel enough to invite the Spirit, but not so much that it get in the way of being able to sing. That's what we did.

Last Saturday we gathered at the church building early. Our final kid choir rehearsal before our big interfaith concert had been scheduled for that morning. We changed the time and started earlier in the morning to accommodate the memorial. After that rehearsal, we gathered to practice Peace In Christ. Then Cooper and Phoebe served as ushers along with most of the other youth from what used to be our congregation. Bryan, Sophie, Topher, and I stood in line to give hugs and condolences to his widow and their three kids. She had been Topher's primary teacher and when she saw us she dropped down to her knees, pulled him into a tight hug, and whispered that she had Tic Tacs, a treat she regularly handed out to her class.

I told her about Topher's prayer and she said she'd had several witnesses throughout the week that confirmed he was having a good time in heaven.

The memorial was beautiful. We got through our small contribution, thankful that it was the opening number. There were two additional musical numbers and I cried through both of them. All three of his children, ages 25, 21, and 17, spoke about their dad. His good friend and coworker spoke about serving with him as a pilot. And his wife gave a talk, not from her perspective, but from his. She reminded us that if he were there, and she said she was certain he was, he would ask how we were doing, about our kids, our pets, our projects. He would ask what books we'd read recently and recommend one that he loved. He would help us to feel welcomed and loved. Then the Bishop stood and spoke about the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ that make it possible for this family and all families to be together again. He spoke from a place of deep personal connection and love for his friend and mentor. Then we were invited to go outside into the cold December air and watch as his friends did a memorial flyover with their personal planes as well as his own plane.

The stories that were shared matched our experiences with him. He really was the type of person that noticed if you were new and immediately came to welcome you. He remembered names and stories you'd told him. He advocated for our family in some difficult situations. He was a support and cheerleader for the children and youth. He led with love and kindness. He did his best to follow the Savior's example.

We left the memorial, still sad, but determined to live a life more like the one he had led, one of kindness, love, and faith.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

We had another concert tonight, this one was for our friend's Girl Scout Gold Award project. She put together a concert of student musicians to highlight the importance of music education in schools. The concert was organized youngest to oldest, so Topher joined his friend Violet for the opening number. They got stuck in a Jingle Bells loop when Topher kept singing the low note of the end of the first part of the song instead of the slightly higher ending note, but we finally got them out of it. They were both adorable.

Sophie sang The First Noel. Her audio track cut out early into the song, but she didn't falter at all. She kept her pitch and sang beautifully. I told her afterward that not all singers can maintain the key they're in without accompaniment. She was surprised by that. Phoebe overheard a few of the older musicians (meaning high schoolers) sitting behind her say that they thought Sophie was very profession for continuing to sing.

Phoebe, in a move that surprised all of us, agreed to play Silent Night on the harp. She started taking harp lessons in October and loves it. Her teacher created a stretch arrangement of Silent Night for her and Phoebe played it beautifully tonight.

We only have one more concert to go for this very busy season.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

During December we will have attended/participated in nine concerts and three additional special musical numbers. It's been a highly musical and exhausting month. Cooper joined concert choir at his school this year and had his first concert last Wednesday. This is a really fun event. Every music group in the school (and there are many, music is a big deal here) performs. They're set up all around the theater (Cooper was on risers in the pit) and the one big rule of the evening is that no one can clap in between musical numbers, the applause is saved for the end. This moves the concert along nicely. Cooper sang in three of the songs, including the Hallelujah Chorus at the end. He did a great job.

A highlight of the evening for Topher was the t-shirt cannon. He leaned over to Phoebe's friend Isaac who was sitting with us and whispered, "I'm gonna get a shirt." And he did!

Sing We Now of Christmas

Tonight we attended Phoebe's Christmas concert. She's the vice president of chorus and, with the president, introduced the chorus numbers. We were happy to support her and hear all the fun Christmas music the chorus, orchestra, and concert band had prepared. Phoebe, much like Sophie the night before, had wonderful stage presence.

Home for the Holidays

Look whose plane landed this evening just in time to go to Sophie's winter concert.

Sophie did a great job playing the violin with the orchestra and then singing with the chorus. She even got to introduce one of the songs. She had fantastic stage presence and probably the best diction of any of the announcers.

We're really happy to have Peter home for Christmas.

Hear Comes Santa Claus

Bryan and I went to a Christmas party tonight. One of the games asked how much like Santa we each were. With his beard, his Christmas playlist, and his love of cookies (among other things), Bryan won! This was his prize. It has a Santa sign and a Santa figurine.

Watch Where You're Going

I learned some valuable lessons today. I learned how to zoom in on a specific point on a video while I'm editing. I learned I could include stock images. Oh, and I learned not to overlay new clips onto already edited material because the stuff you've edited will be deleted. It would have been better if I had learned that one before I hit save.

In related news, I think I've finally redone the four hours of work I accidentally deleted.

We'll Fix It In Post

Our primary was asked to provide the nativity for our ward Christmas party this weekend. I said yes and had a flash of inspiration to have the kids act in a movie instead of doing a tradition nativity the night of the event. This seemed like a great idea. I cast the roles, made costumes, hauled all my supplies to church for a few weeks, used a half-day of school to get some extra footage, and wrangled many very excited children. All of that was fine.

And now I'm editing.

This is not a quick process.

Focus

Me: Cooper, what are you doing?

Cooper: Homework. It helps me focus.

If the Savior Stood Beside Me

Sophie spoke in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. She was given the prompt "What are things that have helped me feel closer to my family and Jesus Christ?" She and I talked through some different ideas. I found out that she had written an essay for school about our Christmas Eve tradition. I suggested that would make a great talk. This is what she came up with. I've opted to keep her original spelling and punctuation.

I love this time of year because of the joy, warmth, hope, and peace I feel. I really enjoy the traditions my family has, some of my favorites include; 

Decorating our Christmas tree together, watching Christmas movies, making wassail, and opening Christmas pjs. My most favorite tradition is our Christmas eve tradition. On Christmas eve instead of having a huge feast, we have a simple meal of bread and soup. There are two reasons why we do this. The first reason is what happened on my parents' third Christmas. My parents hadn’t made any special plans so they didn’t have a big meal prepared. Their Bishop came by with loaves of bread for the couples who had stayed at school for Christmas. My parents were very thankful for the bread they found some soup in their cupboard and that’s how the tradition started but the reason we keep it going is because Jesus was born into humble circumstances and he continued that way throughout his life as we read in Luke chapter 9 verse 58 we learn “ And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not were to lay his head.”

This tradition makes me happy it makes me feel as if Jesus were right next to me and I feel warm inside, I know it’s his love I bear my testimony that I know that Jesus loves everyone of us and we can feel his warmth as we grow closer to him in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Time Well Spent

Phoebe has been so busy with school that she hasn't spent much time drawing lately. She dedicated part of this afternoon to sketching this beautiful piece. She's quick to find fault with the art she creates, but I'm astounded by it.

I Said Yes to Too Many Things

While looking at my schedule this month, I'm not sure if I want to cry or hyperventilate. Or both.

That is all.

Close Enough

"Snow day!"

We had a near-whiteout flurry last night. It didn't last for long, but it was intense. The temperatures dropped into the teens, so the little bit of snow stuck. I didn't expect any more snow over night, so I was surprised when Topher looked out the front window and yelled out that we had a snow day. I joined him at the window and checked. This is what I saw.

There was snow, true. But not enough for a real, stay-at-home snow day. However, it was enough to make a six-year-old boy very happy.

He Thought She Could, Too

I talked to someone at church on Sunday about the bookcases and showed him the finished picture. He said he had lots of plans like that for his own house, but his wife wasn't on board with any of them so he hadn't started them. 

It made me reflect on how very supportive Bryan has been through this whole process. He believed that I could do this crazy hard thing, even when I felt like I was in way over my head. He bought me a 10" miter saw for my birthday this year so I could build the shelves. And he was willing to ask the right questions (which was admittedly frustrating at the time) to help me consider other necessary options. He joined me for the two person tasks and did a lot of heavy lifting when I couldn't.

He's the best.

She Thought She Could, So She Did

These pictures cover the last three months of work on these bookshelves. The corner was the hardest piece to build and definitely the heaviest section to move.

Bryan and Cooper get the credit for moving this beast into the house.

I measured and cut out the cold air return holes while the corner piece was still in the garage. I cut the outlet holes inside the house.

Once all the individual units were completed and in place, we had to attach them to each other. That's what I'm doing here. Also, it's kind of interesting to see the scale of these things. They're pretty big.

In order to install the final bookcase, we needed to move a light switch from one side of the wall to the other. Thankfully, Bryan took on that task. It helped that there was an old phone jack right where we wanted to put the new switch.

When my brother's family visited in October I put the shelves in so we could get all the books off the floors (the rest of the books were on shelves in the basement). That's when I learned that my carefully cut shelves weren't all the correct size. Lots of sanding and just a little cutting later, they fit.

Bryan and Cooper helped install the top and bottom trim.

I took on the task of doing all the front trim. This also required soooooooo much sanding to get the fit just right.

They're technically not done yet. The carpet is rolled back down but not tacked yet. I want to find just the right crown molding. And I need to empty them and add two coats of water-based matte polyurethane to protect the wood. Since we were hosting some small, active people for Thanksgiving, I figured it would be better to fill up the shelves rather than have what could be mistaken for several ladders ready for climbing.

 I'm really happy with them.