'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

What a great month December was for our family. We had so many wonderful opportunities to "feel" the Christmas Spirit and so many great events with family that kept my emotions close to the surface and my tear ducts occupied for most of the month.

At the very beginning of the month, Rachel's choir sang at the Festival of Trees they hold every year at the Stephens Performing Arts Center at ISU. We went early to look at all the beautiful trees and the boys got to  sit on Santa's lap. Then while Rachel was practicing, the boys and I worked on crafts they had out for the children to do. The concert was really nice (the Century Choir and Band performed) and the boys were really good. We've never done that before, but enjoyed it enough that I think we might have to make it an annual tradition to at least go to see the trees and Santa (and Rachel if she's performing, too).

That next weekend, we had our annual Brown Family Christmas party, which was far from traditional this year. Steve's parents bought us all tickets to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake for Christmas. (I think there were over 50 that they paid for.) Oh, what a fun event. Bryson got to sit in the front row next to Grandpa, and Nathan was sitting on the edge of his chair the whole time. We all loved the performance so much! The theater is so fun with it's sunken stage and audience all around, that you feel like you're part of the story, too. Bryson said to Steve on the way out, "Dad, I think I would like to go to the theater more often." We wondered if he'd like more to be part of the play...he spent most of his day quoting Tiny Tim. Josh really loved it too. He actually hugged "Mr. Scrooge" on the way out. It was so fun, and such a wonderful treat for our whole (extended) family to share in the spirit of that classic tale together. Following the play, we went to a church building and had our very traditional lunch, game exchange, musical present game, collection for "Secret Santa", and family program. That also was very special with the sweet testimonies that were borne following the program. After we cleaned up the church, we went to a friend's of Steve's parents who works at the temple with them. They had a "ride on" model train with a mile or more of permanent track through their amazing property. We started in their heated garage/shop where we sat and watched "The Polar Express" until it was our turn. We had instructions and then got on the train. It rode through the property past more lights and yard decorations than I've ever seen in one place, to a place they called the "North Pole". There some cute little elves, took us into a room where Santa sat and the kids all got to sit on his lap and put in their requests and talk with him. He then showed the kids a candy cane and explained that it represents Jesus. We all sang "Silent Night" together, and then "reverently" left to return to the train. The second half of the train ride was through the rest of the property where we passed large "billboard" prints (mostly of paintings by Simon Dewey) with spotlights on them and listened to sacred Christmas hymns and songs. It was such a fun outing, and gave the kids an opportunity to think about the fun of the season, as well as the true meaning of Christmas. It was such a fun day with the Brown Family, a great time together, and a wonderful way to bring the Christmas spirit into our thoughts and hearts.

We spent an extra night in Utah so we could go visit and attend church Sunday morning with my Grandma Law (my dad's mom) in Provo. That was a special treat for her, and for us. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon with Steve's mom and dad and left in time to hit Salt Lake City in the dark. We drove around until we finally found a parking space in a lot, bundled up the kids, and walked a few blocks to Temple Square. The kids couldn't believe how beautiful all the lights were and loved the story and huge nativity on the lawn between the visitors center and the tabernacle. We wandered around for about an hour until we were tired, and then headed home. It was really the very best way we could have ended such a fun Christmas weekend together.

The following Friday, Steve and I took the three biggest kids (Sarah, Rachel and Bryson) to Salt Lake City for the Tabernacle Choir's Annual Christmas Concert. We were so grateful to my mom for volunteering to have the little boys spend the night with her, and to Steve's friend who works for the church's public affairs department was able to get us tickets. It was a miracle of sorts. David Archuleta and actor Michael York were the special guests. What a fun concert! There was something for everyone to enjoy. There were dancers, the Temple Square bell choir, an organ solo, a very touching story, and the conference center decorations were incredible. The music that the choir and David sang were everything from traditional carols to original compositions, sacred hymns to festive songs. It was such a fun concert, and something we would LOVE to do again! One of the best parts, though, was running into Steve's parents there. The concert was the culminating event of an interfaith conference that his dad had been asked to speak at. Their reserved seating was in the row right in front of us! It was fun to share the concert with them as well.

The very next day, Saturday, we headed to Boise for the Dixon Family Christmas party on Sunday. Sarah had a double date that her cousin set up for her, so we had to be there by Saturday evening. They had a lot of fun together (went to see lights, eat pizza, slide down icy slides at the park and play games). She was really grateful for a cousin with good friends that went to all that trouble to make sure she'd have fun. The next morning, we went to church with my sister, Kristina, and the had the family part that evening. We always do our "Christmas soup" dinner and treats and then act out the Nativity. It was a tradition we did as children, that has survived the years and is now part of our children's Christmas memories as well. Instead of reading the Christmas story from the Bible or another book, we sang the verses of "The Nativity Song" in the Primary Songbook and had the kids enter the "scene" as we sang about them. It was a very nice, quick way to review the story and act it out without all the chaos we usually have. Nathan was Joseph this year and chose his older cousin, Macey to be Mary. The other kids just picked what they wanted to be. The funniest part of the program this year was when Mary and Joseph entered and Mary just dropped the baby (a doll, thank goodness) into the "manger". As part of the program this year, we added a story called "Mary's Treasure Box" that I read as my mom and Macey acted it out. It's a story about Mary as a grandmother, telling her granddaughter, Sarah, who is James' daughter, about Jesus and the events in his life. For each thing they pulled out of the treasure box (like gray wool, straw, a flute, cloth, gold, frankinsence and myrrh) they talked about where it came from what it represents or what we learn from it. It was such a wonderful story. (I had photocopies of it because we used it for our program at our Relief Society Christmas Breakfast.) I would love to add it to my collection, but it's pretty expensive (maybe out of print or something). Anyway, it was a great program and we had a really fun time together.

The next weekend was Christmas, and we loved sharing that week before it together with everybody home from school and work, finishing shopping and wrapping, watching movies, playing games, building puzzles, and just being together. Rachel's piano recital was that Monday, and of course, she did a beautiful job. My brother, Michael and his wife Krystal, came and spent a night with us and we had a wonderfully fun time together. With the exception of a head cold settling in on me and Krystal, it was such a fun visit and we were grateful that they spent part of their vacation time with us in our new house.

I think more than all the things we saw or did to celebrate before Christmas, I really loved all the new experiences we had, and that we were together enjoying them. We got pretty spoiled on our trip last summer and really liked having so much together time exploring and discovering new things. I think I loved all these events because they seemed kind of like an extension of those wonderful memories. It was a very busy month and lots of traveling, but these memories we made together made this a year we'll always remember.