Sam Singing @ School

We interrupt the "12 Ways of Christmas" to bring you young Sam.

Tall Sam.

He is one of 5 boys in chorus. John would call this a target-rich environment. The high school choir teacher was there and asked if Sam was coming to sing for him next year! He asked about Max, too, and the Tabernacle choir rehersals in SLC (Does anyone know if they are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC?)

The sister LDS missionaries came with us and met lots of new friends. Good concert!

Empty Images & Short-Term Memory

I just tried to download pictures from my camera, and nothing was there.  Empty disc.  Here is what I remember:

The beautiful brown eggs from my brother's chickens.  They were speckly-warm reddish brown with rich, golden yolks.  Gone.  (Well, I could say they are re-purposed into Heath-Bar Pecan Cookies, hidden in oven so they don't disappear.  It's not just hiding them from the kids, but from me, too.  Out of sight is out of mind.)

Close-up views of Polly's quilt before I sent it away.  (And she loves it!  So glad!)

My new glasses.  Love them.  All me.  My last pair broke Harry-Potter-style right at the bridge of the nose.  I had to tape them together at work to drive home.  (If they had ORANGE ones, I would have gotten those.  Not metal-gold, not the same thing.  The new ones are pink on the inside, striped black and white on the side bars.  Called "Petunia" from our local W____-David-doesn't-like-store.  They have my prescription.  AND while I was picking up my glasses I met my walking buddy's other work-out buddy, another Keri.  She heard my name and asked me about my shin splints!)

Picture of my two young 3 & 4 year old friends making caramel popcorn yesterday.  Cute picture:  both on stools  snugged up to the counter, pulling the paper wrapper off of frozen butter sticks and putting them into the pot.  Popcorn EVERYWHERE.  We sang "I looked out the window and what did I see?" and had a great time.  I thought we had had an all dry "Dora the Explorer" panty day, but I found a small puddle and wet foot prints after she left---so sorry I missed that one.  It was inbetween changing a little brother diaper and getting out the play food and singing "All Creatures of Our God & King" with the puppet animals.  It warmed my heart when this young friend burst into chorus "Alleluiah" on her own.

Help me remember with words, what I failed to capture electronically.

I painted the Manger!

Last night was Susquehanna Ward's Christmas party!

Best new ideas for other activities committees: buffet line was outside of the multi-cultural hall, so the whole gym area could be set up for tables and chairs. The tables were all labeled with names, like "Stable" "Wisemen" "Judea" "Star" and we were called by tables of 3 to go to the YW room and sign cards for all the missionaries and service men and women, then up on the stage to take a family picture in the stable, then to the scout room next to the kitchen where the buffet was spread it. That way people could stay sitting until they had something specific to do, and not just wait in a long line all night (past years have been nightmarish that way).

Simple but beautiful decorations, lights on wires above tables, mini-trees along stage.
Our family was asked to sing all 5 verses of "This is the season, beloved of the year, sing a rhyme, Christmas time soon will be here, tell the true story, of Jesus' birth..." Primary song.
Suzu did a wonderful job playing the harp. Three year old Bella told her mommy, "I hear angels singing!" when we started. The harp made us all sound good, but we missed Emma's voice!
Bro. David Mattson (gpa to 4 Primary kids in our ward) made this manger years and years ago for the Primary when we did a pageant. I painted in the hay, and protected it with polyurethane. It still looks good at least a decade later! (Doesn't get hard use). We've posed newborns in it, after some serious padding of that center "V" shape.