My parents are getting settled after their mission. Today they spoke in church about their experiences and then we gathered in their home to enjoy a meal. The young cousins (not pictured) joined one another in the usual arrays to play while adults settled into conversations long overdue. Sunlight reached inside to illuminate a very nice family gathering. My parents are themselves, and more tender and refined because of their missionary service.
Richard is all-in as a fun grandpa, even when we are just grandparents on a screen.
Here is a tiny window into our Christmas celebrations. I hope you had a great Christmas. We did.
The best part of each day lately is when Richard and I sit down to watch an annual family Christmas video. We have made these videos since 2003, so if we want to see them all before Christmas, we begin early. They feature our kids’ performances, piano pieces, and sometimes lip syncs to Christmas songs. They end with a slideshow of the year’s photos put to music. They were originally intended for the grandparents, but as the years pass, they probably bring the most delight to us.
We are working on the 2025 installment. There is always a story to tell about family.
Here is a part of our 2014 video:
This is a figure I saw this weekend of the number of extra hours of labor that women take on during Christmas time. This seems accurate to me.
I have never wanted to cultivate resentment about the effort it takes to create some extra Christmas magic. When the kids were younger, this meant I tried not to hurry them as we created simple traditions. When they were teens, the magic came from devoting our lives to support their dance and musical performances. When our adult children can’t be with us, I adjust my expectations and send packages.
Whatever is required of us this Christmas, I know that we can take inspiration from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. He showed us how to love and serve.
These are the people who matter most to me (Mike not pictured, but included) and they helped take the sting out of another birthday.
These two are a set each football season, usually in our living room. Tim got tickets from work to the BYU v Utah game last weekend and invited Richard.
Richard sent me this photo and said to notice the prominent Provo Rock Canyon temple under construction above the stands.
I know football pretty well. I hear the games and the podcasts and analysis, but it’s usually while I do some hand sewing or reading. I didn’t watch at home, but monitored the score to know how happy or disappointed Richard would be, and I smiled when BYU won.
Paige’s family drove down from their home in Alabama to meet us in Florida just a few days after Tim and Queenie’s wedding.
I was so stretched before this trip that I did some research about what a person needs in order to reset. I liked this list of three things,
Is anyone still with me after this long break? Here are some photos of Tim and Queenie’s wedding day at the Draper temple, the wedding luncheon, and the reception. We were busy, we were joyful, we had fun; my heart ached because Mark wasn’t with us.
We love our newlyweds!
I am taking a break from updating my blog during the next few weeks. Weddings call forth many private emotions and so many errands. You can picture me in the aisles of Hobby Lobby on (another) “last trip for the wedding,” running errands, facilitating a big luncheon for family and friends, and preparing church lessons, etc. It’s a time to celebrate Tim and Queenie and to cherish the covenants of the temple sealing. While I am busy, I know that no detail of the wedding matters more than those few minutes in the temple being sealed as husband and wife for eternity.