I made these snowflakes many years ago and didn’t want to get rid of them when the season was over. They were a lot of work, so I packaged them carefully into a cabinet so I could use them another time. With the leaves gone in my backyard, I wanted a little something on my kitchen window to cheer up the view. I arranged as many as I could fit, and the effect is best at night when the dark winter night contrasts with the sparkly white designs.
I placed my best snowflakes in a floating frame on my living room wall. I can see this frame from many areas of our house, and it is surprising how I continue to feel a thrill when I see it. I am proud of these original creations, and I’m glad that I saved them!
This was a really good day. This photo, taken on a December’s early twilight, brings back many happy memories of a day spent together, working and celebrating family. It took some effort, but we captured a photo of everyone in their Sunday best. There is a chaos story behind most family pictures, but on this day, it was all good chaos.
I am getting pretty close to finishing this little project, which is based on a very famous painting. I know what it will look like when it’s finished, but it’s still a mystery to me how this is all going to come together. What a metaphor for my life.
I planning for a few months of ward conferences, so despite winter telling me to rest, I have a very full season ahead. My first counselor, on whom I depend so much, is carefully watching over her husband in his final days on earth. These years of serving in our stake callings have not shielded us from life’s challenges. My second counselor Susan passed away suddenly in 2022. Among the women in my presidency, which have changed over time, we have faced milestones along with the challenges. We’ve sent 5 missionaries into the world, had 3 children get married, and had 1 grandchild and one great-grandchild born. We have led during a pandemic and experienced two major surgeries with long recoveries. And now, my counselor’s husband is in hospice care.
There are some challenging days ahead, but if I have learned anything through my service, it is that my Heavenly Father will give me the strength to do what he has called me to do. He is doing the same for my presidency and for you.
The past few days I have been clearing away Christmas decorations: three trees, hundreds of ornaments, and even more lights. Textiles and decorations have been cleaned, whisked away, and stored. A room suddenly without a Christmas tree is a shock, isn’t it?
We are all in the midst of this cleaning and resetting process after Christmas. It’s both a chore and a relief. With the end of abundance, we are left with a blank space, so symbolic of the year ahead.
The early adult years for our children when they were able to come home for Christmas masked the reality of the change that was always happening. Inevitably, we move beyond one home base. Some traditions fall away each year as we learn to navigate new roles. But the decorations live in a predictable state of repetition.
When we are all together again for Christmas (maybe in 4 years), the same decorations will probably be on the shelves, walls, and the tree, but the time together will be even shorter. Our home will be a brief stopping place for most of our children who will be busy with family life and careers. How predictable, but surprising when it happens. We will be known by some iteration of Grandmother and Grandfather, and not so much by the titles of Mom and Dad.
As I set up and pack away Christmas, I handle reminders of our lifetime, and even those ornaments that I have passed on to our married children return to memory. So many of my Christmas decorations are inherited. I remember what it was like to visit the homes of my grandmothers when I handle their dishes and pretty things. For me, Christmas decorations are family history, and the ritual of seeing them each year helps me remember religious feeling, the innocence of childhood, and our family legacy.
I’ve taken time to pause and look back, and now I am ready for a new year. The Nativities have been replaced by hopeful whites and shiny silver (once I remove the tarnish). Happy New Year! 😃
After reading through my 2023 blog posts, I’ve decided that I want to end the year by listing one daily, one weekly, and one monthly thing that helped me get through a year which was actually very challenging.
A daily practice that helped:
I took the counsel of President Nelson and I kept a journal of impressions that I had while I prayed, and I acted upon those impressions. This created a leap in progress in my understanding of how revelation works and how interested God is in my life.
A weekly practice that helped:
Friday dates with Richard
A monthly practice that helped:
I tried to do a variety of work in the temple. Richard and I were able to complete temple ordinances for several ancestors with the help of our children, my brother, and my parents.
I have also looked over my reading list from 2023 to see where I have been. I have a special shout-out for Charles Dickins’ David Copperfield and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
As I prepare for 2024, I don’t have any major resolutions. I do have plans to keep my good habits, while giving myself the grace to just do one thing at a time, including new things.
Wishing you a gentle look back at your 2023, and a hopeful look forward to your New Year.
2017: Paige reminded us that this was the last year that we were all together for Christmas. I think I had steeled myself to the idea of not having everyone around, so I hadn’t kept track. In 2017, there were 6 of us, and now there are 8. 🙂
As we opened gifts together, I enjoyed seeing how thoughtful everyone was. Some had created handmade gifts, and others had shopped to find perfectly matched gifts for a sibling or parent.
Whenever I remember that Mark will be on a mission for the next two Christmases, I stop myself. Why rob from the joy of this moment? Plus, having a missionary is another kind of joy. But mostly, I am avoiding all thoughts about this. Mark is my baking buddy, and he has faithfully helped me decorate the house, inside and out. He is a wonderful companion to me.
It has taken some time to draw Tim back into our family dynamic. The transition from missionary to everyday Latter-day Saint is not an easy one, but we saw more sparkle in his eyes during the past week. Don’t worry, he is fine, he is just adjusting to a huge change in his life. I remember Daniel’s post-mission life, and reminding him that it was worthy work to spend time with family. Tim has introduced us to enjoying seafood and a game called Bang. He also gets a funny happy expression whenever we serve rice at dinnertime. 😁 Mostly, we enjoy his humor and his light.
Daniel and McKenna are fun company. Daniel also plays background piano music as often as he can, and McKenna cracks jokes all the time. Mark and McKenna, being youngest siblings, really speak a similar language, and get along really well.
Paige has always been our traditions keeper, gently reminding us of things we do. One evening while people wrapped gifts in private corners of the house, she and Mike watched year after year of our annual home movies. Paige gave gifts of her art, including two children’s books and this precious portrait of Sparky:
Richard and I are behind in our tradition of preparing the annual Christmas video. This is our 20th year making one. Our show is shorter this year because of less family time, but the events are much more exciting and span the world. Richard and I enjoy the time working on this together and remembering the year. 2023 was full of important events, and we anticipate 2024 will be another big year.
We celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary last night with a party and a program. One thing I can’t show here is the video presentation that Richard and I prepared from a mountain of photos and video contributed by family. It is too long to post here, but I think it was lovely.
The morning after an event like this is always sweet with memories. It was a treat to work with my siblings and their spouses on this party, and it was a treat to honor our parents. ♥️
Paige and Mike arrived in town on Wednesday, and Daniel and McKenna dropped by last night. As soon as they walked in, I realized that we had all of our kids together in our home. It’s been two years and several weeks since we have enjoyed time together like this.
It was a busy evening, with a friend visiting and preparations for my parents’ anniversary party. Daniel played through a Christmas songbook on the piano, and eventually several of us sang along. Paige and Mike played a game, Tim and Richard watched a movie together, and I moved from room to room, enjoying the sight.
Tim and Josh are always up to something interesting. One thing they have been doing lately is building these wooden Christmas trees to sell. These are the ones I chose for our house. I am pretty sure I got a custom paint job because the colors I selected were already sold out, yet they delivered just the colors I wanted.
