People, people, people...
This Christmas, our gifts to each other, and our Gift of Time this year was all about PEOPLE!!!
I surprised Kambriella and checked her out of school to take her to see the play "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Center Theater that her friend Julia was playing in...She was so happy and SO surprised! :)
We participated in secret service by helping to provide the 12 days of Christmas to a family in our ward, just to see the smiles on their faces...:)
We also met up with our good old friends The Penrod's and stayed the night at a hotel in Salt Lake!
Catching up on life and things was so so good to do. We enjoyed eating out, playing games, and just talking and talking...
The kids loved swimming...(even though we weren't the only ones with this great idea...;)
The swimming pool was packed!
Jessica and Kambriella are so cute together, just like bosom buddies. :) And the way they include Kesslyn in their play, and act like her little mother is just too cute!
They literally could not get enough of each other...
...or the water! :)
We also experienced something that we had never done before...
Lights at Temple Square BEFORE the sun came up!
That's right! We left our hotel at 6:15 in the morning and had almost the entire place to ourselves!
With hot chocolate in hand, we set out to explore temple square WITHOUT the crowds of people and it was AMAZING!
The lights are so fun to see, but with the giant crowds of people that go there at night, it can sometimes be more work to not lose each other than anything. So, going early in the morning when everyone else is still snug in their beds, we were able to enjoy the lights AND not worry about losing each other! :)
It was so peaceful...
We even took time to walk around and see all of the nativities that were displayed from around the world...
I loved seeing the diversities in culture and their depictions of Baby Jesus...
You realize just how alike we all are...although we may seem different on the outside, we are all just trying to get along in this life the same as any other family...
...and we all want to come unto that sweet Babe...our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As the sun began to rise, we knew that it was time to get ready to head back to our hotel...but I will never forget the simple pleasures of those early morning moments at the lights...
I just LOVE the Light!
When we returned back to our hotel, we sat down to a delicious gourmet breakfast of waffles and omelets and everything yummy to fill our tummies. We all knew that even though our time together was short, it was worth every second. When you have friends like these, you will take whatever time you can get together... so we all felt blessed.
Upon returning from the hotel, we went straight to our church for the funeral of Kelsey Stone. With a loving and supportive crew, we were able to serve that sweet family and provide the luncheon for their family after they returned from the cemetery..
As I look around and see all of the angels that are out there among us, my heart finds joy and overflows with love for these beautiful women. We have covenanted to and are oh so willing to "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort..."
It's just what we as women in the church desire to do...
I have such a great love for each one of these beautiful women and the desires of their hearts...they are such great examples to me and I truly count them as my sisters.
Once again, my Christmas seems to be all about PEOPLE.
As soon as we finished cleaning up and returned home from the funeral, we piled in the car and drove to the Trickett Family Christmas party in Roy! Clint's sister Ginger hosted the party this year, and here she is with her brother's (minus Chad who is in Japan).
Cory even flew in with his boys that we hadn't seen in years, and it was so good to get to spend a little time with them. :)
The next morning was Sunday! Our beautiful Christmas Sunday! We went to church and listened to angelic voices singing praises to our Infant King! It was beautiful and I loved feeling that beautiful Spirit of Christmas!!!
As soon as we got home from church, we piled back in our car and drove in a caravan down to our cabin and spent an evening of food, fun, and games there with another one of our favorite family friends the Christensen's! We love them so much but never get to spend very much time with them, so this was yet another Christmas blessing and Gift of Time to be with people that we love so!!!
On Sunday we just visited and talked, and played games and talked...had dinner and treats and talked and talked. :) The next morning the kids all found themselves playing outside in the snow...:) Just the perfect thing to welcome in Christmas Eve morning. :)
We ran down the driveway pulling sleds, and chasing wild turkeys...
...and then we would trek back up it. ;)
Dallin found an old pair of skis in the garage, and used 2 mops for poles and tried his luck at going down the driveway too...but really...it didn't work out so well.
But we DID have a great laugh out of it, so I considered it a success! ;)
When the sleds began to crack, we started using giant garbage bags for sleds. Kesslyn could NOT believe that "her sister was IN the garbage!!!" :) We laughed and laughed, and laughed some more...;)
The boys played around and sledded in the frozen stream bed...
...and after more food and fun, cleaning up and packing up, we headed back home for a Christmas Eve at home. And let me tell you...this sight of sleeping children in the car was all too familiar this year as we squished in as much TIME with the people that we love as we could! We put our hearts and souls and everything we had into making TIME for what mattered most...people that we love.
And as much as I wish I could have had another months worth of time for even MORE people that I love, I am truly grateful for what I get, and the thoughts and loving memories of times past with other loved ones also filled my mind and made me feel happy at Christmas.
I am so grateful for the relationships that we gain here while we are on earth, and that those relationships can be perpetuated beyond the grave. The reality of that statement means so much to me with every passing day, and every life lesson that is experienced and learned...
I can't wait to build our mansions all on the same street with all of the people that I love when we all get to heaven one day...;)
...but it's certainly going to have to be a long, long street. :)
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