(written 25 January 2015) I'm going to catch up ... somehow! No idea how I've managed to overlook (evade?) this family history responsibility but it's a new year and I'm going to catch up and move forward. I want to tell our stories.
This was a new and strange kind of Christmas season for us. For the first time in 17 years, no one was 'coming home' for Christmas. With everyone living close, no one needed to stay here. It was kind of sad, but I found a new 'normal' and was able to just charge ahead and get all the Christmas gotta do's done in near-record time! We got to see Addie and Neil often enough that it still felt joyous.
We celebrated Sinterklaas Avond on the 6th - a day later than the Dutch would, but a Saturday worked better for everyone. We had the normal vegetable beef soup, fried potatoes, but this time Heidi provided the bread and cheese, and Emily brought the cauliflower (veg assortment.) Boterkeuk for dessert, of course! Ian picked up chocolate letters for everyone from the Dutch store in SLC.
Since Jacob was here, John put him and Ian to work and my pedestals were finally installed beneath my washer and dryer! I had bought them on sale MONTHS ago, so I was very excited! I love having those drawers - so handy, and who ever has enough storage? It's so nice having the machines at eye level now!
Heidi and I babysat one Saturday night so Emily and Jacob could attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert (with the Muppets and Santino Fontana!) While we were there she decorated Emily's mantle, with a little assembly help from me. (Emily had purchased all the decor.)
Addie had her first dance recital. We loved that! She was surprisingly very musical and on beat. Let's just say the 3-4 year olds were at widely varying levels of ability!! But they made up for it with enthusiasm. A few tears. At least one who just crouched on the floor and refused to move! Addie carried blithely on!
As I had in December 2013, I followed the example of the blog
Daily Closer to Christ and did another 24 Days of Giving project. Wow, what a great way to spend December!! I left gifts for our mail carrier, UPS and FedEx drivers (they are here A LOT!), surprised the girls with hot chocolate one day, paid for the car behind me another, and donated to many worthy causes - the difficulty was choosing between so many. This is not mentioned to toot my own horn in any way. It's just a reminder of all we can do, even in simple ways - more than half were simple things with notes, emails, comments, compliments. (Visit that website!!)
The Family Party was at Moultons in Salem on Sunday the 21st. Scott arrived from Omaha just in time. Stephanie and her family, Bryce and his family, all of my family (minus Ian), plus Jess' sister, brother in law, and dad joined in the festivities. Wonderful finger-foods, as always. I did mini corndogs, baby cheese balls in phyllo tarts, and 4 different Christmasy dips with dippers (eggnog, gingerbread, hot chocolate, peppermint.) Heidi helped the little ones do a craft. We had a candy-sleigh assembly and race. Ella was victorious! The Littles did a sweet nativity - considering how few of them there are, they did a lovely scene. Annette set up a lovely hot cocoa bar for the end of the evening. It's always so fun to be together. Next year, we may have the party in Farmington! I was not seated in the best spot to photograph the sweet Nativity play. [hint hint to those who were!] Addie was the Angel.
Changed my tree decor this year to red, turquoise, silver and white, and got to use the silver Names of Christ stars I'd bought the previous year and didn't get to use. Learned that we really need to have a tree on our main level since that's where we live most of the time. Missed the twinkle. So my pretty tree in the family room was hardly seen until Christmas day!
The real changes began on Christmas Eve. This year we met up at Heidi's house for Raclette:
Raclette is a type of cheese from Switzerland that is prepared with vegetables on a special raclette grill. The grill heats numerous small pans in which each guest melts the
raclette with vegetables and other toppings of his or her choice. So fun and yummy!! Heidi had lots of cheeses and veggies and meats for us to grill.
And the sweetest tiny desserts!
The next morning we went to Emily's for The Reveal! They kept the kids upstairs until we got there, then let them loose. We had to laugh that the gift Emily got on a deal and put out last minute was the hit for both kids that morning: A Fisher Price Disneyland set!
That afternoon (after Neil's morning nap) everyone came to our house to open gifts. We took our time, and eventually Jacob took Neil home for his afternoon nap. (He is since down to just one nap.) It was a wonderful, happy day. It felt every strange after everyone went home to have a silent house on Christmas! We're going with the flow and not dwelling on the past. Just grateful for many happy memories, and enjoying all all the new ones!
May 2015 be a year of happiness and blessings for you all!
love, Kathi & John
