Holidays

 I am embarrassingly far behind on this blog.  Right now I'm just going to try to catch up December and then maybe November, and then perhaps October and September .... yeah, I'm that far behind.

But the other stuff is stagnant old, so I'll at least start with some of the relevant things, kind of, that are not quite yet molding in moth balls.

December 6, 2014
American Festival Chorus and Orchestra present Christmas from the Ellen Eccles Theater, Logan, Utah. 

Susie's on the very end of the fourth row from the top, on our right side.

I stole these three photos from the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra site.  On a beautiful Saturday morning, I drove to Logan with Edna to attend my sister Susie's annual Christmas concert.  Connie brought my parents down from Idaho, and Arnie and Vicki were able to come as well, so it was a little mini family reunion.  

Brent went fishing.  He missed out.   Well, he doesn't think so.  He caught 4 fish and I admit I love fresh trout so I only complained a little.

It is a big choir!  Guest performers were Kurt Bestor and Nathan Pacheco.  It was a wonderful concert!   The choir under the direction of Craig Jessop is always amazing to see/hear, and it was super fun watching Kurt Bestor directing his special numbers.

We went to the matinee, and afterwards everyone gathered at a restaurant for a very yummy dinner.  And I got photos of us all, except for me and Edna - she was sitting right next to me so out of the camera's view.   Didn't even realize that until after I got home.

Charles and Susie

Connie

Arnie taking photos of his friend's family (next photo)

Arnie's friend - a former missionary companion - and his daughter and wife, who just happens to be in the Chorus, too.

Vicki and Arnie

Dad and Mom

Friday, December 12, 2014
Karsyn's Preschool Christmas Performance

I didn't make it to any of the grade school performances this year, but Karsyn's preschool show was at a perfect time for me.  She was an adorable building block.

 Here's a little taste of the show.  Karsyn's the one in the middle with the yellow hats.

Edna and Karsyn after the show was over.

Kamryn was in school.  But here's a cute family photo:  Karsyn, Stephanie, Bill, and Ashlyn.

Friday, December 12, 2014
Eric's Gymnastics
Eric takes a gymnastic class with his cousin on Friday mornings which worked out perfect for me to stop and watch, since it started during the last half of Karsyn's show.   So this isn't really Christmas, but it was life in December.   Eric's in the gray sweats, his cousin in the red:

Monday, December 15, 2014
Gingerbread Houses

Leslie started a tradition last year.  I guess it just takes one year to begin something if people like it and one year to stop a tradition if people give up on it.

We missed Leslie this year, and I'll bet she missed this as well.   But we gathered the little ones and glued (yes, hot glue) graham crackers together to make little houses for them to decorate.  That was after a yummy homemade soup dinner night:

Jack and Maddy

Concentration - Jack's either going to be an architect or a basketball player.   We'll see how tall he grows.

Enough candies on that roof to last a season.  Lilly loved the taste best of all.

Lexi had a snow house.   It cracked in half in the middle of decorating but that did not deter her in the least!

Ashlyn had  great time putting her little house together.   It is a gingerbread man house, as you can see.

Careful, careful...

Karsyn told me the day before that she really didn't want to decorate the houses so she would just eat candy.  Unfortunately, the only photo I got of her turned out blurry.   Too much candy, I guess.

Jack was pretty proud of his creation.

Lexi's been sneaking frosting, it would appear.

Seems our little girls are into big eyes for photos. 

 It was a fun night.  One of the few occasions we actually got to do Christmas things with the little ones this year.  Grandpa knows how to make his grandchildren smile!

So that's the first half of December for us.   See, I did manage to get something posted.   We'll see how long before I get to the last half of December.

Happy New Year!