Christmas was so nice. The kids enjoyed opening their presents before church. I made our traditional Christmas breakfast of crepes and then we got ready for church. There was a bit of excitement to our Christmas program. As our organist was finishing up the opening song she suddenly stopped playing. At first we thought there was something wrong with the organ but she frantically was trying to get her and her husband out of the chapel when she collapsed. Many came to her aid, got her the care she needed until medical help could arrive. It was very scary for her and for us to witness. She apparently had an aneurysm that caused her aorta to tear from her chest(?) She had surgery and is recovering at the hospital. We had another ward member step in with the music that the original sister had coordinated and had intended to play many of the numbers for those performing. The program was beautiful, spiritual and truly brought the spirit of the Christ to celebrate His life. She would be pleased that the program continue as she had arranged. As the bishop stated “it would be as she wanted.” We enjoy Christmas dinner at the Morton’s house of their traditional steak, chicken, sausage, salad, fruit and a new tradition, pretzel rolls. Yum!
Monday night after dinner and FHE we enjoyed a treat from Jamba Juice. We also had a fun game and Karoake night afterwards. It’s confirmed that I am not a Karoake singer! The rest of the family can hold their own but me. YIKES! But we had fun! Pretzel rolls are a new favorite for us. We made them Tuesday to go with our dinner because we liked them so much at the Morton’s.
On Wednesday, Bode went ice-skating with a friend and her brother and yes they are just friends. He is adamant about that with me. They have hung out a couple times during the Christmas break now. For our anniversary, Aaron treated he and I to dinner at Soto’s Kitchen (yummy!) and we went to see La La Land (Loved it! But wanted a different ending). The kids celebrated as well but at Torchy’s and then the boys went to Young Men’s afterwards. ;)
We had a blast as a family going to an escape room in Houston. If you haven’t done one of these yet you should. It is so much fun. You are locked in a room and you have an hour to escape by solving clues, unlocking keys, and trying to escape. Our room was escaping the 80’s themed and all of us were involved as a team trying to get out in time. With 34 seconds to spare we solved all the clues and escaped! Only 25% of the people that enter the room are able to escape so we felt pretty good about ourselves. A fun activity and would be an awesome thing to do again.
We have loved having Allie with us for a couple of weeks. We feel complete with her here. She is already missed. She left Friday morning that ended up afternoon after she missed her flight. She was there an hour before her flight left but the flight was leaving from the international terminal. That being said the security line was a huge big problem but not the only one in trying to get her on her flight. They wanted her to check her bag stating it was too big for a carry on. She ended up taking a jacket out to make it carry on worthy. After slowly making it through security she accidently left her bag there. Her hands were full with her backpack, purse, phone and the extra jacket when she thought to herself, ‘I may make because I’m able to move so fast.’ That thought made her realize she didn’t have her bag with her. She had to run back for it. She got to the gate 5 minutes before the flight was to leave but the door was already closed. She and 3 others “missed” their flight even though it was sitting there for another 10 minutes. Big bummer. They gave her a standby ticket for the next flight at 11:10. Not ideal but she rolled with it. I was on the other side of security trying to do all I could for her, which didn’t feel like much. Mostly I was cheering her on, reassuring her, helping her focus on moving forward and to breath because everything would eventually work out all via phone. I know somebody does that for us 24/7 for each of us on the other side. Perspective, right?
Jessie, Bode and I spent New Years Eve at the Nielsen’s house. The kids had a countdown at 9 and midnight. They played a crazy flour tower game, ate yummy food, and had Martinelli’s sparking grape juice to toast the New Year in.
As I look forward to the New Year. I was reminded by a short video put out by the church on Facebook entitled Start Small, Start Today. I want to put my focus on the small things that will make a greater impact over time but to do so I need to start TODAY, each DAY. I can do that. Each of us can.
Have A Happy New Year!!!