Stars Were Gleaming - Christmas 2015

Sometimes it seems like the whole year is building up to Christmas and since it is the celebration of the birth of the Savior, it makes it all meaningful and real. I saw this beautiful star on Tony and Cindy's Instagram post about the Bohman Christmas party, and asked them if they could bring it to our house for Christmas Eve and it was a "star" among our own stars!

I am continually grateful for the blessing of having my parents here to share life's events. It still doesn't seem real. I guess living apart for 40 years, it takes awhile to grasp that I have them so close.

I'm totally stealing dad's thunder here, because he said he was going to use this picture as his Facebook photo, but last night when I went to visit them, he modeled his "La Grande" sweatshirt hoodie that came in the mail! ("No matter where I roam, La Grande will always be My Home"). It was my mom's Christmas present to him (we told her so!). Doesn't he look adorable? And mom had just had her hair done so they were prime for a photo shoot.

And speaking of adorable, here are five of the six adorable Sweat children. Well, four of the five of the six are adorable (ahem, ELI). I don't know where Jane was. Notice that macaroni and cheese continues to be a hit after lo these many years.

This is such a cute photo. I wish I could say they were huddled around Luke's account in the New Testament, but it's a new, cool picture book about the creatures in Harry Potter. Reagan could hardly finish dinner waiting to get back to it. And Eli,- really?

Eli needs to learn to take pictures like Lauren!

I loved the Christmas Eve re-enactment this year. This is Joseph and Mary on their way to the Inn.

I guess Calvin doesn't like being a shepherd..............all grumpy and leaving his sheep in the dust. Notice two years ago in this photo below...........

........where we had to cut the performance short because of a certain enraged almost three-year-old shepherd! Tee hee. (I can't believe it's been two years).

To his credit though, Calvin really, sincerely liked playing "the boy Jesus" during our second act (we don't have enough kids to do the whole thing at once, so they changed costumes and parts).

Shout-out to Lauren and Reagan for still being our heavenly angels even at the ages of 15 and 17. (And hopefully again at 16 and 18).

And Jane, Jane. Happy to be the sheep again this year.

"O Come Let us Adore Him!"

Costume Change #2 - One donkey and two angels became Three Kings!

Matthew 2:24 "And the boy Jesus rode off into the foothills on his dada's back."

I took this photo because I love lighting real candles once a year for Christmas Eve dinner. Lately we have had Christmas Eve dinner before it gets dark so Dennis doesn't have to suffer through me turning off all the lights for a brief moment of "ambiance."

Side note: the pretty box behind the candles is stuffed full with letters I wrote to my family while I was at Ricks College, and also during the early years of raising our family. After I burst the bubble of home and hearth and started working at Valley Mental Health, the letters seemed to dwindle. Or maybe we got a computer? The last letters instead of being hand-written, were printed on a dot matrix printer - maybe the one Grandpa Ranquist gave us? I'd completely forgotten my mom had saved the letters and given me this box until I was hunting desperately for boxes to use to wrap presents and was contemplating using this one, and voila, opened it up to all these letters. Fun to read, and kept me from wrapping presents for HOURS.

The kids each played a Christmas song for us that evening.Vivi has come a long way this year and did great! Music is such a huge part of Christmas. I even turned on FM 100 of my own volition in NOVEMBER this year and loved hearing the familiar carols play. I once again was sick during the choir performing for Christmas and had to mouth the words with sincerity. The Stake Sing-a-long the Sunday before Christmas was awesome this year (so much more so than back when I was the choir director and had to worry about it. It's much easier to mouth words than direct!). Our Stake President told a story of when he was a Bishop and someone donated $20 in a plain white envelope with instructions to give it to a family in need. They prayed about who they should give it to and felt impressed to take it to a woman who had always rejected help in the past, but who was really struggling. As they had anticipated, she pushed the envelope back across the table and told them she couldn't accept it. The Bishop gently reminded her that in order to "give" someone also has to "receive." She started to cry and said, "Bishop, I can't accept this. I'm the person who gave it to you!" The ending of his story totally caught me by surprise.  All the choirs at the Stake Sing-along join together and sing the "Hallelujah" chorus from the Messiah at the end of the evening. Ten choirs of angels (whose numbers had dwindled dramatically by the end of the evening because lots of people leave after their choir performs). I think they should have us sing "Hallelujah" at the BEGINNING. But, I'm not in charge. Thank heaven. I brought along my own two scores of the Messiah which have "RICKS COLLEGE" stamped prominently on the front of them. Oops. I accompanied our Women's choir back in 1970 at Ricks and it's pretty coincidental that in the box of letters I found, I wrote to my mom and dad to tell them I was trying to accompany the Messiah and said "it's kind of a joke" trying to learn the music!

Eli is a natural!

And Jane playing a pretty and fairly difficult rendition of "Winter Wonderland." A few seconds after Jane started playing, Calvin piped up and said "Hey, I know an easier way!" and ran out into the family room and pressed the "On" button of one of our musical animatron toys that jingles and shakes and gobbles grotesquely while it plays...you guessed it..... "Winter Wonderland!" I was impressed he recognized the song, but poor Jane had to compete with that in the background during her performance.

Lauren is learning "Sleigh Ride" and she rocked it! Everyone jingled bells and someone neighed at the right time too!

The Sweat family surprised us with a beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah" with updated words written about Christmas. It was gorgeous! Calvin, however, had other ideas once again, and slipped out into the family room to hit the "ON" button of another animatron, this time a kitty that belts out Jingle Bells with: "Meow Meow Meow........" on and on and on...................

Calvin is thinking, "Guys, guys, WHEN do we get to open PRESENTS already?"

He did not however receive a lump of coal.

Eli seems happy with what he got!

And then, before the kids headed home for Christmas Eve in Springville, we flipped on t.v. to "A Christmas Story" and watched a snippet together.

The kids went home to be nestled all snug in their beds, and grandpa and I headed to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in our head (which were covered in kerchief and cap!).

It was close to midnight, and Dennis had finished "putting the house to bed" but I tip-toed back into the dark kitchen to get some potato chips for strength. And, what to my wondering eyes did appear? But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer! Can you see them? It's kinda hard because the snow is blinding. Coming down in torrents. I turned on the spotlights in the back yard and went to the bedroom and asked Dennis to come look outside with me, and we stood there sharing that quiet moment for a long time.

Merry Christmas Eve midnight snow 2015 to all and to all a good night! I love, love, love, love each and every one of you, and love hearing all about the Christmas moments in your lives.
XO
Mom