Merry Christmas!

The days right before Christmas always seem to be slightly quieter than the rest of the month. No one seems to plan any parties or concerts that close to the big day. We managed to find some fun things. 

For one thing, I had been delivering this year's knitted neighbor gifts much later than last year. This year I made a little chicken - it's pretty cute. See?

Last year I made little mushrooms which were very simple and I had them done by December 1st. I sure wasn't as quick this year! I was still working on these well into December. Normally they are just for neighbors, but there are a couple of people who have moved away who I still take them to. One such family still hadn't gotten theirs by the 23rd so the kids and I made the drive, meeting Troy there as his office isn't too far away from their house. We had a great time saying hello and letting their kids be very silly. Also we enjoyed their very weird giant Santa.

Before making the drive to South Jordan, the girls had really wanted to go ice skating. Ice skating hurts me. Like a lot. My ankles and feet get so sore! But hey, it was Christmas! Chase opted out, but the girls and I went up to the ice rink and spent a couple of hours sliding around. I alternated between sliding around and sitting on the bench. Emma was extremely cautious at first and could barely get around without hanging on to the wall, but by the time we left she was doing much better. Romney was super sweet and took her around as much as Emma wanted. 

 

 

That night, we decided to hold our traditional Waffles and Wassail night, which is really more about watching A Muppet Christmas Carol than eating waffles or wassail. In fact, the wassail didn't even happen at all! The waffles did, though, and were super good. Shocker.

The original plan had been to enjoy this festive movie and meal (two of our very favorite things about Christmas) on Christmas Eve, and I had invited our tree-tripping friend Mary to join us, as they had last year. I forgot that her HUGE family holds an equally HUGE Christmas Eve dinner each year and had just skipped last year. She declined, but then later called me and asked if instead our family would like to join theirs for Christmas Eve. She said that almost none of the kids were going to be able to make it this year and it was going to be a much smaller group. I consulted my kids and they all agreed that they would love to spend Christmas Eve with the Burnetts, especially because it was going to be such smaller year for them. So Thursday night was just us and the Muppets and we loved it. That movie is just our favorite!

Christmas Eve is definitely the day when we have the most traditions that keep us the busiest. I know lots of people have multiple family traditions that they are committed to on the same day each year and find their Christmas to be a really packed-in day rushing from place to place. I don't think we normally have days like that with family, except for Christmas Eve. That's because we always start the day with breakfast with our dear dear neighbors the Bucherts, and it's always early, because we like to listen to the live broadcast of the Christmas Eve concert at King's College in England. Such a lovely warm table to gather around. (And...no pictures.) Also on Christmas Eve we now always meet up with Sam and Kathleen at Crystal Hot Springs for the most wonderful soak in the hot water. It's just the best! Whatever didn't get done for Christmas just didn't get done, and you can let it go, and rest and paddle around. It's a bit of a hassle with all the packing up and getting wet clothing home and showering and trying to get dressed while you're still wet, but it's worth it. (Also no pictures.)

Then of course we were extra crunched for time because we had accepted the invitation to enjoy dinner with Mary and her family. Remember how I said that Mary had invited us because this year's party was to be so much smaller? Well, either it wasn't small after all or her idea of small party is WAY different than ours. We showed up at her mom's house and shortly after we got there, people began showing up in absolute droves. It was so many people. It became clear to me that our little family is not exposed to large family parties pretty much ever. All five of us sort of withdrew into corners with wide frightened eyes as the house just filled with people. We were so out of our element. Kids were running everywhere, even playing so hard upstairs that chandeliers were shaking above our heads. There was a big dice-rolling game and a ton of food. And...only one picture. We were so overwhelmed. 

What's funny is that I imagine myself as part of a large family. I mean, my mom had 105 first cousins and she knew all of them very well! She threw parties for her siblings and nieces and nephews and their kids. But I guess I'm out of practice. Plus, it wasn't our family. We were very grateful for the sweet invitation but after our very long day we stayed as long as we thought we needed to in order to show gratitude and then made a dash for home. I think I sound rude. Mary's family is delightful and I was very happy to meet several of her siblings. She was so kind to invite us and want us to be a part of her warm and boisterous family. It was just hilarious to see that there is proof that we Preslars don't have a lot of family around and are quite unused to being in large groups. Introverts unite!

Romney's eyes, pleading with me to take her away

We finally made it home, practically leapt into our pajamas, and snuggled up for a few of our favorite Christmas storybooks. Snowmen at Christmas, The Polar Express and The Night Before Christmas all had to be read before Troy closed the night by reading from Luke 2. We headed off to bed before Santa had to pass us by.

Santa granted a wish of mine this year. I had a wish that my family would spend all of Christmas Day together, watching movies, playing and enjoying each other's company, all IN THE SAME ROOM. Only one thing could bring us together this way. Legos.

That's right - my big, mostly grown-up kids all got legos. And I got my wish. We really did spend the day all in the same room, building legos, watching movies and just being together. We were happy that Troy's mom wanted to join us for the day, or at least much of it. Troy went early to go pick her up, and after getting her settled into a comfy chair under a blanket, we led the kids in. We spent an hour or so opening gifts and I was really happy with what we chose for each kid.

 

Some highlights:

Chase: climbing shoes, climbing pants, Chamber of Secrets lego set, a ring shaped like an alligator, stance socks, a model set to build a robot

Romney: cut-paper artwork from Over the Garden Wall (see below), shoes that look like they're from the 20s, funny t-shirts, beanies, Hogsmeade legos, and a ticket to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This is the art in progress - the art is cut by hand out of paper and we ended up framing it between two pieces of glass in this cool "Made in Italy" frame my friend Kalleen gave me

 

Emma: a stuffed chicken, The Dursleys Legos, the entire set of Percy Jackson books, a hatchet, a game from The Last Airbender, and a ring shaped like a snake, also a ticket to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

 

Of course the stockings were crammed with treats from Pirate O's and there were a few other things, and it was a great day. I got my wedding rings resized to fit my poofier fingers. I have LOVED wearing my wedding rings again, especially after losing one at my parent's house for years and years, then finding it when my dad gave me my mom's jewelry boxes. Troy got shirts and some tools and a protective leather shirt to wear while welding, plus a book of this blog from the year 2010. I have many of those to get printed up!

We gave Carol a memory book and a figurine - I hope she likes them. I should have done a stocking for her.

After the presents were opened, we actually left the house for a bit. We went to the church to take part in a brunch our bishop put on, inviting anyone who wanted to come, but especially people who would be alone on Christmas. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours on Christmas, chatting with some people who live on their own. That's something we should do every year. Make food, decorate the gym, spend time with people.

Once we got home, we scooted the gifts aside, pulled out the card table, piano bench and any other flat surface we could find. The kids started on their lego sets while we turned on A Christmas Story. I watched for a bit but also got started on Christmas dinner. We decided to go for a traditional turkey with all the sides. I was really happy with how it turned out - turkey can really stress me out. Chase tried to pressure me into making him a goose, just to see if I'd do it, and I almost did, but the goose I found was $80 so I didn't. Otherwise I just may have. 

Carol was a little wiped out and got a ride home before the turkey was done. That was ok - once A Christmas Story was over and we were eating dinner, the kids started begging us to start up our NEXT tradition (we have a few around here, don't we?). Time to start the LOTR marathon! We were only too happy to oblige. We never get sick of those movies. Best ever.

I really was so happy to have us all in the same room, working away on projects and feeling all warm and fuzzy together. Here are the kids' legos:

 

It was an absolutely wonderful Christmas season, and I'm so full of gratitude. I love celebrating, and I love celebrating with my family. They are the freaking best. I wish we could do lego sets once a week but I already don't have room for the ones we have. 

Festivities

Once we were home from our travels, Christmas sure went into full swing. I got Chase to help me do the last of the decorating and hang up the lights outside, which was scary for both of us. Neither of us loves manipulating the huge ladder required. Troy makes it look so easy and effortless, but Chase and I were sweating a bit. But we did get the lights up! 

We did make a few Christmas Vacation jokes....

It wasn't long after the lights were up that we started to get some December snow! All we needed then was a cozy fire in the fireplace. Or on the tv at least. We didn't build a single fire in our stove this year! And we all laughed at how the youtube version of the crackling fire really did add some cheer to our home. So funny. 

The snow was lovely and festive, but did make clear to us that our minivan was in desperate need of new tires, as one morning when it was my turn to drive carpool I got stuck on our road, which is totally flat. 

 

There were so many things we were able to do this year that were all totally cancelled last year. Our calendar wasn't quite as full as some other Christmases, but we had our fair share of events. Here were some of our favorites:

Romney's Choir Concert(s):

Romney is part of her Madrigal choir at her high school. They had a ton of performances over the season. Many were during the day, visiting other schools and nursing homes, but some were also in the evening. We didn't make it to all of them - I already mentioned the Zoo Lights fiasco. But we did get to a couple others. There was a formal "Winter Musicale" at the high school, with jazz band and orchestra performing as well as all the choirs. It was kind of long. But I did love hearing the madrigals sing - especially because the current director has resurrected a song that used to get performed by the madrigals choir every single year when I was going to the same high school. It's a darling version of Twas the Night Before Christmas - it has a lot of personality and funny parts. I love it. So that was fun to see.

Also, her choir performed at a light display at Liberty Park one chilly chilly evening. The kids were going to be singing outside for at least a half hour, plus would then be free to wander around the lights with their friends. I told Romney to dress warmly, especially that her converse sneakers would not be warm enough. This advice was not taken, and I'm glad that Troy, Emma and I went to hear them sing and were there to take her home again. She got so cold I could see tears freezing in her eyes as she was trying to be jolly with her friends. She could barely walk to the car, and we spent the ride home with me trying in vain to get feeling back into her toes. Once we got home, it took quite some time, as well as a heated corn bag and some serious blanket bundling before she felt better. 

She's smiling but under that she was basically sobbing.

I'll take this moment to say I TOLD YOU SO. 

Here's Troy trying to warm up her little toe-sicles

Choir at Tabernacle Square Christmas Concert:

I was so sad when last year's concert was cancelled! I am very spoiled, getting tickets from The Becky every year, and it was something I really missed. This year the choir was putting on their Christmas concert, but were going to give out only 4,000 tickets per evening instead of the usual 21,000. Becky wasn't going to have enough to give me any, which I totally understood. But then she told me that there ended up being a few up for grabs because not every church leader they were offered to were able to use them. So I ended up with tickets after all! And, because they had originally been offered to a church leader, they were great seats! Troy was happy to go with me this year, seeing as how there would be about one fifth as many people as usual. And it was so cool. Kind of different to experience the music and messages with so many fewer people there. It kind of made it more special. 

Christmas In Color Light Display

As we got closer to the big day, we had arranged to meet up with Troy's brother Sam and his family for a repeat of what is becoming a tradition - going out for Mexican food and then heading to the Christmas in Color light and music show, where you all pile into (and on top of) one car, then drive slowly through this very loud and obnoxious and overwhelming light display. We love every second of it. It seemed like they upped their game this year. It was very...electric. And so fun. 

 

Bucherts Sing-A-Long:

Our friends usually throw a birthday party for dad Martin in mid-December, and it always involves sipping soup and singing songs. Mom Becca has put together binders packed with sheet music for Christmas. We started joining them when they first moved into the neighborhood some 10 years ago now. (Can't believe it's been that long!) This year Martin was turning 50 and so Becca threw the party at a church gym instead of her home because she was trying to expand the party. She put a ton of effort into making the gym feel cozy and inviting, spending hours hanging lights, setting up a tree and bringing in a set of couches to gather around the piano. It was a really fun night. As always the singing was my favorite part. I didn't catch many photos of the host and birthday boy but here's one, as well as our dear friends the Behunins.

Christmas Movies Galore!

Last year I gave Troy the pink pajama Ralphie mug and he suggested that we start a collection of Christmas mugs that we could use each December. He didn't have to tell me twice! I tried to not buy any mugs I didn't love, but I was amazed at how quickly I found mugs that I adored! Collection complete in one year! We used the mugs to keep us filled with cozy drinks while we watched all our favorite movies. It's getting hard to find time to watch them all, especially as the kids get older. We pretty much made it though.

We also made sure to drive around to find some great light displays. Romney and I went one night all the way to Draper to see one well-known spot. The line of cars waiting to drive up the street was so long we decided to admire it from afar, and then accidentally drove by another amazing display on the way home. That was fun. Here's the most spectacular of all, up in the avenues. It was jaw-dropping.