December was so fun and so full of activities, but I'm scrambling to get this update posted, so here is a somewhat condensed recap. December included . . .
Performing . . . so much music in December. I could write about each of these performances in detail, but a list will have to suffice. Let it be known that there was a lot of music, and it was glorious, and also, at times, exhausting:
- Saxophone/piano duet by Maxwell and me of O Little Town of Bethlehem at the ward Christmas party
- Tuba Christmas at BYU to listen to my dad perform.
- High school band concert; Maxwell performed in wind symphony and jazz band.
- Junior high band concert; Bradley performed in concert band and jazz band.
- Watching our friend, James, and his son, Jameson, perform in the musical, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
- High school choir and orchestra concert; Aaron performed in troubadours; Max performed in the orchestra.
- Youth hayride caroling through the neighborhood.
- School fieldtrip to see the Nutcracker
- Elementary school choir concert. Clark and Ian sang; I played the piano.
- Saxophone trio (Max and two cousins) at the Johnson family Christmas party.
- Caroling through the halls at a care center (they were in quarantine from a norovirus breakout, so we couldn't do our previously planned concert)
- Many musical performances at the Nielsen family Christmas music party. Ian, Anna, and I played a violin/piano piece; Max and I played a saxophone/piano duet; Max and my dad played a ukulele duet; Clark, Ian, Bradley, and Aaron all performed piano solos; many of us played the ukulele together.
- An impromptu performance when we stayed the night at Mike's parents. Somehow their neighbors got roped into listening, too.
Spending . . . an entire day knitting. My knitting group decided to expand our annual Christmas party and turn it into a Christmas retreat. One of the women volunteered her house for the day. We gathered in the late morning and ate lunch together. Then we had massages (one of the women had hired her masseuse to come for a few hours so everyone could have a 15-minute massage). We had a stitch marker class from the daughter of one of the women. We ate dinner and then had our annual gift exchange. I had asked Mike if he would make wooden sock blockers for everyone. He agreed before realizing it was going to take him hours to make them. But they turned out so great, and everyone loved them. I received so many fun gifts in exchange: ornaments, coasters, a blanket, lotion, tea, earrings, a cross stitch kit, and an out-of-print picture book that one of the women had been collecting copies of for a couple of years until she had enough for our group. It was a full and happy day, and in between all of the eating and activities, there was lots of knitting and chatting.
Coming . . . this close to not sending Christmas cards, but in the end I had to do it. December didn't feel like December without it, and I love the meditative process of addressing cards to all of our friends and loved ones.
Drinking . . . the tree water. Our cat, Thunder, looks forward to December every year because he loves hanging out under the Christmas tree. He loved it even more than usual this year because we had a real tree, which meant there was piney-fresh water for him to drink whenever he wanted. So funny.
Making . . . music with Max. One of my favorite things this Christmas season was playing saxophone/piano duets with Max. His saxophone teacher recommended a collection of jazzy arrangements of Christmas songs, and Max and I printed them off and sightread through all five of them that very night. Even though I hear Max practicing regularly, I was still amazed by how good he was. I had a flashback to an angry struggle over piano lessons when he was probably nine years old. Every lesson with me ended with him completely losing it while exclaiming about how much he hated piano. I honestly thought he didn't like music. Turns out, he just didn't like the piano. Once he found the saxophone, a new side of Max emerged and he has never looked back. As we made music together this month (both at home and for others), I marveled at how things have changed, and I felt so grateful that this has turned into something we can happily share together instead of fighting over. What a gift. I also got to play several Christmas songs with Ian this season, and I enjoyed that so much as well.
Savoring . . . a yarn advent. This was my third year purchasing an advent calendar that featured yarn. I had fun with it the first two years but ended up feeling a little underwhelmed by the colors and projects. This year I went with my friend, Emily's advent calendar, and I had the exact opposite experience. It was called Christmas at Orchard House and was based around Little Women. Instead of opening something every day, there were four packages that were meant to be opened on each of the Sundays leading up to Christmas. Each package featured a sock set (full skein and mini skein) based on one of the March sisters, a stitch marker, a note, and some sort of additional activity. The advent came with four sock patterns designed by Emily. The whole thing was so thoughtfully curated, and I loved every little detail right down to the illustrations on the weekly envelopes. I cleared my needles in anticipation of this advent and was able to make both the Meg and Jo socks during the month of December. Carrying on with the Little Women theme, I decided to read Louisa May Alcott's collection of short Christmas stories. I woke up early throughout much of December, turned on the Christmas tree lights and the fire, and curled up under a blanket with my book and my knitting. It was as picturesque as it sounds, and I loved it. During the month, I also added four knitted ornaments to our tree (mushroom, ball with trees on it, house, and squirrel). I also made a beanie for Max, which he has worn almost every day since I finished it. And I sewed an apron for my brother, Christian.
Conducting . . . experiments. Clark and Mike had an elaborate setup in the bathroom to measure condensation for Clark's STEM fair project.
Buying . . . a smoker. I knew it was only a matter of time before Mike thought he needed to add a smoker to our patio. Culinary happiness achieved.
Welcoming . . . our nephew, Andrew, home from his mission to Côte d'Ivoire. We checked our kids out of school on a Wednesday afternoon and went to the airport along with Andrew's family, Mike's parents, and some other family members. It was one of my favorite things from the whole month. There was so much joyful anticipation as we waited near the international doors for him to come through. There were many other families waiting for their missionaries too, but when it was finally Andrew who came around the corner, we all just exploded. Watching him hug his mom was the sweetest, most joyful thing. After he had greeted everyone, he expressed how cold he was. Even though our winter had been fairly mild so far, it was a sharp contrast to what he had come from. His dad pulled off his sweater and gave it to Andrew, and that made me laugh. Just so glad we could witness this happiest reunion. And so glad Andrew is back among us!
Reading . . . a bunch of fluffy books and watching a bunch of fluffy movies:
Books
One Last Gift by Emily Stone (loved this one--surprisingly meaningful and sweet)
Odder by Katherine Applegate (not Christmasy, but Ian and I enjoyed reading this together)
A Christmas Spark by Cindy Steel (cute little novella that felt like a Hallmark movie)
Faith is Not Blind by Bruce and Marie Hafen (read this with a scripture study group in my neighborhood)
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (mystery/romance that felt a little heavy on the romance)
A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott (such a delight to read these short Christmas stories throughout the month)
One Foggy Christmas by Kortney Keisel (I almost quit this books several times; first it was boring; then it was painful; but the last third was awesome.)
Movies (we watched a bunch of classic favorites besides the ones listed here)
Hot Frosty (everyone was talking about this movie, but it was so dumb, imo)
A Biltmore Christmas (I can't turn down a story involving time travel; loved this one; I will definitely watch it again next year)
Haul Out the Holly (cute, but not amazing)
My Brother the Time Traveler (not your typical Christmas movie, which was a happy surprise)
Our Little Secret (enjoyed this one quite a bit)
A Snowy Day (Silas and I watched this together, and it was so cute)
Acting . . . out the nativity at the Johnson Christmas party. Clark was a wiseman, and Ian and Silas were shepherds.
Delaying . . . braces. My braces were scheduled to come off on January 6th, but about midway through December, I was looking at my mouth (as I do quite often to monitor progress), and I realized that there were some things I still wasn't happy with. So I made an appointment with my orthodontist to discuss, and he agreed with me, so they've now been pushed back by at least three months. I am so ready to be done. In other orthodontic news, Max had to have two more baby teeth pulled to hopefully (hopefully) get started with his braces.
Sleeping . . . at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Mike's parents built a house in a small, rural town and moved into it just before Thanksgiving. It's about an hour's drive from our house, and we had a fun sleepover with them a couple of days before Christmas. We ate dinner, roasted marshmallows, watched a "Christmas" movie (The Three Godfathers, circa 1948), and . . . woke up to Ian vomiting in the middle of the night. I panicked and was sure our Christmas was going to be ruined by the stomach bug, but no one else got anything, so who knows what it was. Besides the unexpected vomiting, we had a lovely visit with them, and their new home is beautiful. (And side note: Mike made the mantel for their fireplace, and you can catch a little peek of it in the group photo below.)
Passing . . . the time on Christmas Eve with a movie. Mike got tickets to Moana 2, only to realize as we were on our way to the movie theater that the transaction had not gone through and there were no longer any seats left. We did a quick search of other theaters around the valley and luckily found some tickets downtown just 45 minutes after we were originally supposed to go. So it all worked out, and we liked the movie too. That evening, we went to the Blodgett's for Christmas Eve dinner. Mike used his new smoker to smoke the prime rib; we had sparkling cider and Christmas crackers; the kids played games, and it was just a really nice evening. Then we went home, put on "Christmas" pajamas (really just new BYU shirts and sweats), and set out milk, cookies, and carrots for Santa. Mike had stayed on top of the present wrapping throughout the month, so we had a very little we had to do that night, and we went to bed at a very reasonable time.
Relaxing . . . on Christmas Day. From start to finish, it was a super chill day, and we just enjoyed being with each other so much. We started the day with opening stockings. It seems like Santa went to my favorite yarn store and took any recommendations they gave him because my stocking was full of fiber treasures. Present highlights of the day included: a new saxophone for Maxwell (we purchased it from Ray Smith, a retired saxophone professor at BYU); BYU/Utah basketball game tickets for Aaron and Bradley; a Disneyland trip for the three younger boys; and a beautiful oil painting by my friend, Molly, and framed by Mike. We watched movies, played games, ate food, took naps, played with new presents, and went on a walk. So lovely.
Taking . . . down all the Christmas decorations. I typically leave up the Christmas decorations until New Year's Eve, but I sadly took everything down on the 27th this year. We went to Arizona after Christmas (more on that in a future post), so as my Christmas gift to myself, I put everything away before we left, and I can't tell you how nice it was to come home to a clean house ready for the new year.
Ringing . . . in 2025 with the Langstraats. We went to Arizona to spend time with some of our dearest friends. New Year's Eve consisted of lot of games and sparklers as the clock struck midnight. Silas went to bed around 8:00pm, and Ian made it until 11:45pm. The boys tried to wake him up, but he was out for the night.
That's a wrap on December and 2024. If I'd had more time, I definitely would have written more about some of these activities, but this will have to be good for now. Happy New Year!
