December Crafting

Here are some pics of the process and (mostly) completion of my ornaments for the year...

They ended up taking a lot longer than I had thought but I ended up pleased with the product

I was worried they would seem a bit cheesy with the fake greenery but most people seemed to really like them.  The most asked question I received was how I got the picture on the cloth.  It was a stamp set I had ordered a year or two ago thinking I would use them on a different ornament but it ended up being perfect for this year.

I made 120.

I wish I would have gotten pictures of this process but we were so involved that I didn't stop to take any.  On Dec. 23rd, Mom, T, Abby and I made our first batch of all natural candles with wooden wicks.

This was a beeswax batch and we made two different scents.

Both batches ended up with sink holes down next to the wick (first picture below).  Later that night I warmed a few of them up in a pot of warm water (I ended up going downstairs and doing a puzzle and forgetting about them so it didn't really do much to fix the problem...bottom right picture)

The next night at Mom and Dad's house I used Mom's heat gun to melt down the top and fill in the holes.  It seemed to work nicely.  It's been fun experimenting.  I'm hoping to get better at this and make a whole bunch!

December Musicals

Jo, T, James and Andy and I got tickets to go to Dad's American Festival Chorus Christmas Concert.

The others ended up not being able to come because of a predicted storm that night so I ended up offering the extra tickets to some friends...Chanelle Lund from my workout group and her husband Dave came.  It was really fun sharing the evening with them.  Chanelle was excited to go because another friend in our workout group, Trudy, was also in the choir.

Afterward, as we were leaving, we ran into the Heggemans and thought it was so funny how similarly these two were dressed.  Andy was just missing the tie.  Terri and I were actually matched quite well too but we didn't get a picture :(

Josh's partner for his Christmas cello recital ended up not being able to do it so Erin played with him and I accompanied.  It was a really pretty version of Still Still Still.  He did a fantastic job!

Then he was also part of the Carol of the Bells group...they sounded great!

A few days later he had his orchestra concert.

They have a neat tradition at the Christmas concert of doing a number or two with everyone...the orchestra, band and choir.  Silent Night gave me chills...it was powerful.

The piano recital went well also...

Abby played We Three Kings with two other girls...

Josh did Fantasy on Deck the Halls with his partner...

And Matt did a fun jazzy version of Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.

They all did wonderfully but we were sad to miss the Kidd Family Christmas party for it.  Dad surprised us and came and supported us though...so nice of him.

Katie's Wedding

A large storm was predicted for the day after Thanksgiving so we were so relieved to not have any snow on our drive down the canyon to the Provo temple for Katie's wedding.

The sealing was beautiful and the kids were able to keep Ben happy until we rejoined them.

While we waited for the happy couple I had Jenny take a few family pictures...

I don't know what Abby and Matt were doing with their arms in the picture below...

Anyway, we ended up using the first one for our Christmas card since my original idea did not come together.

There was a beautiful atrium area where we waited.  Ben liked the statue of the Savior...

Andy and I got a couple of shots together as well...

Finally, the newlyweds arrived...

The cousins were pretty excited...

I noticed the bridesmaids bouquets were brown...the hydrangeas, and some of the daisies and roses had gone mushy.  They looked so sad.  I talked to Lyndi and Lauren and offered to run to the store and get replacements flowers and rearrange them.  They readily agreed.

We found a grocery store that had just what we needed and I undid them and redid them, for the most part, in the car.

I didn't get a good picture of them afterward but here is Lauren with hers...

As we were traveling to the venue, the storm hit!  Quite a bit of snow came down during the luncheon...so much so that Merill called and made arrangements for hotel rooms so we wouldn't have to go back up that canyon that night.

There was a lot of fun dancing...

Ben fell asleep while we ate so he spent most of the festivities on a couch in a hallway.  We took turns sitting with him during the reception.

It was a big debate whether or not we should use the hotel rooms or risk getting back and sleeping in our own beds...well, kind of.  If we stayed in the valley we would need to go to a store and buy a bunch of stuff to be comfortable for the night.  Then there was the problem of Ben's meds.  Andy ended up calling our pharmacy and having them transfer Ben's prescription so we could pick it up there so he wouldn't have to go a night without it.

In the end we decided that would be best.

We dropped the kids off at the hotel in the care of the very kind Jenny and Mike while Andy and I picked up the medicine and some toiletries and then found the nearest Target for some jammies.

There were enough rooms that Andy, Ben and I were in one while the girl cousins were in a separate one, the boys in another and Jenny and Mike and Merill and Nancy each had their own.

Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving this year was in Park City...

There was plenty of snow for the kids to cavort in...

We did Favorite Things since Lyndi was in town for the wedding and would not be at Christmas.

Favorite Things is always such a fun tradition.

We met our new sister in law, Lynn.

She's very sweet!

I always love watching the kids play with their cousins.  They enjoy each other so much and get along famously!

Thanksgiving morning Andy and I went for a 5K run in the snow.

There had been snow in the night and the paths had not been groomed so it was a bit hard on the ankles but we did it!  It was a "virtual" turkey trot in behalf of the Dravet Syndrome Foundation.

Some of the gals...

...and the guys doing something on some device...

Meal time!

The girls had some fun posing in the snow and doing face masks :)

Abby looks like she's having some sort of spiritual experience...

The boys seem to favor black hoodies...