Week 19

16 December

Jennifer, Lora, and their children met me at the Bean Museum so we could see the nativity they had on display—not only did they have Baby Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, but also an elephant, a couple of lions, a stork, a kangaroo, a penguin, wolverines, etc. All the world rejoices at the birth of His Son!

17 December

I learned early this morning that one of my favorite local buildings was engulfed in flames—the Provo Tabernacle. I have so many fond memories of attending events in the tabernacle through the years, and I must admit that I shed some tears at this great loss. See my tribute to the tabernacle here.

18 December

Jennifer and I had been impressed with some of the mall performances of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” from the Messiah that we saw on YouTube. When we got word that someone was organizing a flash mob at the Provo Towne Center mall, we decided to be a part of it. When we got the score out about an hour in advance, we realized just how difficult this song is! So we decided we were in it just for the adventure. We arrived at the mall in plenty of time and then situated ourselves at a table in the food court. At 6:00 pm a recording of the Tabernacle Choir singing this glorious song began to play—we rose from our chairs and joined in to the best of our ability—Jennifer and I tried to follow better singers who were more familiar with the song.

19 December

On 28 November, Becky and Elizabeth were released as the counselors in my Relief Society presidency, and Mona and Becky were sustained. Maren remains my faithful secretary.

20 December

The mystery—who is the lovely Callister family who sent us this Christmas card from Arizona? They have eight children, and the envelope was addressed to Steve and Lora—two of our family names. Lora doesn’t know them either.

21 December

The pile of snow on top of the garbage can represents a typical snowstorm of this season—I usually get out 2-3 times a day to shovel when we get this much snow. I absolutely detest having the snow driven over and turned to ice on the driveway.

22 December

Here is a sweet new member of our ward family—Turk, son of Leanna and Eser.

Week 18

9 December

Everyone delights to hear Stephen read Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins at each Hanukkah presentation we do—he varies his voice for the different characters.

10 December

I’m finally managing to get my Christmas decorations put up for the season.

11 December

On my way to and from the BYU Women Christmas luncheon, I passed Santa and his elf in front of the MTC. They were jolly and friendly but had specifically chosen this location from which to advertise an anti-Mormon website.

12 December

In the background you can see the remains of our delicious pancake dinner served by John and Lora. And then Maya treated us with belly laughs when she pulled the lever down on her toy—I love how children can be thrilled with something simple time and time again.

13 December

I made these Christmas stockings for the children years ago—I got a tip from Linda that there were some available at the store. They had just the right number left—three girls and three boys. I stitched the names in white baby rickrack and finished them off. Now they are more decorative than anything, although they saw their share of bananas, apples, oranges, nuts, and candy.

14 December

Merlyn has been my hairdresser for years—she first started cutting my hair when Jonathan was a baby and she worked at J C Penney. For years now she has done it in her home in southwest Provo. I go every three months for a perm and halfway in between for a haircut—hooray, I love looking good!

15 December

I was looking for a background so the snow pattern on the fence would show up, and what did I find in my viewer but a lovely tree in the shape of a Y!

Week 17

2 December

Big blue-eyed Cassius came to visit while Cayelle went to see Tangled with her parents.

3 December

Ralene, Becky, Joyce, and I enjoyed singing “Mele Kalikimaka” at the annual Christmas luncheon, this year with a Hawaiian theme. Each year features a different theme—gingerbread, candy canes, Sweden, etc.

4 December

Cayelle and Cassius, in their bright Christmas outfits, joined us for the ward Christmas breakfast and then the BYU family Christmas party.

5 December

My dad and siblings came over for a family planning meeting, and I was able to share my visiting teaching gift cake with them.

6 December

After we visited Stephen’s dad, we got fish and chips on the way home (a quick and easy meal).

7 December

Jennifer and I were the first ones to arrive at the humanitarian room above Deseret Industries to assist in assembling 8 pallets of hygiene kits. We were assigned to fold towels and put them in Ziploc bags—the most difficult part was to open the inexpensive bags without tearing them. Jennifer became pretty skilled at that.

8 December

This piece of Magleby’s chocolate cake—famous for its rich, delicious flavor—was served at the end of our department Christmas dinner.

Week 16

25 November

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Marc, Sarah, and boys; Robert and Nancy; and a neighbor family. We adults went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, and Marc hit the jackpot with being able to bring home the popcorn they were cleaning out at the close of the day.

26 November

Gabe and Elijah are wearing their “birthday boy” shirts on their third birthday—this looks like a sweet moment of getting along with each other!

27 November

Elijah and Gabe had such simple joy from popping balloons the “morning after.”

28 November

Back at home again, I get to enjoy a beautiful snow pattern on our wall.

29 November

Linda and I got to each lunch together at the MOA Café.

30 November

These are the handouts we received at the university retirement seminar—how many more years before retirement for both of us?

1 December

The church handbooks on the left are now obsolete, and we are going ahead full steam with the one on the right, which is much more principles based.