Christmas Highlights

December has been an especially nice month this year.
Here are a few of the things that made it so special.

*It began with the birth of our 9th grandchild Landon. His birth
has reminded me of the miracle of birth and also of the Christ child. I have thought often of the baby Jesus and his role in my life this month. He is my Savior and my Redeemer. I am thankful for His life and the atonement that was made in my behalf. I hope to develop more Christlike attributes in my life this new year.

*Carly was able to be here for 3 weeks. It was so nice having her here and she was such a great help to me!
*Kaylie had a wonderful concert that we attended. We felt the spirit strong as we heard songs praising our Lord Jesus Christ.
One song had a line that I have pondered often..."You are not alone, God is always with you".
I know that this is true. It is a reminder to me that I need to trust in the Lord more.
*We went to Temple square to see Kaylie sing in the Assembly Hall. The music and lights on Temple Square were beautiful as usual. Before we went to the concert we met Cameron and Rachelle in the temple. Along with Carly we did some work for my Grandpa's 3 siblings. On Saturday we met my parents in the temple to complete the rest of this work. There was a sweet spirit with us as we sealed my Grandpa and his siblings to their parents.
*We went Christmas Caroling with some friends in our neighborhood on Monday night. We went to several homes. The spirit was sweet as we sang at the various homes. Those we sang to were visibly touched and we felt joy in our hearts.
*Christmas Eve we went to Melissa and Brian's house. We had fun playing Christmas Bingo and getting a few prizes.
We then played Holiday Jeopardy that Mick had set up on PowerPoint. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of falafels, cheeses, apples, almonds and honey, boiled eggs, dates, dried apricots and grape juice. We then dressed in our biblical clothing to review the story of the Savior's birth. It was fun to see everyone dressed up and the grand kids all seemed to have fun. It definitely was a sweet experience as we acted out and sang various songs celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
*Christmas morning was nice being together with the family. We were excited to get Brianna's call and talk to her for about 1 hour.
She is doing well and sang to us in Swahili. She loves missionary work and sounds happy. We know that she is were the Lord would have her at this time. We are very pleased with the great work she is doing.
*We all went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Spencer for a family gathering. We had a Chinese dinner. The food was all really good and we enjoyed visiting with family.
*We had a quiet New Years and welcomed in the new year.
*New Years day we spent helping Grandpa and Grandma Smith take down their Christmas tree and little village. We also played a few games with them. It was nice spending the afternoon with them.
*On Sunday Landon was blessed. It as a very nice blessing and we once again appreciated all the love and support of family members.
* We have played a lot of fun games over this past week and watched a few movies. We have had yummy food and lots of treats. But most of all we have cherished the times we have had with family.