Wrapping up the old and ringing in the new...

We planned some exciting Christmas Family Home Evenings.  November 28th marked our first as Mom, Dad, Josiah, Jody, Julia, and I along with John and Brittany and their little niece journeyed to Temple Square to see the light.  We were able to avoid the crowds that are more rampant the closer to the 25th.  The weather was fairly decent as well.  We topped off the night with hot chocolate or ice cream at McDonalds.
On the 5th, Jess and Greg came over to eat pizza and watch Polar Express.  Greg showed off his skills in making some yummy homemade hot chocolate.
On the 12th, Mom and I decorated sugar cookies with the kids which was more entertaining than you might think.  :)
The 19th marked our last celebration with all of us in attendance.  Again, we had pizza before watching Family Man.

So we have just wrapped up my most favorite time of the year.  :(  There were some other great activities that we took part in to celebrate.  On November 30th, we had a great Relief Society dinner with our Stake.  Our guest speaker was Mary Jane Woodger who gave a most splendid talk that set the tone for the Christmas season. 
On December 3, I was able to support Mom and the girls as they walked/ran a 5k.  They did a great job.  We celebrated with breakfast at IHOP.  After which we attended the Festival of Trees with Jess and Greg.
December 6 marked our ward Christmas party. 
We took part in what I believe to by Mom's favorite tradition on December 9-Forgotten Carols.  John and Brittany joined us along with Aunt Barbie, Uncle Rob, Garrett, and their friend.  It definitely reminded of the real reason behind the season.
I had a "date" with Mom on the 20th.  We went to the temple to do a session, ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and did a walk through at the mall to pick up a few things.  It was very enjoyable.

Two other events included in December were the celebration of my best friend, Jen's birthday and a wonderful fireside by Sheri Dew.  Both events were wonderful and the timing of their occurrences were perfect.

We had our traditional big Christmas Eve meal with immediate family along with a special guest who would turn 50 the next day-Uncle Gary.  The night included our annual pajama fashion show and the reading of the Christmas story and The Night Before Christmas.  I was able to be Santa's helper and still able to get to bed by 11.  The next morning came all too early at 5:30 to allow time to get ready for all to come over and be ready to attend church at 9:00.  When everyone arrived, we unpacked our stockings, saw what Santa left, and opened gifts.  It was a lot of fun to see each person open gifts.  I received some fun items: a Mickey robe, a Mickey shirt, Uno Mod, sweater, necklace, BYU magnets, Leap Year movie and soundtrack, BYU pillows, Disney Cranium, a framed quote by President Uchtdorf, and a very thoughtful necklace from my parents.  We ate breakfast, headed off to church to be reminded what the day is really about, and came home to enjoy our Elmer way of celebrating Christmas.  It was a great day and is still hard to believe it's over. 

The district I work for set the winter break for December 26 to January 2.  So I haven't had much time off, but am thoroughly enjoying the complete break from work.  Tomorrow will be my last day off for this break.  :(

Last night, I made a big breakfast for dinner.  Then, Jess and Greg came over for dinner, snacks, and games.  We had many crazy laughs.  John and Brittany joined us at about 11:15 or so to ring in the new year.  Another year has come and gone.  I was thoroughly happy with the outcome of keeping my resolutions from last year.  Some include: I attended the temple weekly, I read the Book of Mormon daily and completed it within the year, and provided a service a day.  This year I have quite a list to fulfill some of which are: read the entire Standard Works, bear my testimony in fast meeting three times, practice piano or flute for 30 minutes a week, read at least eight new books, pay off my car, and exercise at least 5 times a week.  So here we go 2012....please be good to me!