It was snowing Christmas morning-very pretty, and there were deer in the back yard. Jacob had lots of fun with cousins ( I don't think they got much sleep waiting for Santa... I guess they heard his sleigh bells the night before and Uncle Chad had let them look on the internet to see where he had been spotted! Jacob built a snowman with Cyrena and uncle David, which was very very fun and cold!!
One of our favorite traditions is our Christmas Eve Program. It starts after the big dinner and candy sled racing. Everyone shares something-- talents, stories, songs etc.. Grandma shares a new Christmas Story. The evening always ends with the singing of a lullaby and reading of the Savior's birth. Then we move onto the "Stuff it Game" which is really fun for all the kids-and parents!! My sister Jenna reads the fast paced story about a Christmas elf and we have mystery gifts wrapped or put into paper sacks and sealed. Every time the word "stuff" is mentioned, you pass your bag. What gift you end up with at the end of the story is yours! It's hilarious with 30 or so people passing, and afterward there is always serious trading going on! There are always a few new toddlers who don't like the "passing of the bags" but like to hold on to the one they are handed. ;-)
Candy Sled Racing is very serious competition... You can see the dads (I mean kids) hard at work on designing the most aerodynamic sleds. This is another fun tradition my parents started awhile ago. There are prizes and bragging rights, so it's serious stuff. Every year Grandpa hides a golden ticket in one of the chocolate bars, the winner gets a gift certificate, as well as the first and second place winners of the race. There are heats, just like pinewood derby. It's important stuff and some family members who shall remain nameless have even stooped so low as to grease the bottom of their sled with butter, oil or whatever they could find in Grandma's cupboard! But since we've won 2yrs in a row, I'm not fessing up or pointing fingers... Ours was looking pretty cool this year with a flag. I think it helped. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great memories!
Christmas has to be the best time of year, the longer it lasts the better. We enjoy a lot of fun traditions during the holidays, seeing the play Christmas Carol at the local theatre house, making a gingerbread house, using the quilt advent calendar, decorating trees and the kid's rooms, baking, lots of neighbor gifts, filling the manger with straw (good deads) and passing the service wand around our family. There's the annual neighborhood block party/ luminary walk. Santa comes every year. This year his "validity" was especially important to one of our family members... it's not Lynn. ;-) Santa was the real deal again this year with a real beard. Jacob and friend Chase searched the neighborhood rooftops and backyards for his reindeer and sleigh. Lynn was asked to take over the hay ride this year and I think he's hired from now on. (Jacob pictured below on hayride) Can I say a word about Addy our cat? Poor kitty gets treated like a puppy.... Elise is teaching piano and pictured at her first recital this month. She had 5 students and in January increased to 12. It's a perfect job for her, just six hours a week and no tax taken out of her checks!
Lynn and I came back from our trip just in time for Halloween. Jacob pictured as a Jedi Knight. It was a warm night and perfect for trick or treating. Some years we have snow!
I went with Lynn to Boston on a business trip to meet up with the rest of his Novell team. Boston was beautiful in fall and we had a nice time sight seeing all the historical sights--we'd love to take our kids back. Highlights were walking the Freedom Trail -seeing the North Church and eating in "Little Italy" part of old historic downtown. We had the best hot chocolate and gelato. It was like being back in Italy. We've been watching the HBO series John Adams and really enjoyed seeing some of these places where events took place during our country's infancy.
Plymouth is a unique place. It was really wonderful to see it. I asked around about our family relatives John Alden and Priscilla Mullens (thanks to Aunt Linda's family history work) John came over on the Mayflower as a crew member and decided to stay in the colony. He courted and married Priscilla Mullens who was still young and came over with her own family. The exact date of their marriage is not recorded, but it's thought to be after the first winter when so many colonists perished. The Aldens went on to become a prominent family, had eleven children and thousands of descendants. John and Priscilla are referred to as America's "First Couple" and have been depicted in pictures and statues since that time as a pilgrim man and women, and made famous by Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish."
After exploring Plymouth, I asked around about our relatives and found the family home and gravesites were in the nearby village of Duxbury, so we headed over and found wonderful sites.
I wish we would have taken more pictures of the foliage, it was breathtaking! I did get to see and walk by Walden Pond, which was a great highlight for me, since his book made a big impact on my as a youth. It was a big treat and very beautiful. We took our time driving through New England from my brother Jeff's house to Boston to meet up with Lynn's team from work.
