Ward Christmas Party

Last night was our ward Christmas party and it was so much fun!  My dad came to enjoy in the food and festivities, and I think he had a good time!  Rachel and Jared and their little guys as well as Dave and Char and their clan were there too!  It was so fun having some of our family there to celebrate this special time of year!  The food as usual was delicious...roast beef, gravy, baked potatoes and a menagerie of salads and desserts!  I always love the potluck dessert idea, everyone brings the best of the best holiday dishes, lots of peppermint type desserts, rice krispie squares, or yummy tarts or cheesecakes galore, even homemade chocolates!  All of it was so yummy!  Everyone mingles and visits, catching up with those who have moved away or the younger ones who have left home to go to school!  The best part of the evening is when the Primary children put on The Nativity, celebrating the birth of our Savior truly is the reason for the season and they never disappoint when depicting this blessed time of year!

This year the Young Men and Young Women joined the Primary kids to sing the hymns that tell the story about the birth of Christ.  Jared played the last hymn, Silent Night, on his guitar...truly magical!  Silent Night was originally written on a guitar in Germany because the organ was broken.  Hearing it on the guitar has always brought shivers to my body, I absolutely love it!

The Nursery kids sang, Once There was a Snowman, and Calum was so cute, all the laughs from the audience always came right after Calum did something!  He is such a character, but we do love him he really keeps things interesting!

Once the main part of the program was finished Myrna led us in a sing song, hoping Santa would stop by the party!  At about this time Calum decided he wanted to leave the gym.  Jared went after him and told him if he sings really nice then Santa might stop by!  As Jared was pulling him back into the gym Calum was singing, "Baaa, blaah blaah", really loud!  The singing worked and Santa arrived with boxes full of candy bags!

With how easy going Armin is we were sure he would sit on Santa's knee without any fuss, and he did, until he felt the tickle of Santa's beard on his neck, his face quickly turned to absolute terror!  Everyday he is becoming more and more like Calum!

Calum was much more fond of Santa this year, although he wouldn't look directly at him, and he kept his little hands clenched under his chin in a very nervous way!  After Calum got his candy bag he came over to where Armin and I were standing.  He saw that Armin had the same brown paper bag that he had just gotten from Santa and asked what Armin got.  Not thinking what Calum meant, I told him it was the same as what was in his bag.  Calum looked so confused and asked me to open his bag, I got the ribbon off and passed it back to him to open.  When he looked inside he said, very disgustedly, "What, where's the racetrack?"  When Calum wrote his letter to Santa he asked for a Lightening McQueen racetrack, I guess he just assumed that since Santa was at the party he brought the gifts with him!  We had to tell Calum that Santa was only visiting that night but would stop by our house on Christmas Eve!

Emry was so excited to ask Santa in person for a guitar!  She has had her heart set on a guitar lately.  Whenever Jared takes out his guitar to play she is always right there beside him listening and watching intently.  We think it might be time for her to start learning a little bit!

Emry told Santa she wanted a guitar, he asked her who would teach her how to play, and she answered very quickly, "My daddy!"

Liam and Jonas

 That was the end of the evening, it was so much fun and again just a wonderful way to celebrate the joy of Christmas, the wonderful and miraculous birth of our Savior.  Only two more sleeps!!