Holiday Fun

I just wanted to make a record of all the fun we had this Christmas season:

I sang two solos at our ward musical program on Friday, Dec. 10th. It got me really excited about becoming more serious about my singing. Also, the program was so uplifting; it got me in the right spirit for the Christmas season.

We went skiing for Don's birthday at Copper Mountain on Saturday, the 11th (see post).

I made a bunch of homemade Christmas gifts for people. I made cookies, homemade bread, some flowered headbands, 17 hand-painted pots with spoons that I made into garden markers, Don and I made some doughboy sticks for my brother and sister-in-law, and I made a bunch of garden marker spoons for my sister-in-law.

The garden markers I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas

The headband I made for my friend Mary

One of the 17 pots I painted, planted, and flattened and stamped a spoon for.

We had a Christmas dinner with our friends the Posses, Lindseys, and Ramptons. Then, we played nerts. It was such a great time. We are so lucky to have such great friends here.

I was in charge of a training for the Resident Managers about safety checks on Monday, December 13th. While being in charge of the training wasn't fun, we had a cookie exchange and that was really fun. I also gave little cookie packages away to the people I work with at the Family Housing Office.

My MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) had a great brunch with a speaker who spoke about focusing on what is really important about Christmas. We made centerpieces with real fir boughs and then I brought home a bunch of fir boughs and made a wreath for my door. It was an unusually crafty moment for me and it turned out really well.

Don and I watched the edited version of Love Actually with my friend Em. I love watching that movie at Christmas.

I went to an ornament exchange party with a bunch of girlfriends and got a cute ornament. It was such a fun time!

My friend, Nicole, from Switzerland, taught me to make Swiss Christmas cookies, which involve a lot of meringues, nut flour (ground nuts), and time! They are super time consuming to make and are really fancy! We only made two kinds and it took us 4 hours! They had to dry for hours and hours before you could bake them. It was a really fun experience learning to make them and it was great just to hang out with Nicole for most of the day.

I was in charge of the FH Holiday Breakfast on the 18th (see post).

I helped my friend Cami make spoons for her mom's garden.

On the 20th, we had our second annual Christmas Caroling Party. We had a bunch of neighbors over to sing carols and had hot wassail and various Christmas treats. I played the piano and everyone sang along. I absolutely loved it and will make it a Christmas tradition wherever I live. It just makes me happy to sing all the Christmas songs!

After the Christmas Caroling Party, I went to a party with some girlfriends from my MOPS group and learned to play the best game ever, telephone pictionary. I think we've played it 4 times since with family and friends. So much fun!

I made 20 or so little loaves of wheat bread to give out to friends and neighbors. I just couldn't help myself. Making bread is just a part of Christmas at my house, so I wanted to carry on the tradition.

On the 21st, we went to a donut party at our friends, The Thalman's house. Man, Jenny makes a good donut! Or 20, since I think I ate that many by myself. YUM!

Then, on the 22nd, went to the Trans-Siberian Orchesta. ROCK ON! (see post)

Sam and I watched Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (a holiday must in my opinion. We watched it every Christmas Eve in my house growing up) and The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Then, we headed down to Colorado Springs (post to come) for Christmas with Don's family.

Once we got back, we celebrated New Years Eve with our great friends, the Kennards and some other friends. We played lots of games and ate a lot of food, including some chocolate cheese. What could be better than my two favorite things combined? I loved it.