Christmas Parties Galore

In case you were waiting on pins and needles, my Relief Society Brunch last week went splendidly!  I managed to get the house all cleaned up, the Relief Society president brought a bunch of chairs from the church which Craig and I got all arranged, and then the entire presidency showed up early to set up the food (which they provided; all I contributed was a fruit bowl from Costco).

What you don't see here is how decorated the rest of the house was-- another tree, holly all down the banister, wreaths and candles in the windows...  We go all out for Christmas!

The first people to show up were all the older women in the ward and I have to admit that I felt a little out of place.  But eventually people a little closer to my age came, too, and then it was great.  People sat around chatting in small groups while everyone was arriving, and then it was time to eat-- lots of quiches and breakfast meats and good stuff.  I totally skipped my fruit bowl.  Once that was wrapping up, I handed out slips of paper with numbers on them and we began the gift exchange!  Because of the numbering, I had to take a count of how many people we had, and was pleasantly surprised that (including me) we had 24 people!  And everyone managed to be sitting comfortably in our family room with a few people spilling into the kitchen-- so that was great!

The gift exchange was fun.  Not as raucous as the one in my old ward, but I think part of the difference there was doing this in the morning.  Everything is more lively at night!  But we had a nice time.  And then, everyone stayed sitting and people shared Christmas stories-- mostly silly ones about kids opening all their siblings' presents and stuff like that-- with the whole group.  I usually don't like large groups precisely because it's impossible for everyone to talk together, so I thought it was really cool that that actually worked!  It made me happy.  I'm counting that party as a huge success.


Next on the list was Craig's work party.  Morale has been low at his school (because of his evil boss, of which we will say no more at this time), so he thought that bringing the kids might add a little cheer to the party.  That meant me bringing Ryder, Colton and Camille and trying to keep them on their best behavior, which is no small feat right at nap time!  Craig took me around (while he held Camille) and introduced me to all the staff, mostly because it gave him a chance to tell them (to me) how great they all were.  I think it was a good political sort of move, and I smiled and tried to compliment people as best I could.  Camille was super cute and would reach out a hand to each person, and then shyly snuggle back against Craig.  And the boys were good and mostly well behaved until the end, when I quickly left with them before they could get really bad.  I think it was a good thing to do, but I'm glad Craig isn't planning a career as a politician.  The whole thing was exhausting!


Finally, last night was our ward Christmas party.  They were having the primary perform the nativity which I have NEVER gotten to see my kids do before!  (I absolutely loved my previous ward, but we threw about the lamest Christmas parties ever.)  When we moved in, we were told that the primary desperately needed more kids and we were a huge boon to them, but I didn't really think much about it until we got the list for who would be playing which parts, and realized that my kids would be representing a wise man (Bentley), Mary (Kendra), a shepherd (Ryder) and a sheep (Colton)!  We really did build up that primary a lot, didn't we?

Ryder and Colton with their friend Martin (an angel, as you can probably tell)

Ryder and Martin with all the other sheep

The nativity was kind of a zoo.  They didn't have a lot of time to practice, and even they'd had more time, whenever you've got twenty kids on a stage (a lot of whom are three years old or younger), you know it's going to be nuts.  I wasn't prepared for how hilarious (and embarrassing) Ryder would be for it.  He was okay at the beginning, but they didn't even put the kids up on the stage until after 8, and Ryder typically goes to bed at 7.  And he just kept getting weirder and rowdier as it went on..!  First he wandered to the middle of the stage, plunked himself down on the floor, and then laid down.  He looked drunk.  Then he sat up and squinted up at the stage lights for a bit.  Then flopped back down on the floor.  Then he began running and sliding on his knees across the stage.  (At this point one of his teachers tried to get him to settle down, but it didn't really do any good.  I thought about grabbing him, but was busy with Camille and it was nearly over by then...)  At one point Ryder sat down again on the edge of the stage and Colton sat next to him.  So Ryder scooted away and Colton followed and they scooted across the whole stage this way.  Ah, brotherly love!  I was so wrapped up in watching this (and trying not to laugh hysterically) that I barely saw Kendra, as Mary, kicking away the nursery kid "sheep" and "angels" as they kept trying to come near her to see the baby doll she was holding.  Gotta love Bossy Mary!

Love this one

And this one!

At the rehearsal-- we found some better shoes for the performance

Ah, so wise!

Joseph and Mary were super giggly and cute around each other.  It made me laugh...

Last but not least-- this is my very favorite picture from the whole thing!

I can't quite make up my mind how embarrassed I should be about the whole thing.  But I loved it too much to care. We did beat a hasty retreat as soon as it was over, figuring we were helping the most by removing ourselves!


The kids had their last day of school and Craig had his last day of work and they're all off for the entire week!  If that isn't the best Christmas gift, then I don't know what is!

Ooh-- Craig uploaded one of the videos he took onto YouTube.  It's a bit long, but if it doesn't make you laugh, you don't have a soul. Especially of note is the little girl sheep showing her tummy to Colton and playing with his ears.  And Ryder, wandering around with his sippy cup and generally acting like a small drunkard...

Merry Christmas, Everyone!