Christmas 2011

Though we were home by ourselves this year, we certainly didn't feel alone! We enjoyed a marvelous Christmas spirit and were able to video chat with all of our children. Modern techology is fabulous isn't it? As we attended church today, we felt the love of our Savior and are so grateful for his birth, life, example, and atoning sacrifice. We gratefully acknolwedge Him as our Redeemer. Here are some pictures of our very enjoyable day.

New ornaments for this year

We Skyped with Megan and family before church - though the picture quality isn't great (us taking pictures of the computer screen) it was great to "be with them".  Megan helping Justin and Emma with their presents

Hyrum and Hunter had the "paper tearing" routine down much better than the twins!

Jeremy - the always good sport - trying on Hyrum's new sphere toy:)

After church we opened some of our presents before calling the other kids

Marcie showing off her new boots & new fleece

 Baby it's cold outside!

Scott with a new shirt, new razor and chocolate turtles

We received several "family picture calendars" which we love!

Some grand children sent some pottery cereal bowls - well for Grandpa it's for ice cream.

Next came a video chat with Joy and the kids in San Antonio - we got the kids but how in the world did we not get a picture of Joy?  Sorry about that!

Sunday afternoon in the state of Washington is early Monday morning in Bagram, Afghanistan.  We were grateful Zac took a few minutes to chat with us before beginning his new day!

We ended our video chatting day with the Morgantown Turner's - bless their hearts - they had traveled all day from Salt Lake and still made time to chat before Luke went to bed!

A new piano - Luke sized!

What a wonderful Christmas day - we had visits from several ward members, talked with relatives on the phone and enjoyed a marvelous spirit of peace and love.  May we all work hard to keep those feelings all year round!

Caroling, caroling through the snow!

Well not quite the snow part, but caroling yes:)  Last Sunday (Dec 18) we held our annual Christmas caroling activity.  This group of folks was put together 21 years ago with 3 families:  Cramer's, Stucki's, and us.  Over the years we've had very few caroling parties canceled - mostly because of snow, so it's something we really look forward to.  The Cramer's are in Switzerland this year serving the Lord as missionaries, and Sister Stucki is quite ill so they stayed in Yelm.  The Cramer's daughter Amy is living in their home and she hosted - as her folks were always willing to do - and we had a wonderful potluck dinner and then did some caroling in their neighborhood.  Marcie and I noted with interest that 21 years ago when these families united in song we were the youngest couple involved.  Our get together this year involved the children of the families and we were by far the oldest people there!!  What a change:)
After singing in the neighborhood, we drove to Yelm and sang with the Stucki family who had gathered there to be with Sister Stucki - we had a wonderful time and the spirit of Christmas was certainly there.  We didn't take many pictures but will share these few:

Gathering at the Cramer home for a wondeful meal and great visiting





A picture of the group outside before starting our caroling

Brother Stucki and two of his sons joined together in Yelm

Br. Stucki and his jolly manner on display

This caroling activity is one of our favorite events of the year - this one certainly didn't disappoint!  We love singing the hymns celebrating the birth and life of our Savior!

Christmas Trees!

Friday night we had the chance to attend the lighting of the Christmas tree in the rotunda at our state Capitol - and we also got to see the lights on the trees outside where our church youth group had strung them last Saturday - and they look great!!  Here's a picture of the 25' tree before lighting, then on "fire"; a picture up through the tree to the chandelier, and some pictures of the trees outside - see if you can see the moon through the tree on one of the pictures!

Then today (Saturday) we went to the Festival of Trees in Tacoma and had a blast.  We were most fascinated by the "toppers" on some trees and tried to capture some of those in the pictures.

Marcie with Colonel Cupcake

It's been a long time since we've been in downtown Tacoma - today was delightful.  We parked for free near the Tacoma Dome and took a free light rail train into town.  Quite a fun day!



Thanksgiving in San Antonio!

We spent a wonderful week in San Antonio at Zac and Joy's new beautiful home - Megan, Jeremy and their family were in Austin visiting his folks so came down for 3 days and we had a great time together.  We played a lot in the back yard, played a lot in the house, visited and played at lots of parks, went to the famous River Walk, ate great food, and really enjoyed each others company.  Zac left the day after Thanksgiving, like we did, but he went to Georgia for a few days and then to Kuwait awaiting a flight to Afghanistan.  He will be there for about 6 months.  Here are some pictures from our trip, though we have lots more!  Thanks Zac and Joy for your loving hospitality - thanks Meg and Jeremy for coming down.

The grandkids sitting outside of the hospital where Zac works

The grandkids at a park on a very rainy day

The rain didn't stop these kids!

How fitting that our last activity before Meg and Jeremy left for Austin was at the frozen yogurt shop!

Helping Dad cut the lawn

We visited a beautiful mission called San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo - Anne had been there recently with her school class so she served as our guide:)  And a very good one at that!

Caught a glimpse of the Hemisfair on our way to the River Walk

Darlin helping Anne and Andrew with some watercoloring

Exploring "cub caves" with Dad and Grandpa

Thanksgiving day preparations included Pumpkin Pasties from Harry Potter

This was a feast to remember:)

Drawing, coloring and creating are the favorites of every day

Trimming the Christmas tree

What a wonderful time we had - thanks so much!!

Flying home into Seattle