The week leading up to Christmas was wonderful. Bri and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! As a gift, I bought a personalized wall hanging from Etsy that has our last name and year we were married along with the scripture from Ruth 1:16: "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay." I thought it was appropriate for summing up the last 20 years of our lives together! At this point, we're preparing for our 14th move in 20 years (Beijing this summer). We have lived in five states as a married couple, and are preparing to move to our 3rd country and 4th continent. Bri was touched by the gift because he remembers someone speaking at a law school banquet years ago speak and share this scripture Little did I know that a plaque I made early on in our marriage that said, "Still moving" to remind us of the spiritual and physical strength of our pioneer ancestors, would actually describe our marriage perfectly. ;) It sure has been a fun adventure with its challenges along the way, but Bri and I recognize that we are changed people because of the struggles, and we appreciate the joys all the more. We feel so blessed to have had the last 20 years together, and we look forward to 40 more! There's no one we would rather have this life adventure with!
G-ma P sent a box of Christmas goodies that we enjoyed. Gingerbread houses, Santa candles, and more.
Games are always a fun part of Christmas break!
And the weekend before Christmas, Bri got to baptize Michael K. We had him and the sister missionaries over a few times to our house to join in on lessons.
The next day, we went to the D.C. temple where they were having a family of musicians perform. We enjoyed the performance and the amazing lights. Michael and his friend joined us. I am really bummed that the D.C. temple is closed for upgrading and renovation during our time here because I wanted us to get our temple fill before going to China, especially Rhea who will finally be able to go to the temple in January to do baptisms for the dead. We'll try to get to the Philadelphia temple a few times before we leave!
We could not get enough of these beautiful lights!
We got home in time to have our friends the Titus' over to watch our yearly tradition of The Muppet Christmas Carol. The kids entertained us with a little Christmas dancing before the show.
Michael, Thomas, Ethan, Christopher, and Marcus.
Rhea making rice crispy treats with her friend Sylvia.
On Christmas Eve morning, we got together with 4 other families from the ward for bowling. The Titus', Murris, McKays, Moyers, and us. It was sooo fun! The kids loved the socializing and friendly competition, as well as the adults! All of these families are awesome and we feel so blessed that our paths have crossed here for this short time while back in the states.
The absolute cuteness of Rhea and Kennedy
The boys are gearing up for their first game...
And the girls...
Amy and Mark M.
Jessica and Aaron M.
Of course some good girl chatting going on in between bowls. :)
We all had a great time. We played two games, and funny enough, I was struggling to make any meaningful shots. Usually spares or near spares, but only a few random strikes out of both games. However, in the LAST frame, when all eyes were on me (for some reason, everyone else had finished their games), I got a strike. So I got to go again. I got a strike again. And I went into the third bowl shocked that I had just bowled two strikes in a row, and yet against all odds, I bowled another strike! I got a Turkey! My first turkey ever in my life. Hilarious! Everyone was laughing and cheering, especially because of how out of the blue it was after all my effort the whole rest of the two games to get even one strike. A memorable experience for sure!
We visited some more, exchanged Christmas cards and treats, and headed our separate ways. We had worked up an appetite from bowling, so our family headed to Taco Bell. The kids remember going to Taco Bell on Christmas Eve the last time we were here in VA, so we humored them again. We wanted just to relax for a little bit after the busy morning, so we headed to some half priced theaters and watched our new favorite movie, Abominable. It was an entertaining and magical journey of a girl and her friends along with Abominable through China, ironically. It got us even more excited for our move there!
Of course the kids have to sleep together on Christmas Eve, so Thomas moved his mattress into the girls' room.
Lined up in birth order of course!
My favorite part of Christmas: When the kids give us and each other their homemade gifts!
Rhea made a nice rock for Bri, and Savannah crocheted a yellow blanket for Rhea and gave her containers covered in her favorite--cheetah print.
Savannah also won a basketball at one of the Falls Green activities and couldn't wait to surprise Thomas with it for Christmas.
Rhea gave Savvy a craft that she knew she would love.
And Savannah gave Thomas a turtle necklace.
Showing off their money from grandmas and grandpas. :)
The Washington Nationals here in D.C. won the World Series this year so of course Bri needed a blanket to commemorate the win. If there's one thing that Bri likes, it's a new blanket. ;)
Savannah got an Irish flute. She's a natural!
Rhea loved her Sunflower necklace that opens up to say "You are my Sunshine."
And Savannah was excited for her personalized apron that she got with a cooking class offered at the rec center. She's going to learn how to cook meals from 7 different countries for us!
And the red face, tears, and hug here show how much Savannah loved the gift that Thomas gave her--a string of lights with clips for photos to hang in her room.
Rhea and Savannah both received a framed Young Women's theme that Grandma Becky wrote in calligraphy herself! It's beautiful and the girls love it!
A few things dad has wanted--the game Code Names, and genetic testing kits. :)
The aftermath. :)
Already she's enjoyed her new little Mp3 player!
Dad is helping to get the Cheetah print tent up for Rhea.
And Thomas is admiring his set of Nintendo Switch items.
After opening presents and having breakfast, we headed to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception where we met up with the McKay family to help the church serve Christmas dinner to those in need.
It was a beautiful church the we enjoyed exploring throughout our time there.
I saw the opportunity a few months ago to serve at the church when I was looking for a meaningful way to serve on Christmas Day, and signed up right away. I told Jessica about it and invited her family to join us, and luckily they did. It was so much more fun with them!
We were assigned tables to serve at. When guests were seated at our tables, we retrieved food and drinks for them and then served them and cleaned up after they finished. Then got ready for the next guests. I felt bad because it really didn't turn out to be what I hoped it would be. It seemed like the people that came and ate the Christmas dinner weren't necessarily the underprivileged in the community, but were actually mass attenders that were hungry after, and it was a free meal. Even still, we were happy to serve, but there were so many workers that we stood around a lot feeling superfluous and bored much of the time. (Rhea and Kennedy)
At least we could visit with each other though! We thought the service would feel more meaningful and memorable, but even still, we loved getting to hang out for four hours with our friends, and it put us in a place where our minds were on serving others on the day that we celebrate the Savior's birth, not only on ourselves and our toys. It was great for us to be reminded of why we really celebrate Christmas and to serve with good people in the community that love and worship the Savior too.
Savannah and Eden
Thomas and Judd
Luckily, after the four hours of serving, we got to get food for our own tummies. Logan, the youngest in our group at eight years old, had been very patient with waiting so long to eat! We had all worked up an appetite. It was nice to eat and then go home without worrying about what to cook for dinner!
After getting home, we cleaned up a little bit, called Grandmas and Grandpas to wish them a Merry Christmas and then relaxed by watching "It's a Wonderful Life," a Christmas/New Year's tradition. We never tire of the heart warming story of George Bailey! The Christmas season is ending, which I'm grateful for in a way (to slow things back down), but it's been a wonderful month. And we've loved being back in the States to celebrate!
0 comments: