Ring out the old, ring in the new. So grateful we get to renew ourselves! It hasn't been a bad year, but it is time to start fresh again. I am so grateful that weekly we get to renew ourselves spiritually as well.
As well as ending with a bang, the month started with a bang! President John and Margaret Jury from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia came to visit us. Scott had the privilege of serving under them on his mission and getting to know them well. And now our family has had the privilege of getting to know them--and they are wonderful people. Scott was very fortunate, and I am so grateful for their good influence in his life. They have been planning a visit to the states for awhile, and now that our basement is done, there was a place for them to stay so we invited them to stay here. After an exhausting flight (over 36 hours traveling), they arrived, but with energy still! We stayed up talking for a little bit, but then rushed them to bed. The next day Scott took them downtown to see a few sites and visit a taffy store (Maggie really loves taffy and they must not have it there). Mom and Dad came down for the weekend and we all met up with at Cheesecake Factory. After, Omi and Opa took my kids and went to the German Christmas Mart at "This is the Place" and the Jury's and Scott and I went to the temple. President and Sister Jury met with President and Sister Samuelson (President of the SL temple), whom they had known from before. Then we attended a session with some missionaries from their mission. How wonderful it must have been for them to see these missionaries after 18-20 years--and see them still firm in the gospel. And the next day didn't disappoint as well.
Brennan was lucky enough to have the Jury's, Omi and Opa, Grandma Nancy, Uncle Adam (right before he went to his OWN wedding!), and other family attend his baptism. He shared his baptism with Lily Taylor (and others from the stake) and the chapel was FULL (the Jury's were in awe of it all). Opa spoke on the Holy Ghost (this was actually the first baptism in our family that Omi and Opa have been able to attend). We are so proud of Brennan and his decision to get baptized. He has been so excited for this--he and Scott read the entire Book of Mormon in preparation. After the baptism we were able to host our first big party in the basement. We were able to fit 32+ people at tables! It was a glorious celebration.
That afternoon we set up for Scott's mission reunion at a local church. There were 260 people expected, and we think about that showed up. It started at 4:00, and by 5:00 it was pretty full. I wanted people to be able to visit and not worry about the food, etc, so I did most of the coordinating of things. There were rooms set up for kids to watch movies with treats, etc. The food for dinner was set up in the kitchen and along the hallway. I kept everything stocked and moving along. After a lot of eating and chatting, President and Sister Jury made some remarks and then there was a beautiful slideshow. Scott did a marvelous job organizing and preparing for the reunion. It was pulled off beautifully and we were EXHAUSTED at the end of the day (finally got home around 10;30).
Fortunately, the next day was a day of rest. Whew. We were lucky, and blessed, to have gotten tickets to the First Presidency Devotional. The Jury's were in heaven seeing the interior of the conference center and all the people. And seeing all the lights downtown. What a great thing to be a part of for us! Monday they packed up and went to stay with some other friends (the McDonalds) and we were left with a quiet and lonely house. It was so wonderful having them here. I am so glad Scott was able to see them and the kids and I were able to meet them!
Aidan had a choir concert and it didn't disappoint. The school has the best music teacher. She does a marvelous job. Brennan and Aidan both made finals in their classrooms in the geography bee. Then they both did well in the school wide finals. I am proud of them for working so hard. Elise had a culminating activity about continents and I was able to help out. Because of things the Jury's had brought (Australian Christmas books and candy), I went to her classroom and taught her class about Christmas in Australia. And Weston has been busy learning Spanish (and is really good!). But, we were ready for a break! We did take a quick trip up to Idaho for Heidi's Christmas Party, which was a blast! Unfortunately, the moment I sat down in the car for the drive my body decided to get sick with a cold, so I had to fight that the whole time. We made some delicious food and bought a bunch of fun sodas. It was fun to meet friends of the Barkers and see Mr. Bowen. It was great spending a few days with the Browns and Barkers and fortunately, the weather was nice so we were able to travel without any problems.
We returned quickly just in time for a storm to hit and cause all sorts of problems in Utah. Monday morning the storm hit as people were trying to get to work and school. It usually takes Weston 5 minutes to get to school, but it took them 45! After being on the road for an hour and only getting a mile, Scott finally turned around and just worked from home. The poor kids trying to get to APA, though... it took them almost two hours. (Fortunately I didn't drive...). Because of all of it, the school decided to start late the next day.
We did have our yearly Christmas sing along with neighbors. I love this tradition we have because it helps us feel the true meaning of Christmas. It helps us share that spirit with others. We did have a sweet friend, John Hocking, pass away, which made us emotional at the time as well. He was a member of our ward who had some disabilities. He was so sweet to us and our family--bringing gifts to the kids and I bought eggs from him weekly. We will miss his sweet smile, but we feel so lucky that we were able to know him.
There were many football games in December, and parties--like the Polar Express ward party. We still had soccer, piano, visiting the old folks home, playing with friends, etc. And then the real parties began. Scott's family party was on the 23rd, and his sister Lauren and her family were able to come into town and make it to the party. We ate a delicious dinner, went caroling, had a visit from the big man, and then did the nativity. Kids had a great time. And in Daw fashion, the party continued the next day, Christmas Eve, when we watched a movie and went out to dinner. Then our little family went home and did our traditional eve activities: new pajamas, cookies for Santa, and then amazingly, the kids wanted to go to bed. Nice and early, and I liked it! We did ask Santa if he would bring the presents to the basement this year so we could have a cozy Christmas morning down there.
Our Christmas was just about perfect. We opened presents--big things were Disney princesses for Elise, Legos for Brennan, a digital piano for Aidan, and clothes for Weston. I got Scott a watch and bike stuff, and he scored big by buying me an electric dustpan--basically I sweep the garbage up to it and it sucks it in! I was so excited. He also made me a little foldable stool for me to use at church on Sunday (my legs are short and get uncomfortable at church... this solves that problem! Aunt Janet used to have one). We visited Grandma Nancy (driving through the storm) and then went to Scott's parents in the afternoon.
On Sunday following Christmas we had the Brown Family Party here. I think there were over 50 people here. It was rather crazy. I had the appetizers on the main floor, kids playing on the second floor, and dinner in the basement. I don't know what everyone else did the whole evening, but I ran around like a crazy woman--from this to that. Getting all the food where it should go, making sure people were happy, taking coats, interrupting children fighting, cleaning up throw up (yes, one poor kid threw up while he ran down the hallway. I would give an estimation of 8-10 feet of barf... and then up three steps and every other step the rest of the way up the stairs. He must have tracked it on one of his shoes....), keeping sweet Porter (with Austism) from trying to kill me (I wouldn't let him play with a wii game and at one point he gave me a crusty look and said, "You have ruined my entire life!"), and generally keeping the house from exploding. But, it was fun. And I think everyone had a good time. The next day I was so extremely tired, I could barely move.
And so the rest of the break, I didn't do much moving... We were quite lazy, sleeping in until past 9 almost daily (so very very nice to sleep until your body is rested!), and playing games, doing puzzles, and reading (I read out loud to the kids the book "Magic by the Lake" --the book following "Half Magic" by Edward Eager). We ate a lot of nothing and had a great time. My friend Patty Rubalcaba Manguia and her family came to visit one afternoon (she was a member from my mission) and we had such a lovely time catching up and getting to know her husband and kids. Great people. I am so blessed to have been able to make so many wonderful friends.
I am sad because after three and a half years I was released from Young Women. It was a great experience to be able to teach them and get to know them. I will always be able to see them and say, "My Mia Maid!" (reference to Elder Eyring's talk from GC April 2014). I will miss them, but now I get to work with the 8 year old boys in cub scouts--and that means I am Brennan's Scout Leader!
We love you and hope you had a marvelous Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year!
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