Merry Christmas

Wow! I can't believe how fast Christmas has come and gone. It was fantastic. Besides the family parties, the chaos of everyone being in town, and a depleted bank account, it was perfect. Christmas is my favorite time of year...I love the Christmas music, the Christmas spirit, the sights, smells, traditions and much more. One highlight of our Christmas this year was helping my parents with the annual Sub-for-Santa. We were able to buy Christmas gifts for a Polynesian family with 6 little kids. Shopping was fun, but the delivery was unforgettable. The children were beautiful and the family was so grateful. The children all sat along the wall as we hauled in presents galore. It was all they could do to not pounce on the piles of gifts. We sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and got pretty choked up as we saw their excited little faces. Their oldest son, who couldn't have been more than 12 told us that he would never forget this Christmas..and closed in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. What a humbling experience to be in their small home with handmade Christmas decorations. We were so glad that we could help this family. We often forget that its a season of giving. I am so glad that we have this time of year especially, to remember our Savior and all that he taught and sacrificed. We truly are so blessed.

We had all sorts of family parties, starting with the Grandma and Grandpa Egbert party. We ate a lovely dinner and had a small program to follow. All of the missionaries took turns singing "Silent Night" in all different languages. Our niece Rylee recited the cutest poem about the baby Jesus. She had the whole thing memorized with hand actions, a shepherd costume and everything. We were so surprised...everyone loved it!

This is Conner singing in Australian with all the other English speaking missionaries.

Next was the Nielsen Christmas Eve party. Fortunately I was put on call and I didn't have to go in to work. Unfortunately the entire Nielsen family had the flu and Conner and I had to try and avoid the germs. We really did wear these masks all night!
Before the games and presents, we always have a Christmas program and a nativity scene. The kids love it and everyone looked so cute. (Especially Doug playing the donkey in Conner's MORP costume)

Craig and Jerrie invented a memory game where we had to match everyones baby pictures to a more recent picture of themselves. It got a little crazy, but it was fun and we even won envelopes filled with money!

After Christmas was the Grammy party. We had it after Christmas so that Cam and Tiffany would be able to join us. The Grammy party is always the highlight of Christmas for me. She is an amazing woman and teaches me so much. I hope that one day I can be just like her. In her program, she always talks about her love of Christ and the gospel. I love hearing her testimony. I only wish I was able to spend even more time with her.

We can't wait to do it all again next year!