A Quiet and Merry Christmas

We had a stay-home family Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve everyone chose (or were assigned) an activity they were in charge of for the evening. We put names in a hat; the name drawn was the next activity we'd do.

First, we reenacted the nativity. Chuck read the script and Jared made a very fine angel, though he protested at first ("Angels are girls!"). Kaitlin was a very pious Mary; Chaz a grumpy Joseph; and Ruth and Mom filled in as shepherds (Ruth herded a reindeer, Becky a large stuffed dog) and wise men. There were even fantastic special effects (Chuck shined a flashlight on a paper star on the wall).

Jared's activity was "Drink eggnog" which everyone seemed to enjoy. I lead everyone in playing carols with an 8 bell set I had purchased for the Primary. The bells were color coded, so I drew colored dots on a paper to indicate who was to play when. We even played some harmony.

Chaz wanted to drive around and see lights. We have two houses in our area that do the synchronized light shows to music, and both were very fun to watch. Though we were frustrated with other drivers that were not exercising idling etiquette (don't have your lights on, don't pull right in front and block everyone's view).

Kaitlin hosted some Christmas karaoke. And then we played some Christmas Imagine-If (a board game: "Imagine If The Heat Miser was a ice cream flavor...)

By the end of the board game Jared wanted to stop playing and go to bed but instead, the kids decided to go down to the family room and play Twister. It was a fun night.

On Christmas day we opened presents, and everyone seemed happy with what they received. The older kids got mostly clothes, but Kaitlin also got a few surprises that she was happy with. Ruth got a rc helicopter and a wii game, and Jared got a science kit and a Wizard Mickey that he had wanted. Grandma Barnum sent us all PJ pants, and Santa brought those as well, so all day we were sporting a comfy look. In the evening we had a nice dinner and all in all it was a quiet and very nice Christmas.


Cousin Stacy's Home Coming

On Sunday we drove to Ogden to see my niece speak in church about her mission to Chili. She is an entertaining speaker with a good mix of inspirational stories and testimony. Afterward, we had dinner at her house and visited will all the family. We loved hearing more stories from Stacy, and visiting with each other.

On the way home we dropped Kaitlin off for a week at her dad's and then we stopped at my brother David's house for dinner (Thanks, Shauni!). After dinner we took two of our cousin's, Orion and Mary, home with us for a sleep over visit.

Looking Forward to 2011

Next year will hold a lot of change for our family. Chaz will be graduating from High School and Kaitlin will be starting High School. Jared will start the new year being Baptized (he had his interview with the Bishop this week) and he is also starting Cub Scouts. In the fall, Ruth will turn twelve and enter our church's youth program. We were not selected to be in the Nauvoo Pageant this coming summer, so with that plan fallen through, we don't know what we will be doing. I can't help but wonder what the Lord has in store for us and what the future will bring.

Happy Birthday, Jared!

Our little man turned eight on Saturday. He got a microscope ("the best gift ever") and a black suit (he had asked for one and was very excited). He also got a few science kits that he was excited to do. In the afternoon we went miniature golfing and then ate ice cream and walked around Toys-r-us. In the evening we ate Jared's favorite dinner (Hawaiian haystacks) and watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

We are getting excited for his baptism in a few weeks. Grandma and Grandpa Barnum are coming, and also Aunt Denise, Aunt Laura and Cousin Susan. We are so excited to see them! You are all invited to the Baptism and lunch afterward. It is scheduled for Saturday, January 8th at 9:00am.

"The most epic five seconds of my life"

Kaitlin, Ruth, our neighbor Avery and I went downtown to the David Archuleta and Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. We had heard horror stories about traffic and more tickets being issued than there were seats, so we left 4 hours early. We enjoyed some Chinese food downtown and then a walk through beautiful Temple Square to see the lights. We lined up at the doors 20 minutes before they opened and then settled down for another 90 minutes until the show started. The performances were incredible. David Archuleta was nervous at first, but soon settled down and sang wonderfully. David is one of those rare performers that sounds even better live then on CD. We savored every note. There were also dancers, bell ringers, the orchestra and of course the choir. After the performance we went a block away and got in the line for David's CD signing. It was freezing and at first Ruth and Avery did not want to stay, but soon we were talking and singing and having a good time. An hour and a half later we were quickly ushered past David. He was smiling and handsome, and signed Kaitlin's book and CD. All the girls were so excited. As we walked away from the signing into the night, that is when Ruth made the declaration that is the title of this section.

Eagle Scout

This last week Chaz had his Board of Review to get his Eagle Scout. After a lengthy interview they determined to award Chaz the Eagle Scout award. They have to file his papers with the National organization. We'll have his Court of Honor some time in February.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The tree is up. The cow wreath is on the door. Yes, Christmas has come to our house. Presents keep appearing under the tree and the kids are excited. Who is the most excited?? It's got to be Jared with Ruth as a close second. Yesterday, Jared spent over and hour sorting gifts into piles by name and then putting them back under the tree in random order so they will be a surprise.

Jared has even more than Christmas to be excited about; his birthday is this week. The poor kids watches all the other member of the family have birthdays all year, and then his birthday and Christmas are jammed into one week. When he complains to me, I tell him that we wanted him to be part of our family so badly, that it didn't matter to us that it was at Christmas time.

Christmas Concerts

Our family has had surprisingly few Christmas Concerts this year. We have no child in band or in choir. Chaz and I sang in a concert last night at our church and Ruth and Jared sang in a choir last week in church. So now we are done with all our holiday performances.



David Archuleta

We reached out to many of you for help getting tickets to the David Archuleta & Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. Well,good news! Our neighbors had 4 tickets, but ended up having to work that night. So they asked me if they gave me their tickets, would I take their daughter (Ruth's age)to the concert. Heck, YES! So Kaitlin, Ruth, our neighbor and I are off to David Archuleta this Friday. We are all so excited!