Christmas in Utah

I wanted to get today written about so that in the years to come I don't forget about it.

I have now been home with the fam for 3 full days. Each day has been full of nostalgic moments and fun. It is so good to be able to see my siblings and to be surrounded with the familiar. As I missed Christmas here last year, I am enjoying the sights of the family Christmas tree and the many Christmas decorations that mom has collected over the years.

Today I had the chance to attend church with my "home ward". For those that aren't LDS that means I went to the congregation that I attended growing up. Of course there were many new faces. It has been 4 years since I was a regular here. But there were many that I remember from years passed. I think the funniest moment I had was when I was approached by a young woman while I was talking with my mother. She addressed us as "Sister Gifford" and it took me a minute to realize that she wasn't speaking to my mother. Lol! She is a girl that I had taught in primary 8 or so years ago. I hardly recognized her. But it was nice to be remembered, even if it made me feel old (Sister Gifford, indeed).

The meeting consisted of about 4 speakers and lots of Christmas hymns. My favorite being Silent Night, which has ended our Christmas Services for years. The organist always plays the bells for the last verse. It is very nice, and a small nostalgic moment for me. :)

There was a short Christmas Pageant during Primary with my youngest brother and one of my nephews participating and then we headed off to attend the ordination of my brother Cricket. He was made a priest today (Right now, I can't think of an easy way to explain this for the Non-LDS if you want email me and I can explain it later) and all but one brother and his wife was able to attend.

We then headed off to my parents house for dinner and dessert. There was fun and chaos and food galore.
After hours spent talking and eating and talking some more we decided to play a couple of games. I can't even begin to tell you how hilarious Do You Love Your Neighbor is when you have "big kids" (adults) involved. I think all of my siblings played, even my pregnant sister and the ones with babies in arms. My parents even joined in. You could probably hear the laughter down the block, as we tend to get a bit competitive when we gather as a family. Lucky we sustained only 2 injuries during the game. One being a chair that broke...hee hee hee....and one being a little one that got caught in a 3 way battle for a seat.

After every one had to leave me and Wog and Goose settled in with some of my fabulous popcorn for the movie The Night They Saved Christmas. Another wonderfully nostalgic movie. It is much different watching it as an adult.

And that is my day. There was lots of conversatin' and laughing and fun. I want to remember this.

P.S. The cat is out of the bag....I broke under pressure last night. I really wasn't prepared to lie....though if I wanted to keep y secret I guess I should have been.........but then again I am horrible at lying....so I don't think any preparation would have done me any good.

Any way, I told the family last night about my plans to move back to Utah. I broke the news to my mother tonight. She seemed pleased. ;)