Our Christmas

Christmas Eve

After I blogged last, we had a surprise visit from some good friends who used to live in Columbia but moved to Wentzville for a job and are now moving next week to Saudi Arabia for an even better job! 

Here is the Dave and Angela Spriggs family

 Melanie used to be Angela's visiting teacher.  She has stayed in close touch with the Spriggs ever since they moved.  

Dave was one of Steve's counselors when he was a Bishop. 

Christmas day started out quietly and slowly.  With just Kirsti, Ryan, and Sarah, we didn't feel the need to rise very early.  Added to the mix were Steven and Tamara who pulled into town at 2:00 a.m. from their visit to Arizona.  So we celebrated in the afternoon.  But, Steve wanting to make cinnamon rolls, got up as early as former Christmas mornings to get the dough started.  He is getting really good at making rolls - this batch was just perfect.  He made apricot-orange rolls as well as nut and raisin-less cinnamon rolls.  And there was enough dough left for a dozen and a half dinner rolls. Sadly, they were gluten-full.  But, Kirsti and Ryan brought me a bag of delicious New Grains rolls from the Provo bakery so don't feel too sorry for me.

It was rather strange to open Christmas presents with the afternoon rather than morning light streaming through the windows

Christmas dinner was at 2:00 and, after that, temperatures were mild enough for us to inaugurate the back yard fire-pit.  We enjoyed s'mores

Kirsti and Ryan wanted to experience "crackers" (a British tradition) so they bought some for us to enjoy.  They were really lovely to look at and, even though there was not much of a "crack", they were full of cute prizes. 

And, they each came with a paper hat.

December 26th

We went to St. Charles so Sarah, Steven, Tamara, Kirsti, and Ryan could have the experience this year.  Emily and Joe and napping Lucy and Quinn didn't join us until dinner but we brought Noah along.  He took this picture of Steve and me.

I took this picture of Noah next to a silly dog statue

And here is Noah with some of the treasures he found for $5.00.

December 27th

Emily and Joe and family came to Columbia and we had a second round of opening presents.

Lucy and Emily are wearing their cracker hats

Quinn loved his Thomas the Train toy

Here is Noah unwrapping his Minecraft sword

Sarah had to work all Christmas Eve but she had the 25th and 26th off.  And, she didn't have to report to work on the 27th until 5:00.  It was great to have her around so much.  Bones loved it, too, as you can see.  (I like this photo because all three dogs are in it.)

It was great to have Kirsti and Ryan here for the week.  Steve and I drove them to Kansas City Saturday afternoon to meet with her long-time friend Sarah who put them up for the night and took them to the airport at 4:00 a.m. this morning. 

 Emily and family attended the first hour of church today and then took the kids back to our house for a nap.  We had a nice family dinner of Christmas leftovers (mmmm, ham again) and they left for St. Louis shortly thereafter.  The house is empty and quiet again.  Decorations will come down the next two days and, on New Year's Eve, Steve and I leave for a visit to Julina and Alex in Indiana.

Christmas is practically here

The sun has set on this Christmas eve and all too soon, it will be tomorrow this time and, well....364 shopping days left until next time

My high school orchestra concert was a week ago Monday - on the 15th.  It was a rather ambitious undertaking for several reasons.  The logistics of fitting both the Chamber and Concert groups (about 50 kids) on stage with 17 winds, brass, and percussion created quite a bit of people and chair shuffling.  Plus, we had to fit a grand piano on the stage for the two solo numbers.  Then, Chamber orchestra played the VERY difficult Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.  And, they played two original compositions by two students, which was very exciting.  I was very happy with how the evening went.  Tuesday afternoon, on the 23rd, eight of my RBHS kids took time from their holiday break and played Christmas carols for the Candlelight Lodge Christmas party.  One of the parents took photos and I will post them as soon as he sends them to me.  I have the greatest students!  What a fantastic job I have.

After the concert, the rest of the last week's teaching duties were pretty low key.  At home, I baked loaves of bread, wrapped gifts, and wrote cards.  The RTO performed at  nursing home complex Saturday afternoon - we played our Christmas carols twice - first at the Alzheimer's facility and again at the assisted living building.  By the end of the second performance, Steve's embouchure was shot, poor guy.  Good thing we didn't have a third gig!  Afterward, most of us drove to the home of one of our violinists for a potluck.  It was really nice to get to visit with everyone since we never linger after rehearsals to chat.

On Sunday, Suzanne and Tamara Kitchen and I played O Holy Night for Columbia Ward in the morning and Bear Creek Ward in the afternoon.  I also sang with the Bear Creek Ward Choir.  Lots of music in both meetings and good talks, too.  It was a nice way to spend the Sunday before Christmas.


On Friday, the 19th, Sarah drove to Kansas City to pick up Kirsti and Ryan from the airport.  They are here through Saturday and we have been having a good time with them.  Steve took Monday and Tuesday off and we went up to Amish country Monday afternoon. 

 

Kirsti and Ryan helped decorate a gluten-free cookie house Monday morning. 
 
 
Tuesday morning, the four of us had breakfast at Bob Evans and we were served by the BEST SERVER IN THE WORLD (thanks, Sarah).

Steve and I have been doing assorted errands but we are trying to keep up with our morning routine - most importantly, walking the dogs.




We got a skiff of snow last Thursday and here are some photos from that morning walk

That is our home in the distance. 

Have a Merry Christmas, tomorrow!

The march to Christmas....

Week #2 of December was busy, of course.  But it was a fun kind of busy.  With my decision a few years back to simplify my gift giving, I have been able to enjoy other aspects of the Christmas season that I choose to participate in - making goodies, decorating the house, playing Christmas music in various settings.  This week was (and still is this evening) time to make yummy things.  Sugar cookies,
 

fudge, cream cheese mints, candied walnuts, cherry nut cookies, chocolate dipped nuts. 

We finished the house decor last Sunday evening by decorating the tree during the beautiful First Presidency devotional broadcast. 


Not having a cat this year (oh, Alfred...... sniff) meant I did not have to wire the tree to a permanent surface.  But, we do have a dog (Sarah's Bones) that thinks small decorative items are his chew toys so I have had to be extra vigilant to keep the rooms closed so he won't destroy the Charlie Brown nativity we keep on the cedar chest in our bedroom.  He did decide to conquer a poor little bird ornament on the tree so there were fake feathers and styrofoam scattered around the living room floor and I found Sadie chewing on the metal clip that he had left!  And, last Sunday, we found Trissy sitting on a dining table chair nibbling on Christmas cookies from a tray on the table!  She KNEW she was so bad that she fell off the chair when Steve discovered her.

We fed both sister and elder missionaries Monday night and we talked about the Church's "He Is The Gift" website.  http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Thursday was an awesome movie-watching day for me.  As I worked on gifts in the morning, I watched "Guardians of the Galaxy".  Why did I wait so long to see this film???  And, as I cleaned floors and baked cookies Thursday night, I watched "Knight and Day".  It was entertaining, if not ridiculously unbelievable.

I substituted for the freshman seminary class Friday morning and went straight from the church down to Rock Bridge because it was our day for the annual holiday taping.  This year, I was able to wrangle some winds and brass and percussion to play with us (it probably helped that the other orchestra teacher at RBHS this year is also the band director) and we performed "Trepak" from the Nutcracker Suite and "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" with a full orchestra.  To pull this performance off, we had an extra before-school rehearsal on Tuesday.  It is at those times that I wish it wasn't a twenty-minute drive one-way to get to Rock Bridge.  Sigh.  But, all the time and effort paid off and I think we sounded really good - definitely on the Trepak which just featured just the Chamber Orchestra.

Although I am not longer involved with the Oakland Middle School 8th grade orchestra, they needed some help on bass with one of the numbers they performed at their concert Wednesday night so I played with them.  Here I am with all that is left of the ensemble. 

Kiersten, Ashley, Destiny, Elijah, Erneisha, me, Gabriella, Kaylee

We started at the beginning of the year with thirteen and now the class has just eight.  So sad.

The ward Christmas party was Friday night.  First there was a lovely dinner catered by Golden Corral (how nice that the owner of Columbia's restaurant is a member of the church and belongs to our ward!).  Then, while each family worked on graham cracker houses, the Lambsons provided background music of Christmas carols.  (Steven, Tamara, Steve, me)
 

You have to know that this musician mother was thrilled when Steven approached me a month or so ago suggesting the idea.  And, in spite of the fact that he has not touched his rusty, beat up old trombone in years, he still has the chops.  Remarkable.  I think we sounded great.  And, then, once we finished playing, dear Steve, Sr. played Santa for the rest of the evening. 
 

Poor guy - he really didn't want to do this but they were pretty desperate having asked at least five other people already.  My hero.

RTO had a rehearsal Saturday afternoon in preparation for a nursing home performance next week and, finally, the Columbia Civic Orchestra is putting the finishing touches on their production this afternoon of "Amahl and the Night Visitors".  We had rehearsal Tuesday night and dress rehearsal last night.  It has been so fun to be a small participant.  Thanks to RBHS, CCO, and Pandora, my head is  full of Christmas music.  Just the best!

Look how the law library has decorated for the holidays!  Those are books.  

First week of Christmas

The first week of December is already passed on!  And I got a Christmas cold on Wednesday so I have tried to take it easy.  I hunkered under a cozy blanket Wednesday night (and watched The Amazing Spiderman II) and for much of Thursday morning.  After my group of lessons Thursday afternoon/evening (three students who pay for their lessons by cleaning.  I clean along side them so when all three come on a Thursday, it is a fairly intense three hours - but a nice clean house afterward) - anyway, I pulled out the blanket again and watched Captain America Winter Soldier.  But, amidst all my taking it easy has been some fairly intense activity - teaching, shopping, paying bills - so I am not sure my cold is getting better or getting worse.  Blaa.

All State orchestra auditions were yesterday - I had seven Rock Bridge students try out and three made it!  Arnold Chen got into the second violin section (this is his second year for All State) and Alice Yu got into the first violin section and Joanna Yu (no relation) is in the violas (she made alternate last year).  I am so proud of them and so sad that the other four students didn't get in because they, too, are wonderful musicians.  I was up on the MU campus with them from early morning until about 10:30 when the last one finished his audition.  I got to go home for a little bit before I had a Prairie Strings wedding to play.  And, then it was time to put Christmas decorations up all around the house which took until it was time for bed.  Steve spent his day baking tons of cookies for his annual gift to his co-workers.  When he wasn't wearing an apron, he was putting up outdoor lights or shopping or cleaning bathrooms.  We were both pretty tired out last night. 

The tree still needs to be decorated but we will do that tonight.  I will take a picture and post it.  Until then.....

A wonderful week!

Ah, the week of my birthday, Thanksgiving, family time, movie time, food, and friendship.

And I only had to teach on Monday – at Rock Bridge and three private students.  My sister Juli and Elise both flew in to St. Louis Monday afternoon.  Joe picked them up on his way home from work and took them as far as Ballwin.  Emily and the kids then brought them to Columbia that evening and we tucked everyone into bed all around the house.  It was nice to have a houseful again.  

 

 Noah got to help grandpa make cinnamon rolls Monday night (not gluten-free, sadly.  But Steve did make me some pumpkin muffins with streusel topping for my birthday breakfast)

Tuesday, my birthday, was spent visiting the Amish shops.  We spent way too much in the bulk baking supplies store.   

 

 Lucy, Quinn, and Noah enjoyed the swing outside the Amish quilt shop.

Everyone was present for my birthday dinner of pork steaks, baked potatoes, broccoli, fresh pineapple, and pumpkin cheesecake.   

 

 We watched “Edge of Tomorrow” (loved it) after Emily and the kids left for St. Louis. 

Wednesday, aside from running a few errands, baking pies and preparing other foods for Thursday and driving up to Lonnie Rays for lunch, 

 we just relaxed and watched TWO movies – the original “Walter Mitty” (very funny) with Danny Kaye and “Maleficent” (surprisingly good). 

Thursday was one of our more quiet Thanksgiving meals.  

 

 Emily and her family were in Alexandria, Virginia with Joe’s family.  Steven and Tamara ate with her family (her sister was in town).  And poor Sarah had to work ALL DAY. So, sitting around our festive table were just Steve, me, my sister Juli, Elise, Melanie, and Lizzie Crippen.  

 

 

I made the same amount of food that I usually do so we really have a lot of leftovers.  Every storage container was filled to the top and both refrigerators were packed to the roof.  We got to watch the parade and the first part of the dog show before  eating.  We watched "White Christmas" and "Home Alone" after.  And had phone or face time conversations with lots of out-of-town family.  

Friday, poor Sarah had to work all day AGAIN and Steven and Tamara had a state football championship game to attend (Battle High won state in Division 5 football) so it was just Juli, Elise, Steve, and me that drove to St. Louis to attend the temple and enjoy some festive St. Charles holiday celebrations.  We visited shops, ate dinner, and mingled with Santas and musicians in period costume as well as hundreds of other tourists.  This was just St. Charles - Part 1.  Part 2 will be on December 26th and will include Southerlands, and Merrills, and Lambsons, Jr. and Sarah, and Melanie.   

Even though Emily and family were gone, we stayed at their home over night on Friday since Elise had a very early flight back to Syracuse.  Juli's flight wasn't until 5:30 in the evening so we spent our day at the St. Louis zoo.  Weather was just perfect (in the 60's) so most of the animals were out enjoying the sunshine.  

 

 (map is upside down, Steve)

Juli's "must see" were the giraffes

I guess I need to see elephants - I sure took a lot of photos of them!

the ostrich on the left kept picking at the one on the right...

We walked all over the zoo so Steve and I were completely worn out by the time we pulled into the garage back in Columbia.  We unpacked, ate dinner, and then collapsed in front of the last movie of the week - "The Book Thief" (a perfectly beautiful film).  

It is back to regular life today and this coming week.  I hope your week was as perfect as mine!

Pre-Thanksgiving week news

I had a studio recital yesterday (I think it has been at least a year since I had one).  Here are nine of my fourteen “regular” students.  (If you want to count a lady who comes once a month about seven times a year, then I have fifteen.).  

 

 

 The big banner in the background is because we had it at a piano store that has a room dedicated to recitals.  They let me use the facility at no cost and the Yahama grand is marvelous to play. 

Steve and I went to St. Louis Friday evening  -  along with seemingly millions of other people that clogged I-70 at the same time (probably MU students going home for Thanksgiving).  Thankfully, there were no accidents to bring traffic to a complete stop but there were times when 10 mph was all we could go.   We made it to the 7:30 temple session and then spent the night at Emily’s.  We only stayed until 11:30 Saturday morning but, in that time, we helped Emily prepare for Noah’s birthday party that began at noon.   

 

He had a Minecraft theme so the shirt we gave him as a gift was perfect!

 

 

 Emily created this "punch" game (idea from Pinterest).  The kids punch their hands through the squares and get a prize)

 Joe made the "axes" on the table out of cardboard and duct tape!

 

 Noah's finished cake.

 

I am still sad about not teaching at Oakland Middle School but I am finding so many blessings having every morning open.  I am managing to fill my time with plenty of things to do; some related to Christmas gifts, some related to family history.  It gives me more time to be helpful.  The Oakland situation has also caused me to seriously consider my teaching future and I have officially decided to “retire” when Steve does.  I will finish the 2014-15 school year and be done with that chapter in my life.  Neither Steve nor I have a perfectly clear picture of what lies ahead these next few years (until he reaches 66 and can collect Social Security which will provide us with the additional income for a mission) but this decision feels like the right thing to do.

While we were in St. Louis, Emily and I watched “Quartet” while I helped her make little stuffed “creeper” toys to give to Noah’s birthday guests (see photo of punch game).  The movie was about the people in a retirement home in England dedicated specially for musicians.  I could relate to it on so many levels – musician, being old :)!   And, lately, I have been geeking on Star Trek.  Steve and I watched a documentary called “The Captains” where William Shatner interviews all the captains of the various Star Trek franchises.  It was quite entertaining.  With Sarah here, her Wii is hooked up to the downstairs television and I am watching Enterprise episodes when I have a spare 40 minutes and a project to do. 

I am really looking forward to this coming week!  Elise and my sister, Juli, will arrive tomorrow.  My birthday on Tuesday.  Making yummy food on Wednesday. Eating it on Thursday.  Going to St. Charles and St. Louis Friday and Saturday.  Yay!

November 10-16

The RTO had a gig yesterday at the VA hospital here in Columbia.  Here we are minus one violin player (our best one and first chair) and a horn and flute player.  I took this photo to buy some time as all three were running late.  Thankfully, they arrived shortly afterward and the "show went on" with a full ensemble.  It almost didn't go on at all because, up until Friday night, weather forecasts were predicting a 2-3 inch snowfall to start right at the time we were scheduled to perform.  We bumped our start time to an hour earlier and then, there was NO SNOW!  I had all that heartburn for nothing. 

Later that day, I went to an early dinner at Les Bourgeois Winery with Carol and Mary.  Both ladies play cello in the CCO and both have November birthdays.  Mary is my age, Carol is a year younger.  I had the most delicious "Autumn Salad" with grilled chicken!  We had hoped to watch the sunset over the Missouri River but, sadly, even if there was no snow falling, the skies were still covered with clouds.

I went right from there to RBHS with Steve to watch the fall musical "Curtains".  Ever heard of this play?  I hadn't. And, after watching it, I know why.  It was pretty forgettable - both the music and the story.  The pit orchestra often sounded like they were still in junior-high and it regularly drowned out the cast.  There were technical glitches - static microphones and, at one point, the house lights went up and the stage lights went down right in the middle of a duet.  Many of the vocal numbers were written in a really low key for some of the singers and all the songs just seemed to go on and on.  You know, the typical high school musical production.  But, last year's show was so well done that I guess I figured RBHS theater was always going to be above the norm.  Nope.  I have to hand it to the kids, though.  They did a great job with what they were given to work with.  The one bright spot was Bryce LaFond who really CAN sing and act and is just as handsome as can be.  I guess Rug Rats really can grow out of their crazy baby faces!

Friday night, Steve and I went to see "Interstellar" at the theater (thanks to almost year-old gift passes from Elise).  Wow, it was incredible.   I couldn't get to sleep that night for thinking about it.  I still can't stop thinking about it. 

The rest of the week was pretty average.  Steve had a rare Wednesday night free and we watched his November movie "The Family Man".    He and I visited the Moberly ward today.  On the way home, we saw that a teeny bit of snow had fallen the closer we got to Columbia.  It was just enough to make the ground muddy for Bones and Bacon to get really dirty tonight at dinner.

I had some bloodwork done in conjunction with my annual physical the week before and my cholesterol levels came back sky high!  I am now waiting to talk to a dietician because I really don't eat that much food that has lots of cholesterol.  We have had bitterly cold temperatures all week - hardly climbing out of the twenties - and there is no relief in sight for the next several days.   And that's the news for this week.

Autumn time

I took the Rock Bridge orchestra to hear the St. Louis Symphony on Friday.  It was called a "coffee concert" that started at 10:30 in the morning.  Unlike previous years when we attended short, hour-long "young person concerts", this was a full, two-hour performance and, instead of being attended by tons of school kids, this crowd was mostly old people - some REALLY old.  But, we heard some fabulous music by Sibeleus, Schumann, Grieg (his piano concerto), and Liszt.  And, they had free Krispy Kream donuts before the show! 

The kids were so great.  They loved the longer format.

(anyone recognize Savannah Kitchen above??)

 After the concert, we made a brief stop at the St. Louis zoo so the kids could eat their sack lunches.  We had hoped for a longer stay but only had 30 minutes. 

  I saw one of the students, Roman, kind of wandering aimlessly (he has some special needs) so I suggested he and I just sit by the fountain and eat our lunches since he had already told me he came to the zoo in the summer with his sister.  I didn't want to lose him in that brief thirty minutes.

 

 So, for 25 minutes, we ate and visited and enjoyed the beautiful autumn day.  Then, with just five minutes left, I started to visit with other students who had started to trickle back.  And, when we got on the bus and I called roll, Roman was not there!  I had LOST him in those five minutes!  Aak.    Fortunately, he didn't go far and we found him only after about 10 minutes of looking.  He had figured he wanted to see some animals and off he went.

It was a week of medical appointments - Monday was a mammogram and Thursday was my annual physical which included x-rays of my feet.  I have been having issues with my right Achilles tendon since early September and, while it doesn't really hurt any longer, it is still swollen.  So, the doctor wanted to see what was going on.  I haven't heard the results, yet.

Otherwise, it was just a regular old week.  My Netflix this week was "Who Killed The Electric Car?".  It was interesting.  Stupid big oil and auto industries!  It was grocery buying week.  We fed the sister and elder missionaries yesterday evening.  The weather has been just gorgeous.  I am loving this autumn.