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.....