Christmas & Graduation

I will have to add some pictures at the end of this post when I figure out how to download pictures from my new camera. I'm sure it's not difficult, but I just haven't taken the time to do it yet.

Thursday Jeannine and Treasa came up for my graduation. They left really early because of a storm coming in. By the time my parents left, they were hit really hard with the snow, but just took the drive really slow and ended up staying at Dave and Nola's house that night. By the time Ammon got off work and then picked up Liz, the storm was worse. They had to turn around after only making it to Springville after over an hour of driving. A little later, they tried again, but ended up turning around after a short distance. The next morning they left early and turned around once more. Finally, they pushed on through and made it up to Boise after the graduation and lunch, but in time to help me fix my dryer (which I needed a rivett gun for) and then go to our family Christmas party. Now that's dedication!!!

It's nice to have graduation over with. The graduation provided a closure to this adventure. I was disappointed with the ceremony itself though. The chair of the Idaho State Board of Education spoke, but he just rambled on and on and didn't make a lot of sense. He even made several blatant grammatical flaws in his speech. It was a little embarrassing to think that he represents the state's educational program. The student speaker wasn't much better. He spoke about himself the entire time with little reference to how his experience could benefit others. In contrast, President Kustra's speech was good and we had some wonderful music played by the Marine Corps bagpipe band, voice by a police quartet and a musical number by a student playing a viola. I'm not sure it has hit me entirely that I no longer will have homework to do.

Nola, Dave, Denise and her two children came out to Angie's Friday night and we played the gift exchange game. Also, Uncle Dave played Santa and we all enjoyed just being together and eating good foods. All of my siblings and parents pitched in to buy me a graduation gift. They gave me the Sierra Designs Bedouin 6 (six man tent with a tub floor, two vestibules, lots of pockets, and sturdy poles). I'm really excited about it! I've been wanting to get a family tent now for quite a while, but I didn't want to have to buy a cheap one at Wal-Mart, even though I couldn't justify spending much. This new tent is a really nice tent that should last us a really long time and protect us from the elements. I set up the Bedouin in Angie's back yard the next morning and showed it off to everyone. Not having a tent has kept me from taking my family camping for a long time now. I remember taking Baily camping for the first time when she was just really small. We went to Milk Creak in Eastern Idaho and we loved it. We haven't done much since, due to the size of our family. I can't wait to go this spring when it's warm enough to take the new baby!

Christmas was wonderful. My parents and Dawn came out on Sunday and stayed until Wednesday. Christmas eve we made cookies and caroled to neighbors and friends. We then came home and opened our pajamas. All the girls loved their pajamas and got into them right away. Even Amy changed into her new warm pajamas. While I read the Christmas story from Luke 2, the girls (with Some help from the adults) acted it out. Baily was Mary, Bethy was Joseph, Grandpa and Lily were shepherds, and Dawn was the Angel (with Amy and Mom as the heavenly hosts backup and later as wise men). A sweet feeling was in our home that night as we spoke of the baby Jesus and the important role he would play in our lives. When we finally got the kids to sleep, we wrapped the last presents, filled the stockings, and placed everything under the tree. It was so fun to see how excited all the adults were. I started wondering whether the girls were more excited than the adults. I guess we all depend on each other for the Christmas spirit.

With our bellies full of "virgin" wassail, we went to bed with our girls on the floor at out feet. Christmas morning we had our traditional turnovers and hot cocoa. While everyone else finished, I opened our camera up and began taking pictures. You'll see from the pictures some of the things that the kids got, but I need to tell a quick story about Lily. Lily opened her present from Grandma and Grandpa, and when she saw that it was a doll she shook with excitement and squealed. The doll was attached to a box and by the time an adult extracted it, we could see how realistic the doll looked. When the doll was handed to Lily she continued to squeal, but stumbled backward, her face taking on a look of fear. Later, when Bethy was rocking her new doll, Lily sat in her rocking chair and rocked too. She was fine for a second when someone placed her doll in her hands, but when she realized what she was holding, she immediately dropped it as if it was burning her hands and began squealing again. I think it's just going to take a little time to get used to it. We all got a good laugh out of it. Again, we really enjoyed seeing the girls interact with Dad, Mom, and Dawn. It was good for us and I believe it was good for them too. There seems to be a special joy that comes when you make a child happy.

Well, my family is all gone now and it makes me wish we all lived closer than we do. Brenda and her family are so far away and it's hard to not have them here. After spending time with my family, I often long for more time with them and more frequent gatherings. I think that heaven must be wonderful because relationships with family and friends will not be hindered by distance.