Merry Christmas!!!! . . . for reals!!!

KD, adorned with ornaments, was a common sight this Christmas season. 

That was pretty cute. . . 

but we tried really hard to remember the real reason for the season.

December 23rd, we held our annual friends and family nativity.

(Pictures of that night have yet to be uploaded.  These are from our family rehearsal the day before.)

Benny was a lovely shepherd.

Taffy, the angel, with her line, "Feaw (fear) not!" wonderfully delivered.

Jaycie and Caden's parts need no explanation,

and KD totally rocked being a sheep.  She stayed in character the whole time.

Timo was a very reluctant Joseph - as illustrated in his gentleness towards his charge.

Sarah, the beautiful Mary.

We had at least 20 kids participate in the Nativity, with the same amount of spectators, joining together in song between readings.

The next day, Christmas Eve, we took the Nativity on the road to the senior citizen Lutheran home with the help of the missionaries and the Dicksons.

We performed it in two dining rooms there.

A special spirit was present.

During "Silent Night", my mind raced back over my life and the nursing homes I've visited.

I don't remember going to see my great-grandma Minerva Teichert, but I've been told of the visits we made to her and the love my Dad had for her was tangible.

I remember my great-grandpa Childs - mainly because he always surprised me with a swear word or two.  And then there was my great-grandpa Herman Teichert.  I remember feeling his love for us. His was the first funeral I remember attending.  Before he died, we would visit him at his ranch.  My Dad would tell me stories of his childhood and would scare me with stories of the bear rug in the upstairs bedroom.

My great-grandpa Robison was never in a rest home, but we visited him a lot when he came to live with Grandpa and Grandma Farnsworth.  He died in the Provo Hospital when Jeremy was there volunteering in the ER a year before going to medical school. And then there was my great-grandma Florence Robison.  While she was staying with Grandpa and Grandma Farnsworth, I typed her journal.  We became close friends.  When she had to go to a nursing home, we visited her almost every week.  She died a few months after my Dad did.

The faces of my dear Grandpa Bob and Grandma Marjorie Teichert flashed across my memory.  We had the blessing of having them come to live with us for a short time while we lived in Vegas.  After they left our home, Grandpa (a great man who learned, did, and became) died in a rest home.  We visited Grandma a few times in her nursing home before she also died.  It was so hard to leave whenever our visits had to end.  She was the epitomy of love.  I wasn't able to see my Grandma Glenona Farnsworth the last few months of her life because of circumstances.  She died at home between sessions of General Conference with a lot of her posterity surrounding her.  I'm kind of glad I only remember her up and constantly puttering around, taking care of somebody.

My Grandpa William Farnsworth is the last of my grandparents still alive.

He just moved to an assisted living center a couple of weeks ago.

How I love him.  How I love them all.

I'm grateful for parents who taught me how to love people who are at the end of their lives.  Those who have been dealt a difficult last trial - to help us remember that moments and blessings we take for granted should be held dear.

After rendering the nativity, it was a beautiful Christmas Eve as we talked with these dear folks,

seeing their eyes light up as they held KD's hands and listened to Jaycie's violin and felt Jeremy's warm handshake.

Later, the missionaries joined us for dinner. . .

. . . and surprised every member of our family with gifts.

We will not easily forget Elder Poore and Elder Jerome.

The kids were eager for bed that night.

But first we had to put out the candles.

The little girl's slept in a fort down in the basement. . . 

. . . while magic swirled in the living room.

These cute, patient kids stayed in the basement until 8:30 a.m. when Jeremy and I finally awoke to come get them.

It was a Merry Christmas indeed.

p.s. The day after Christmas, we did the Nativity one more time at the Veteran's Home.

It was a good reminder to us all that we don't just have to celebrate the birth of our Savior on Christmas Day.  We can rejoice in His Gift every day.