A Few of My Favorite Things

Some of my favorite gifts this Christmas were from my girls. The journal and smile from Jenna, and the Mom message and delicious smelling candle from Heather. I love the positive messages, the thought they put into finding these gifts, and the love that was wrapped up with them. I love these girls to the moon and back again, times infinity.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was busy, yet quiet this year. As the Ward Music Chairman with the 11:00 a.m. Sacrament Meeting time, I had the responsibility to organize the program for a multi-ward choir that would comprise the entire Sacrament Meeting program after the Sacrament was served for Christmas Day. We had just Sacrament meeting, met with the Mile Square and Single Adult wards, and we had an incredibly spiritual Sacrament Meeting program.  I didn't know if I could pick all the music and assemble the program, but with the help of the Spirit, I chose music which turned out to be easily learned yet beautiful in harmonies and messages of the Savior. It was, by far, my favorite part of my calling to date.  Kevin and Beth chose not to come this Christmas so, it was just the Peterson family and Grandpa. The girls requested turkey enchiladas, and they were delicious. Thanks to Judy, we had a beautiful Christmas card this year. Christmas Day was especially spiritual, and it felt like the perfect thing to do to go church in the morning and spend the day with family.  Our Savior is the reason for this season, and we feel blessed and grateful.

Christmas Eve!

Christmas is almost here! Decorating is done. Cinnamon rolls are made and presents are wrapped. It's been raining and cold. Heather was so bundled up in this picture getting ready to walk the dogs that we laughed at how she's going to be so, so cold in Idaho if she can't handle 50-degree weather. Sariah has been really mellow, and she seemed to like being near the Christmas tree and the presents.  Can't wait for Santa to get here!

Abbey and Jenna and Flying Solo

I took Jenna and Abbey to Disneyland tonight and because they wanted to hang out together, I offered to go solo and let them have their fun together. As they were off playing, I walked the park alone enjoying the beauty of Christmas time at Disneyland. I also rode rides by myself. It was SO fun! It did start raining, and although we had jackets and hats, we got pretty wet. It wasn't too cold so, we kept at it. We returned to the car later that evening soaking wet, but very fulfilled. Disneyland really is the Happiest Place on Earth.

MCO's Christmas Concert

Michelle and I had fabulous seats tonight for MCO's Christmas Concert. I miss singing, but am happy not to have the stress of rehearsals every week with the girls' busy schedules. It was amazing to attend, and the spirit of Christmas was everywhere. The music was gorgeous as usual, and we just enjoyed every, single moment.

Christmas Day

Thanks to a moment I captured on my phone as well as one Aunt Beth captured with her phone and our selfie stick, we have a couple of pictures from Christmas day. I must have loaded the pictures from our good camera and pulled the card out before they processes properly. We have an empty folder in our iPhoto marked 12/25/15. I'm so sad! I guess the most important part is documenting who was with us. Grandpa Ron joined us as well as Aunt Beth and Uncle Kevin. Our big presents for the girls were iPhone upgrades for all of us. They were thrilled, especially Jenna who has been using her phone with the cracked and shatter screen.

We had a lovely Christmas and were blessed beyond belief. The gifts for our family and from our family always make me feel a little guilty because there is so much. I'm grateful for the blessing of having an abundant life. We had a lovely turkey dinner and had some fun playing games with our aunt and uncle who stayed for a few days. We even got to go see the new Star Wars movie with them.

We are truly grateful for the birth of our Savior, the most important event in the history of the world next to his Atonement and resurrection. We are so blessed to have a knowledge of His gospel.

Christmas Eve is Magical

Christmas Eve always feel so cozy. The house is clean, the presents wrapped...I love sitting down just before bed in the quiet house and starting at the tree.  It feels like anything magical is possible for those few wee hours. This year I caught Santa filling the stockings! There was a fun app we used to catch him. There is an app for everything. Can't wait to welcome Christmas morning tomorrow!

Christmas Lights

Jenna has been experimenting with some press on nails. Today she got her nails ready for Christmas by painting some designs on top. She has gotten SO good at her designs! We are impressed!!!

Later on we brewed some hot cocoa, put it in cups and grabbed our friends to head over and see the Christmas lights in our favorite Fountain Valley neighborhood that goes all out. The girls wrote letters to Santa and put them in the mailbox, and we found our favorite tree. This is always so festive, and we were so glad to have our dear friends, Michelle and Sarah, join us!

Decorating with Our New Tree

We bought a new tree this year. Nothing wrong with our old one, but Kelly liked the idea of having one with the lights already on it. The girls were okay to skip the real tree experience too.  The tree came in three pieces and was easy to assemble. Kelly was great to get it up right away with the girls helping (12•7). I didn't get the decorating done for another week, but when it was all done, it was very festive. I moved the nativity sets to the bookshelves and the Santa and Snowman displays to the mantel. It was a little crowded on the mantel, but I liked having the nativities displayed on the shelves were they can be seen from the entry way.

Creche Year Two

This was the second year that our LDS church hosted the Interfaith Nativity or Creche. Kelly helped with the sound equipment and the live nativity again, and I took some of our nativity sets over to fill in some empty spaces in the displays. Unfortunately, it was the same weekend as the OCMCO concert, so our OCMCO people were not able to be involved in the performance aspect of the event. We were able to attend on Saturday night after the dress rehearsal and concerts were over (Thursday/Friday). It was great to see the music slots filled by various groups from the community. Julie Carr did an amazing job with the nativity displays, and Suzie Price did an incredible job transforming the RS room into an artist gallery. It is such an impressive event, but lots of work. So glad we got to run over and see everything.

YW - Roger's Gardens

We took the Young Women to Roger's Gardens tonight to see the lights. The store was beautiful as well with lots of old books around the store. We went from there to the Newport Beach Temple to see the creche, but it was dark when we got there. We parked across the street at the church parking lot to enjoy hot cocoa, cookies and a spiritual message about the Savior's birth. We found out later that one of our Beehives, Camilla, was really excited about the experience and told her mom that she wanted to take their whole family back to see Roger's Gardens. It's nice to know that at least a few of the girls had a great experience.

Aunt Beth and Uncle Kevin

Kevin and Beth arrived Christmas day and spent a few days with us. We had fun hanging out with them. We played games and shopped for paint for Jenna's new room color (Uncle Kevin works for a paint manufacturer). We love every minute we can get with our Auntie and Uncle, and their visit at Christmas has been a fun Christmas tradition since before the girls were born. Aunts and Uncles are such a blessing to their nieces and nephews, and they hold a special place in our hearts.

Christmas Day Photo Blog

Images of Christmas Day

Stillness of the morning, the anticipation (we still make them wait to come down the hallway so we can get a photo), puppy's interest in everything, big gifts from Santa, Grandpa, cute tag ideas provided by Jenna for dad's presents to mom, excitement (kids) and relief (parents) over choosing the right gifts, Aunt Beth and Uncle Kevin, realizing you were up way too late (Santa) and way too early (kids) which calls for a nap in the middle of the floor, traditional family photo that mom kept accidentally setting on not only timer but rapid shutter clicks affording some funny family poses, and a beautiful dinner with the help from the hub. Another blessed Christmas for our home and as always, although the photos don't show it, an increased focus, appreciation and reverence for our Savior whose birth, life and death will always be the reason for these celebrations.