Christmas at Our House

Friday, December 30, 2011

. . .CONTINUED FROM MY PREVIOUS POST!

We don't do 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., or even 7:00 a.m. Christmas mornings around these parts. We Lymans like our beauty sleep, and Bethany doesn't even know that other kids in America may or may not be waking up before dawn. (And we plan to keep it that way, oh yes we do!) You know that saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?" Well, it's all very simple: a well-rested Mama is a happy Mama. A well-rested Mama is a "Merry Christmas!" Mama. A well-rested Mama is a Mama who kisses Santa Claus, hums Christmas Carols, and serves figgy pudding with a smile. So to those who may think our sleeping-in-on-Christmas rule is a "bah, humbug," think again. Would you rather have "Happy Mama" or "Monster Mama" on Christmas Day? Let the woman sleep, I say! It's a small price to pay.

Anyway, enough of that. We all woke up very refreshed (Hello there,"Happy Mama!")at 8:15 a.m. on Christmas Day. James and I woke up first, then Bethany got up soon afterwards. We, of course, immediately set forth to see what Santa Claus brought:



Bethany was VERY pleased that Santa had remembered all of the Scooby-Doo stuff she asked for. She even got into the spirit of things by making her eyes glow a creepy red ("Zoinks")that would make Shaggy's hair stand up! Jinkies, I've GOT to remember to turn the flash off the camera. (Sigh!)James and I were pleased that Santa had not forgotten us, either, and very much enjoyed the contents of our stockings (thanks, Santa)!

Then we unwrapped our "regular" presents under the tree.



I don't know what the "winky smile" was all about, but Bethie was all about "winky smiling" on Christmas morning. I thought it was cute! ;)

My mom always told us to make our beds on Christmas morning and then she had us put all of our presents nicely on our beds. This was in case anyone came over and wanted to see what we got--which, in retrospect, no one ever did. But I think that she grew up doing that herself and it's definitely a good way to get the kids to make their beds and clean up their toys. And the tradition goes on. Here is a picture of the little elf herself with all of her Christmas booty:



She made a pretty good haul. I'll have to talk to Santa about perhaps not spoiling her so much. Good grief, Santa . . .rein it in, will you?

And here is our bed, all made and nicely displaying things (Mother would be so proud):



And after the morning's festivities we got all ready for church--Bethany in her new Christmas dress and me in my sassy and classy new boots. And church was wonderful--it's so good to attend right on Christmas Day--and it worked very well for Aunt Julie, Lizzy, Grandpa and Grandma to all be there, as James and I had to sing in the choir.

It's so nice to sing in a choir on Christmas Day. :)

And after sacrament meeting (they had canceled the other two meetings since it was Christmas) we headed to Mom and Dad's house to play. Bethany was thrilled to see that Uncle James, Aunt Tracee, Ruby and Macy were there! And we brought some toys and crafts to share. Here are the girl cousins doing "melty beads" in the dining room:



After we played/visited for a couple of hours, we had a delicious Christmas feast of prime rib a la Chris. (Did I mention that Julie's husband, Chris, is a MEAT MASTER? Wow.) The whole meal was fabulous--seriously good food. And after our yummy dinner, we all headed downstairs for presents . . .always so fun! My parents gave all of us kids (and I mean ALL, even my brother's girlfriend) matching Aggie lounge pants from Locker 42. I wish I had taken a picture of us all modeling our new Aggie pants, but I guess you'll just have to take our word for it that we looked AWESOME. :)

And after the presents, large quantities of pie had to be consumed--a very pleasant task, I assure you--and then we said "Goodbye" to Julie, Chris, Lizzy and Sarah (BOO.) as they had to leave for Arizona. Arizona is so far away. (BOO again!) Then I bathed Bethie, Ruby, and Macy in Mom and Dad's big jetted tub. Armed with Bethie's new Avon bath/body paints, they set forth to color my parents' tub like a rainbow. What a mess! But easily cleaned up, and they had tons of fun.

And then we played some more:



Ruby and Bethany are so funny together--silly girls!



And hey! Will you look at that--James (my brother, not my husband) and Tracee are in their spiffy new Aggie pants in the background. Cute, huh? Incidentally, James (My brother, not my husband) would not be pleased in my coupling the word "cute" with his name. He'd probably prefer the word "ripped." But I digress.

To sum up: Christmas was wonderful, with lots of family and fun--although we very much missed James's side of the family. I really miss those days when we used to travel to Blanding on Christmas Day and then stay for a whole week! But I suppose things change. At least we were able to Skype with them. Oh, and I'll need to make sure I take a picture of "Abby-Isabelle-Blue-Scooby," the bouncy dog that Grandpa and Grandma Lyman sent to Bethany. She loves that thing and in fact, the first night she had it she prayed that "Blue would have no bad dreams." The Lord must have chuckled at that one.

And that concludes our Christmas story 2011! Oh, and for the record . . .I've never made figgy pudding in my life.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (2011)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Note: I've decided to divide my posts about Christmas into two separate stories: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So this is the post about Christmas Eve, and if you wanted to read about Christmas Day, tune in tomorrow at the same bat time, same bat blog!

On Christmas Eve morning, I figured Santa needed a little help so I ran right down to Kohl's and bought myself a new pair of boots. I'd been wanting knee-length dress boots (for church) for years and James, although totally supporting my wishes, felt quivers of fear run down his spine every time he contemplated choosing boots for me. I might as well have asked him to go and pick a swimming suit for me or a foundation undergarment--such was his great trepidation. (And I don't blame him one bit; I feel the same way every time he wants me to buy a power tool or some sort of electronic device.) Anyway, with a "ho ho ho" in my heart and a 30% off coupon in my purse, I popped into Kohl's and within 20 minutes found the perfect pair of boots with just the right amount of class and sass, which I then took home for James to wrap. And that, friends, is how I roll (not to sound like Charlie Sheen, for whom I have no respect).

After my quick shopping spree, we all worked together to get ready for Christmas. James took Bethany out in the stroller for an invigorating walk to deliver the last of the neighbor treats, which she did with great aplomb. In fact, Bethany did such a great job delivering the neighbor treats that she tuckered herself out, as evidenced by her very sudden nap on the stroll home:



And she slept and slept until it was time to go around the corner to Grandma and Grandpa Higham's house, where the five of us celebrated Christmas Eve together. We ate all of our traditional Christmas Eve foods (chips and guacamole, vegetable tray and dip, crackers and cheese ball, "little smokies," etc.) and watched A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott. Now, I should probably admit that we are a VERY opinionated family regarding which version of A Christmas Carol is the best one--and the George C. Scott version wins HANDS DOWN. Trust me, it's the best one. It was made in the 80's and we've been watching it on Christmas Eve as a family since I was in fifth grade. And although we have it on DVD now, I kind of miss that pirated copy we originally recorded off of the T.V. I especially miss the IBM word processor commercials and also the Pepsi commercial with Michael Jackson. ("You're the Pepsi generation" sung to the "Billie Jean" tune, remember?)But I digress. The point is:

Get it. Watch it. Love it.



Bethany really liked it. In fact, she's still pretending to be Jacob Marley! Oh--and perhaps this would be an appropriate time to clarify some rumors about my husband. Contrary to what some people may believe, James does NOT hate Tiny Tim. "Hate" is such a strong, unsavory word; Tiny Tim just sort of gets under James's skin a little. And he has a point: I mean, who frequently pops out "And God bless us all, every one!" during the middle of a conversation? I mean, it's a nice sentiment and all, but the timing of his "And God bless us all, every one!" is always so RANDOM. I think that if Tiny Tim is asking for blessings, he should perhaps ask to be blessed with a better sense of conversational timing. But I digress again.

Anyway, after watching our yearly dose of A Christmas Carol (and quoting practically all of the lines while doing so)we played ACTUAL Christmas carols on my mother's chimes. This is another Higham Family Christmas Eve tradition--it's really fun! In fact, we all have our own set of chimes now. We laughed a lot and made tons of mistakes, but in the end we had a few awesome-sounding carols going. It was definitely more challenging this year, since there were so few of us and so each of us had two to three chimes, which proved quite tricky. But we weren't too bad, if I say so myself! (And I do, 'cause this is my blog.)

After the chimes, we said goodbye to my folks and James, Bethany and I headed home. We read the account of the birth of the Savior in Luke 2 and in the Book of Matthew, and Bethany and I used her nativity block characters to act out what Daddy was reading. (We had already read the account in the Book of Mormon for Family Home Evening earlier in the week.)And after the nativity story, Bethany got to open her traditional Christmas Eve present--always new pajamas:



And this year, we actually got her a nightgown instead of "jammies." She LOVES her new nightgown--it makes her feel like Lucy Penvensie from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Here she is, modeling:



Incidentally, I got a new nightgown too--which is perfectly modest and everything--but I lack the confidence it takes to launch a picture of myself in a nightgown into cyberspace! Anyway, we then spread "reindeer food" all over the front lawn so that Santa's team could have a quick snack, and then we all got into the car and drove around to see the Christmas lights while listening to The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean. Those songs always bring back such special memories--when James and I were dating and in "la-la love" (as my sister-in-law Tracee would say) we sang in The Forgotten Carols choir when Michael McLean did his Logan show. (Actually, we did that two years in a row.) So it's extra magical for us to hear and sing along with the songs--especially while watching pretty Christmas lights. We were hoping the drive would help mellow Bethany out so she'd fall asleep easily when we got home, and I really do think it helped! And by the way, James and I are still in "la-la love." ;)

Anyway, when we got home we put Bethany to bed and she quickly fell fast asleep. No doubt that "visions of sugar plums" would have danced in her head if she only knew what a sugar plum was, which she doesn't. She probably had visions of Scooby-Doo fruit snacks in her head, but that doesn't sound nearly so fanciful. Anyway, after making sure she was asleep, James and I whipped out our Santa caps and got to work:





(At our house, Santa fills the stockings and then leaves unwrapped gifts on the couch next to the stockings. The presents from "Mom and Dad" are wrapped and under the tree.) Anyway, after everything was ready and set for the next morning, we went to bed ourselves and "settled down for a long winter's nap." And that's where I leave you, my friends--on the very dramatic cliff-hanger of James and I falling asleep, exhausted.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Sugar, Spice, and Everything NIce!!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

This afternoon, I was feelin' it, people. Feeling that Christmas magic. And all it took was a little stroll downtown with some of my favorite gal pals: Julie and I took Bethany, Lizzy, and Sarah downtown to the 12th Annual Parade of Gingerbread Homes today!

It all sounds so magical, doesn't it? And it was. It was magical like a Christmas holiday special on the Hallmark channel . . .although a Hallmark special probably wouldn't have had a script of two four-year-olds saying, "I'm firsty!" and "I'm SO SO cold!" and "Let's go ho-ome" every five minutes. Hallmark would have been all dimples and smiles set to the background of an upbeat holiday tune. But whining and a little chaos notwithstanding (and any outing involving small children and a temperature of around 20 degrees is bound to create some whining and/or chaos) we had a wonderful time! At least I did. :)

First stop was The Diamond Gallery to see this little beauty:



This one was made out of sugar cubes, which begs the question: Does it qualify as a gingerbread house if it's not made of gingerbread? Hmmmmmmm. Oh well, we thought it was cool anyway. I mean, how often does one see a house of sugar cubes? Then we stepped over to Coppin's Hallmark to see the amazing Up! house:



I was very impressed with that one. I loved the Blackjack gum shingles and the gumball "balloon" bouquet coming out of the chimney! (And as I'm friends with Nicole Coppin, I was very happy that their gingerbread house was a credit to their store.)

Next, we saw this little number (although I sort of forgot which store it was at . . .hmmmmm. Maybe The Book Table? Anyway, I loved this little schoolhouse, especially the "sandbox" made of brown sugar in the lower right-hand corner:



A sugarbox! Just imagine the possibilities of playing in a sugarbox instead of a sandbox. (Although come to think of it, I remember what cats would DO in our family sandbox and you know, cat doo and sugar just aren't a palatable mix. So never mind--the sandbox it is.)Then we stopped by Andersen Seed & Feed to see their gingerbread house, but couldn't find it anywhere! So I asked the employee and he said (in a very mysterious manner), "Psst . . .I'll take you in the back to see it. Follow me." Intriguing. (Okay, so he may or may not have actually said, "Psst." But I claim the right to a little creative license!) Anyway, we followed him through the "Employees Only" doors (curiouser and curiouser!)to see this little number:



Yeah, this gingerbread house had met with an unfortunate accident. Total cave-in on the right. But I love the pluck and creativity of the Andersen employees, who actually created some yellow "caution" tape and roped off the area. A condemned gingerbread house is actually quite dangerous, you know.

The next stop was the candy store on the corner. I always forget the name of that store, but it's a really fun place! Their gingerbread house was a replica of the "Candyland" board game (which I thought apropos for a candy shop).



And we also went to Stork Landing (they deliver everything but the baby . . .honestly, radio jingles stay with me for life). They had a fun gingerbread holiday display:



But the best part of Stork Landing was that they had gingerbread men cookies, which we were all too happy to sample! Here are Bethany and Lizzy, enjoying a gingerbread man toast:



And by that time, all of those "I'm firsty!" and "I'm SO SO cold!" comments from the younger set motivated us to action. So we stepped into the historic Bluebird cafe for some much-needed hot chocolate at the lunch counter:



(I may or may not have told a grumpy Bethany, "You earn your hot chocolate by smiling for the camera!") And here we are, enjoying that magic drink that cures both the "firsty" and the "cold."



Mmmmmmmmmmm. Hot cocoa. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.



After our stop at the Bluebird, we felt much refreshed and continued our hunt for gingerbread houses. Check out this windmill, complete with marshmallow sheep!



I think that one was at The Sportsman. I was totally impressed. And then we stopped into Needham's (middle of the block, at the sign of the clock--radio jingles GET OUT OF MY HEAD). Needham's is such a classy store. I think the employees were a little alarmed to see my sister and I waltz in with two four-year-olds, a baby, and a stroller in tow, wandering among all of their very breakable and very expensive things! But I'm glad we risked it to see this miniature replica of the Needham mansion!



Wow! And incidentally, I'd love to tour the real Needham mansion on Center Street in person someday. How does one do that? Anyway, the last house (house?) we saw was this one at U&I Furniture:



We also tried to see the display at The Indian Oven restaurant, but apparently they don't have one after all. All I got when I walked in there was a big whiff of curry, which is a far cry from gingerbread. (Pretty sure "curry" won't be a new holiday Scentsy flavor.) And after that, well, it was time to go home. Funny how the afternoon really got to my holiday spirit . . .if I were to just see gingerbread houses, that wouldn't have done it. If I had simply been downtown, that wouldn't have done it. If I had just eaten a gingerbread man and sipped some hot cocoa, that wouldn't have done it. But the combination of all of the above--along with being with my daughter, sister, and nieces--was truly a magical combination!

The Hallmark channel couldn't have done any better. :)

The BBC Exercise Plan

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The "BBC" part of my new exercise plan could stand for so many things. It could stand for:

Burn Bad Calories

or

Beat Bloated Cellulite

or my personal favorite,

Bodacious Body Coming!

But actually, BBC stands for . . .British Broadcasting Corporation. See here's the thing: my favorite way to exercise is to go on long, long walks every morning. I just love being outside with the blue sky and the warm sunshine--and I love to explore and see just how far my own little two feet can take me. I live for my walks during the warm months! But you know, it's cold outside these days. And icy. And dark when it's time to wake up. And there's just something about COLD and ICY and DARK that is somehow a deterrent to my wanting to get up and go for a walk in the frigid air (especially when bed is so darn warm and comfy). That's why in years past, I've just thrown up my hands, called it quits until spring, and headed to the kitchen to bake another batch of hot and gooey chocolate chip cookies--which I then strive to walk off in the spring.

The current system isn't working for my overall, year-round fitness. And this year, by gum, I'm unwilling to "undo" all my hard work in the wintertime! So I've decided that it's time to bite the bullet and go downstairs to the JAMESNASIUM. The JAMESNASIUM is our elliptical in the basement, and we call it the JAMESNASIUM because James works out on it and he does not go by "Jim," so it's not a "GYM"NASIUM. Anyway, the point is I hate working out on machines (B-O-R-I-N-G)so in order for this whole idea to be more palatable to me, I have to throw something enticing into the mix. And that something enticing are BBC movies, which I'm a sucker for.

And it's working! I'm actually getting my keister out of bed and doing this thing every morning--all because I have to see Jane finally get back to Mr. Rochester (I've watched two versions of Jane Eyre already so far!) and I have to watch Roger Hamley declare his love to Molly Gibson. I have to see that smouldering look that Mr. Darcy gives Elizabeth Bennett during that whole piano scene. (And don't even get me STARTED about that train scene from North and South because just thinking about it reduces me to jelly.) Anyway, I just love BBC movies . . . and that's the golden ticket to the BBC Exercise Plan.

The only downside to this whole thing is that various Britishisms are creeping into my vocabulary without me consciously inviting them. Just the other day I asked James, "Where the deuce are my shoes?" and "Yes, I feel very well indeed."

And why am I blogging about all of this? It's all about accountability, my friends. I need people to ask me how my BBC Exercise Plan is coming so that I have added incentive to keep going. So feel free to check on me and my commitment!

I'm feeling rather tired, forgive me. As you have long been desiring my absence, I shall bid you "Goodnight," now and retire to my bed forthwith. Pip, pip, cheerio!

A Night in Bethlehem

Tonight our ward celebrated Christmas with "A Night in Bethlehem." It was a great way to reflect on the Savior's birth and enjoy a festive atmosphere with our ward family. It was also fun to see what everyone's bathrobes look like--a nice change of pace from Sunday suits and dresses! It was almost like "Wear Your Jammies to Church Day" (which isn't a half-bad idea, come to think of it). Anyway, I know I definitely learned a few things, not the least of which was that I need to buy a trendier meridian-of-time wardrobe--including a few fun scarves--in case we ever do this activity again. I'm eager to ditch the dishtowel look; NONE of the Bethlehem babes are wearing dishtowel hats this season. And I'm not a great historian or anything, but I'm pretty sure that people didn't walk around wearing their tablecloths, either.

But having said that, I thought Bethany, our little shepherdess, looked pretty darn cute! Good thing we have her to redeem our family image.



Here's how the evening worked: We all got a "decree" on our doorsteps commanding us to come to "Bethlehem" to be taxed. When we arrived, we got a little bag of "money" (i.e. salt-dough coins, washers, etc.) to spend at the "marketplace" set up in the cultural hall. The hall was all decked out in white Christmas lights and different booths were set up--booths with cheese, meat, bread, fruit, etc. We got to wander around and purchase different foodstuffs to eat, then we sat down on blankets on the floor with our families. (This arrangement worked really well, because our ward is huge and tables and chairs wouldn't have accommodated everybody.)



The pictures are kind of dim, sorry. Just imagine a really fun atmosphere because that's what it was! The lighting was great and James had put together a soundtrack that made it sound like we were truly in a Bethlehem marketplace--or at least how you'd imagine a Bethlehem marketplace sounding--or at least how they sound in the movie, from whence James burned the soundtrack.

My parents were in charge of the "storytellers" booth. I think this picture is hilarious because of their expressions:



And there were lots of fun tables with yummy food:





I'm not sure what Bethany and James were doing in this picture, exactly. It looks like they're grazing. Perhaps they were pretending to be sheep for a minute or something? If so, kudos to them for getting into the spirit of things:



After everyone had finished eating, the Primary children sang "Away in a Manger" and another Primary song, which was nice. Children's voices are so sweet!



But don't bother looking for Bethany in there; she refused to go up there and sing, little stinker. (I really hope Santa wasn't watching her behavior tonight or it's COAL FOR SURE.) Anyway, we all sang a couple of Christmas hymns as a big group while watching "Mary" and "Joseph" and their babe:



And that was really neat, because even though I knew in my mind that those people were Bryan and Cherie and their little son, at that moment they represented the holy family and it was really cool to watch them while we sang those hymns.

The evening then ended on that spiritual note. We stuck around and helped clean up for another hour or so, because that's what Christians do in ANY age. Even when the Church was in its original beginnings, I'm sure that they cleaned up after ward parties. (At least we have the benefit of paper plates nowadays--those early saints probably washed a million wooden bowls after each event! I feel for them, and I feel for their Relief Society presidents who had to figure out what to doeth with all of the leftover foodeth.)

Anyway, it was a great night and I give major props to Brother and Sister Brown who went to SO much work to plan everything. Thanks to everyone who worked hard in bringing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to life for us tonight!

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree . . .Not Easy But You're Worth It!"

Monday, December 12, 2011

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree . . ." If the title of this post put that song in your head I'm very sorry. But here's some interesting trivia: James's official high school song, "Oh San Juan High," is actually to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree." So now I've given you alternate lyrics, at least. And, however unoriginal that may sound, you've got to admire a town that takes the Christmas spirit into their school all year round.)

ANYWAY . . .

Here's the story about the Christmas tree. And actually, it's not my Christmas tree--although I love it--this Christmas tree is my grandma's. See, she and Jay have become "snowbirds" this year; Jay bought a home in St. George so they're down in "Utah's Dixie" for the winter. But they ARE coming home for Christmas--hooray! So when we were down in St. George for Thanksgiving, I got Grandma's permission to invade their home and do some decorating so they could come home to a little holiday cheer. My original thought was that James and I would just pop in some evening and put the tree up,do a little decorating--easy-peasy. Which goes to prove that I am completely LOSING MY MIND. I can't believe I ever thought that James and I could handle it on our own. After all, I've decorated Grandma's house before. But time has a way of softening the edges of memory until only the "Hallmark" moments are what come to mind when the synapses are firing (or misfiring).

Anyway, all I can say is THANK GOODNESS for family, because it really was a team effort getting the house ready for Christmas! THANK GOODNESS for Brianna and Hannah and Aunts Sheri, Teri, and Sharon--and THANK GOODNESS for Mom. Grandma's decorations are so beautiful--but they do require a lot of time, effort, and extension cords. We always have so much fun doing it, though--especially because we're together. Doing it alone would have been daunting and could have led to frustration. Which could have led to me saying words I don't normally say that are generally frowned upon by polite society. Which could have led James to put me in time out. (I may or may not be speaking from experience, here.)

Anyway, here are Aunt Sheri and Aunt Teri figuring out the lighting on Grandma's gorgeous tree. (Okay, so you can just see Aunt Teri's arm. No time to pose; there was work to be done.)




Note: There will be no pictures of me dropping and smashing one of the gold ornaments. And if Grandma is reading this . . .what gold ornament? Everything is fine. Just fine. No problem. (Just don't take inventory of the gold ornaments.)

Brianna and Hannah were tons of help--and they brought their cute babies for us to admire, which was totally fun (Hannah's little Faye is in my mom's arms in the background and Brianna brought her Carter. Cute babies, ladies!)



The thing that takes a lot of time with Grandma's tree is the beautiful Victorian village that she puts around the bottom. Grandma has been collecting these pieces for years and years, and they're SO lovely and SO much fun. And SO much work to set up. But the efforts are always well worth it! Just take a look:



Ta-Da! Now, that tree and room are well worth the effort of seven ladies working for six hours. Not to "toot our own horns" or anything, but . . . "TOOT TOOT!!!" If you ask me, this room could totally be on the cover of a Christmas magazine. Thank you, thank you, my wonderful aunts and cousins! This was truly a team effort.

Oh, and Bethany really got into the spirit of things, too, and had a ball decorating the other tree in the sun room with Aunt Sharon:



(You'll note that SHE didn't drop or smash any ornaments. Thank goodness she's not like her butterfinger momma.)



Grandma and Jay: your Christmas castle awaits. We can't wait to see you!!

"Christmas Carols Being Sung By a Choir . . ."

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Note: The following post is somewhat on the "braggy" side of things. But consider the following: 1) James's parents are regular readers of this blog so I feel that it's totally acceptable to brag to them about their fine son so they can say, "That's my boy!" and 2) It's my blog and I'll brag if I want to. The end.

I always LOVE hearing James sing--in the car, in the shower, at church, around the house . . .I'm not picky about the whereabouts. His golden voice just makes my heart do gymnastics! And it's always especially thrilling to see him don his tuxedo (so handsome!) for an American Festival Chorus concert. The AFC Christmas concert was last night and today--what a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

I attended the concert Friday night, and the whole evening was amazing. The guest artist was Maureen McGovern and she was sensational. For anyone who doesn't know who she is, she's been on Broadway and TV and film and has had several hit songs (she sang that "Morning After" song from The Poseidon Adventure movie)and just has had a very distinguished career. One of the fun things about being in the AFC(apart from being directed and taught by Dr. Craig Jessop) has been the opportunity James has had to share the stage with some really awesome performers. During the last three years, James has been able to sing with Donny Osmond, Peter Cetera, Maureen McGovern . . .lots of people on my "cool" list! It's kind of a kick to claim that he's "sung with" these famous performers . . .even though they wouldn't know James from Adam if he walked up to them and bit them on the nose. (Disclaimer: James does not make it a habit to bite unsuspecting persons on the nose. His parents raised him to behave better than that.)

Anyway, the concert was amazing. The songs just gave me chills--especially "The First Nowell" and "What Child is This." Wow! And they had the USU Ballroom Dancers and The Westminster Bell Choir and a full orchestra--which was awesome! And Maureen McGovern was really good. No wonder she's famous! What a fantastic vocal range she has. Here's a closer picture of the choir and orchestra, before the concert started. (I didn't dare take a picture during the actual concert, since that's not allowed and I'm sort of a rule-keeper . . .AND I didn't want any burly bouncers to come and kick me out.)

Anyway, if you want to play "Where's James?" I'll give you a clue: He's the cute one in the black tuxedo.



(Okay, here's a perhaps more helpful clue: He's six rows up on the right, sitting next to a blonde woman, and he's looking up at me with smouldering eyes.) And if you still don't see him, try this one:



Lyman. James Lyman. (Double-oh-seven's got nothing on this guy!) Anyway, I really need to stop getting distracted by James in a tux and tell you more about the concert. It truly was beautiful in every way, and completely launched me into the Christmas spirit! Hooray for music and hooray for the American Festival Chorus Christmas concert! Well done, guys. The only problem with me attending these things is that I SO BADLY want to be up there singing right with them. Seriously, I want to sing with them so much my teeth are sweating. (Perhaps that's kind of a gross visual, but you get the point.) I had fully intended to audition this fall until my new church calling threw a wrench into the Wednesday night practice thing . . .oh well. I may not have made it anyway, but I'd regret never trying, so I'm totally going to try out someday when the timing is better!

So for now, I'll just be content being the wife of someone who's "sung with" Maureen McGovern. ;)

Christmas Crafting (Yes, I Said Crafting and Yes, This is Jenny's Blog.)

Friday, December 2, 2011

Anyone who knows me (even remotely) knows this: I'm no Martha Stewart. Not by a long shot. I couldn't even be Martha's grandma's sister's niece's third cousin once removed. I'm just not very crafty--although goodness knows, I've tried. Talk to any of the sisters in the 6th Ward Relief Society. They all know that when I come to craft night, someone (usually Jeanette, bless her) has to hold my hand all the way through a project to make sure I don't screw it up. However, I will say this for me: I've never done any illegal trading or served a jail sentence. (Sorry, Martha.)

But having said all of that, I've really started crafting with my daughter lately. It's good "Mommy-Bethie Time," as we call it. Last week, we made little princess masquerade masks with sequins. And yesterday, we made these little beauties:



Ta-da! I got the idea from Bethany's preschool teacher, Mrs. Turner. When I had heard that Bethie's class had made candy canes out of pipe cleaners and beads, I had an epiphany: even I, "Jenny Lyman the Non-Crafty," could probably put beads on pipe cleaners all by myself and actually not mess them up! And as silly as it may sound, this project did wonders for my crafting self-esteem. I'm now brimming with confidence. I may even move up to "peeling a sticker off a sticker sheet and putting it on a paper" or "coloring within the lines" someday! (Just kidding. I became a pro with that one a year or two ago.)

Anyway, it was the perfect way to spend an hour on the 1st of December, with Christmas music playing in the background and the precious company of my sweet kiddo. And when we tired of making candy canes, we made some pipe cleaner glasses for Bethany. She was very proud of them:



(Mock the not-exactly-round shape of the lenses and die.) But just take a look at that adorable face. I want to KISS HER FACE OFF! Love it! So to those of you who may feel shaky with your crafting skills, take heart. There's help. There's hope. There's PRESCHOOL. Take their ideas and run, run, RUN with them! If a four-year-old can do it, chances are you can too!!