We started the week off attending Beverly’s preschool’s Christmas performance. I teared up. It wasn’t particularly amazing and the lyrics weren’t distinctly spiritual, but watching these darling, innocent children of God celebrate their Savior’s birth brought tears to my eyes. It may also be that I’m having a hard time with Beverly being nearly ready to go to Kindergarten. Where did her toddler years go??
We decorated gingerbread houses Monday evening. It’s one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I cheated in a few ways this year. I bought the kit, used our leftover Halloween candy, and hot glued the pieces together. When my kids are a little bit older I’ll probably bring out the graham crackers and icing and let them go to town. They still managed to be quite creative this year, especially with their leftover Halloween candy. Maverick used the colored/flavored sugar packs to make a “pond” next to his house. Max molded an air head to build a snowman. It was fun to see what they came up with.
I got quite spoiled this week. Andy watched Harvey for a good chunk on Tuesday so I could get my bi annual haircut. He took Harvey to school and managed to snap a picture with Harvey wearing his backpack- which he insists upon wearing though it nearly knocks him over.
Again, on Thursday, Andy took care of Harvey for a couple of hours so I could go hiking with a friend. It was quite wet and foggy, but it was so pretty!
On Friday evening I got to spend time with some friends crafting Christmas decor. I haven’t gotten to go to very many girls’ nights over the years, so I felt quite happy to escape. Especially because Andy was still at work, and Harvey was in quite the mood. Luckily he was an angel for the babysitter… he just feels “comfortable” enough around mom to show me all of his sides.
Saturday was the grand finale with the ward Christmas party in the morning with the kids dressing up as wisemen and an angel… Harvey just managed to strip in the middle of the performance right in front of everyone. Well, at least it will be a hard to forget the performance. At the end of the day Andy and I went to the Medical Military ball. I have never been to one before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t really what I expected. The first hour was more like a ceremony than a party. We did colors, had formal toasts (where they handed out cider for those of us who don’t drink, honored the fallen, distributed awards, heard from the hospital commander, and finished with a speech. Luckily they picked an entertaining and short-winded speaker who seems to volunteer for everything in the community on top of being a supportive medical-military wife. The commander was lively and got the dance party started after the dinner by taking off her formal military jacket to reveal a shirt with dollar bills all over it. It was quite different, but quite entertaining. Andy and I got to sit at the Emergency Medicine table and though everyone was quite sober, it was a good time. Someone said we were the “boring table” due to the fact that three of the five couples weren’t drinking, but despite that I think we had a great time. It was nice to get to know Andy’s coworkers better and when we were dancing I felt like we were in high school again, only this time was much better since I was with someone who loved me as much as I loved him. I’ll be honest though… my teenage body, heck even my college body could move better than I did last night.
I’ve been overly prepared this Christmas and finished up most Christmas prep, so instead of being stressed and busy about getting everything done, I’ve really been able to enjoy the season and it has been easier and more fulfilling to find ways to serve those around me.