Tradition! Tradition! Oh, forget the singing. This is a tradition that we all love to gather for. First there is the food. Yum! Cookies and chocolate popcorn. Soda pop and more - much more. Time to visit and time for the grand kids to play together. Time to re-discover ourselves and our roots. What fun! Food and family - what could be more glorious?
The families get together for some pictures and everyone piles in because no one wants to be left out. Jenn and Em next to Omah with Hero in her lap and G-G squeezed in, I especially loved the Reindeer hat with all of those miles of smiles.
And how in the world did I not get a picture of Paul, Jess and Hero?! Yikes! You will just have to pick them out of the other photos here. ;(
Jase and Q with their cute smiles. What a great pair! Somewhere in all of this there was eating. A marvelous dinner fit for a king was created (but only the court jesters came.) And, of course, it was one of those that you get to carry around with you for awhile. It is what I call "a Pounder" because you'll wear a few if you eat many of them.
Then there was the letter writing. Everyone got to take a few minutes to write some letters to Drew. He and Beth couldn't come down. Drew just went into the Air Force on the 7th of December. He is going through basic training and it is a killer, or so I've heard. It is one of those life dreams that I have never had. Don't get me wrong. I love to crawl around in the mud, swing from ropes and things, shoot weapons every day and get up at 4am as much as the next guy but I like to do it when it is 80 degrees, not 35F, if you know what I mean.
And then we get to the competitive part of the gathering - the making of the gingerbread houses. This year it was done a little bit differently. There was one per kid and an adult helped a kid. At least it kind of worked out that way and it seemed to be a lot more fun. I guess I should have helped Jennie more with her house from the movie "UP"t.
Then, to assist with the removal of the Pounders, we went to walk around the Mormon temple to see all of the Christmas lights. They were really quite dazzling. I was the designated carriage horse and pulled the wagon with Jase and Noah all around. They were tucked in with their blankets and enjoying the lights and and the privilege of getting to ride while the girls and adults had to walk. OK, the lights were pretty cool, too.
The temple glows across the pool, reflecting in the pond with the lights of Christmas. Although quite crowded, there is a quietness and politeness that makes that makes it seem like there are far fewer people than there actually were. I think that this is one of my favorite pictures of the season.
I has been a wonderful evening, spent with family and quiet remembrance of the gift that the Savior gave to us and the world.
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