For Christmas our kids gave Wayne and I tickets to see Neil Diamond in Salt Lake City last Friday. After fighting a bad snowstorm we finally arrived safely and checked into our room at Embassy Suites. The concert was GREAT! Very loud, too!!! Neil Diamond is amazing - 67 years old and he did a two hour solo concert with no intermission.
It was fun to get away but all good things must come to an end so we headed home Saturday afternoon in another horrendous storm and were minutes away from being involved in an accident on I-15 involving 33 cars. Thanks to Jaime for feeding us lunch (so we were delayed a little) and the Lord knowing I needed to return home safely to play the piano for the choir cantata on Sunday, we finally made it home.
Christmas is coming way too fast, but I'm not worried. Our family party isn't until January 9th when Jeff, Nicole, and Michael are home so I have extra time. We are excited for their arrival and to see that precious baby, who is growing up way too fast.
Our choir cantata yesterday focused on the birth of our Savior which was beautiful! I hope all of my children will gather their little ones around them on Christmas Eve and tell the story of why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. I sometimes wish we didn't have to worry about the commercial side of Christmas.....presents, more presents, what to give the neighbors that I haven't done before, elaborate decorating, Christmas newsletters, etc. I'd just love to wrap up in a quilt, turn on some peaceful Christmas music, enjoy the simple lights on our tree and read some special stories about the holiday and, of course, our Savior's birth. Kelly gave me a book called "Chicken Soup for the Soul.....Christmas Treasury" which I would recommend for some great holiday reading.
Merry Christmas from Wayne and I here in Clifton who are trying to survive a winter which is starting off as a real doozie! We love our family and appreciate their gift to us. But most of all, we love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and commit ourselves to serve him in the coming year.
PS - The photo is of our "normal" grandchildren at last year's family Christmas party. This is a far cry from my brother's family photo of seven families all looking perfect, color co-ordinated, AND WELL BEHAVED - something I'm afraid we'll never have in our family photos. We love them anyway!
