Its a new week, and we have a new look in the family as Alex got his braces off.
Hurrah!!
and Ashley got her "tree" decorated. Isn't it cool that she has a basket to hold the presents, built in.
I walked with Carolyn on Monday, then headed to DI, where I met more friends in line. Here I am with Linda, a good customer from Treasures and Shauna who is a former Fleaology dealer.
When I got home I went to work on completing the Christmas decor, by bringing up my antique angel collection. The small angels found a home in a cubby shelf in the kitchen, but these larger angels needed a larger space.
I even hung my felt mistletoe.
I love this little reindeer vignette.
Dad worked finishing up at Darby's house Monday and Tuesday, as the renter moved in on Wednesday. He needed to get all the electrical lines and dryer vent for her new laundry closet on the main floor.
Wednesday was Zach's 13th birthday, this is what Dad posted in his honor.
I worked on Wednesday and Thursday. Dad put up Christmas lights on the fence and up on the balcony railing on Wednesday. On Thursday while at the temple he ran into his first companion, Roger Nuttall, who is serving a senior mission in the Utah Provo Mission. Then on Saturday he ran into a salesman he knew at the ballet, his name is Greg Bingham.
Thursday, after the temple Dad headed over to the Springville Art Museum, and was 6th in line for a three hour wait for the $100 Dollar Art Show. I joined him when I got off worked with five minutes to spare.
This is the painting that I came for. I follow the artist, Courtney Lunt, on Insta, and loved it.
Dad bought one that is a painting of the Uintas from Trevor Howard, which, he also loves.
But on my way to the painting I came for, I ran into this lady's table, Jolynn Forman, and liked her work. Since it was the first painting I bought, I felt lucky later, when I saw how popular her work was, so much so that the great majority of her work was gone by the time we left.
On Friday I hooked up with Ann and we headed to the Pond Town Christmas Boutique, where I ran into Wendy Carter, a former member of our ward here, who we haven't seen in 6 or 8 years. She was selling quilts, and I found a perfect gnome quilt with a red and white polka-dot border, it was like she made it for me without knowing it.
Then we headed to the German Christmas Market at This is the Place State Park.
Ah, another sweet gnome.
We had a great time, and most of the goods had a European connection.
We loved all the costumed characters that we saw.
And it was sort of serendipitous that we found the childhood home of Avard Fairbanks, the sculptor who did the Mother of the Year sculpture. The house was built in the 1860's across the street and a half a block south of our house here and was moved to the park in the early 1980s. It has a room called the Brigham Young room because Brigham used to stop off and stay there every time he traveled to southern Utah.
Ashley's was not the only tree found by a family member this week. Here Becca and Brady's kids pick out a live tree.
and last week, Spencer and Brittney took their kids to a much larger tree lot to find their tree.
and in other grandkid news, we found this picture of Charlie holing up a small building with her foot ... I thought it was adorable.
and while I was shopping until I dropped at the Christmas Markets, Dad was home making a bed into a bench for my Christmas gift. I bought it on a trip to Britt's in Idaho last spring, and I love how it turned out.
That night Dad and I headed north to attend my brother Bruce's granddaughter's ballet performance in the Nutcracker with the En Pointe Ballet Company. Her name is Hannah Kidd.
Dad and Bruce checked out the U of U game scores during half time.... um, errr, I mean Intermission. Of course with a Rose Bowl invitation on the line, even I was interested, after all I did graduate from the U.
The cast was enormous, as En Pointe is also a ballet school. The principal dancers were very professional.
Here we are with Bruce and Dianne.
and the Ballerina herself. She danced in the Waltz of the Flowers.
I got going early on Saturday, as we would be welcoming the Larsons from our Orem ward. Tom was one of Dad's counselors in the bishopric, and Jean turned out to be my first cousin, once removed, as her great grandmother is my grandfather's sibling. I got to use my plaid dinnerware that I got this past spring for the first time. I'm doing my book club luncheon the week after next in plaids, so I was excited to try them out. BTW, since there were only five of us, we got to use my 1940's red bakelite handled silverware, of which I have only a service for 6 and which I have never been able to use before. The poinsettia was perfect for the color scheme, thanks Trevor and Nell.
Jean and Tom were in town from Idaho Falls so that two of their daughters, Anna and Naomi, could receive their endowments at our beautiful temple. Their youngest daughter, Hope, is taking the picture here on the balcony, as you may have guessed, during our typical home tour.
Afterward I took Hope antique shopping at Treasures as she loves antiques. After a delightful afternoon, I dropped her at the temple, where her family would be finishing up shortly, before heading home and joining Dad, Adi and Nenna, as we prepared to go to the Ballet, again.
We picked up Trevor and Nell's younger girls, and met Brady at their house with his girls. Here we are at the theater ready to watch the ballet.
Brittney and Cam met us there, and all the girls were just enthralled. Here we see Nenna playing pat-a-cake with her.
Look how adorable they are, during Intermission, as they wait in line for the little girls room.
Back at our seats, you can see how much the little cousins adore the littlest of them all.
Everyone took turns holding her. They all loved the ballet, and they were all amazingly well behaved. They seemed fascinated.
After church Dad practiced with a small group, there will be six of them, singing at the ward Christmas Gathering on Friday.L to R Daniel Gregory, Adam Jaynes, David Terry, Dad and Kevin Crook.
Once we got home we started getting ready to celebrate Hanukkah.
We had four of our families represented, and there were plenty of latkes for all.
The oldest and youngest of our grandchildren who were able to attend.
Of course after our latke fest, there was dreidal spinning time, as the Hanukkah candles burned down.
The kids, of all ages, seemed to have a good time, even the littlest little who was just learning. I thought it was interesting that Penny has no memory of Hanukkah at all. I am so glad she was able to come, as its continuance in our family is in question. Everyone is just so busy that with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Bethlehem dinner and Christmas day, that is four family gatherings in a months time. We'll see.
I loved the art that Nenna made of her skittles, and how it matches her shirt.
Last of all it was time to listen to Papa as he reads Herschell and the Hanukkah Goblins to the grand kids!
Well, it is sort of a long read-aloud book.
And before we sign off, I wanted to show you Charlie and her friends as she celebrated by decorating Ginger Bread, twice.
and not to be outdone by the Utah Perkins people, she and her family also attended a performance of the Nutcracker Ballet.
Well, this really was a magical week, and included many of mine, and Dad's favorite things. For Dad there were building projects, temple attendance, singing and several reunions.
For me there were also reunions, a price controlled art purchasing opportunity, the Nutcracker, antique shopping with a like minded teenager, an European Style Christmas market, celebrating Hanukkah and a reunion with one of my brothers. I hope that each of you can pinpoint some delights for which you can be thankful during this past week.
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