Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Its late.
As I am trying to fall asleep I'm thinking about this beautiful email that the Relief Society presidency sent out last night.
I'm posting it bc I think it's profound and I don't want to forget it.

The hour is growing late. The sky is drenched in velvet midnight. Glittering diamonds dot the sky marking the spot where gleaming stars ignite a universe away.  The air is chill reminding us that Christmas is near.

Perhaps tonight is like that night so long ago, when angels, poised above the earth's green and blue swept orb, waited for the birth of a King.  Perhaps they hovered near as heaven grew silent with anticipation, filled with the blessed understanding of all that God has wrought, wrapped in the eternity of the present, past and glorious future.

We must have held our breath then, too, for we were there -- part of the heavenly host.  Perhaps then our hearts burst, as they do now, with love and adoration, for He who came to earth as a wee babe, wrapped in the robes of mortality, held close to God by the gentle goodness of His soul.

In some ways, there is no difference between then and now. Still we long to be near Him, still we lean close to hear His whisper of life.  The wonder we felt at His birth we hold forth in the wonder of His perfect life, His caress of wisdom, His effulgent sacrifice.  He was and is our Savior, our Redeemer; our King and our Shepherd.  He is our gentle Jesus, whom we worship as the holy Son of God.

As we wait this heaven sent night with ears pressed towards heaven, let us sing a song of gladness -- the glorious hymn of His redeeming love.  Let us sing, praises bring -- Let us sing!

Peace and joy to each of you!

fondongo

I have been laughing since yesterday about an accusation Claire made...

Claire claimed that her soccer teammate called her
"fondongo."
The teammate she accused is whiter than she is.
And I don't think there are many people in this country who even know that word unless they are still dripping with the Rio Grande.

fondongo = a slob

Claire's getting a little sloppy (or slobby) with those white ones.

Day in the life

Sybil is a drawer. 

in a drawer.

Iris eating her usual snack of chicken nuggets. She told me, "Today I sucked my bloody middle finger and it tasted like Groot Beer." She has always pronounced it like that, not sure where the "G" comes from.

Claire is the designated closet organizer bc she got $ to go to the mall with her bestie at her first non-family sleepover this weekend. Claire said she cried for me all night. Poor girl. But she's still gotta pay up for those huge Christmas ornament earrings she bought -- they are the size of a large gumball and have fake snow in them. All about style, that girl.

But.. she got distracted in the bathroom. 

She pranced out and sang, "You can call me Mrs. Eyebrows."

Soon after, Mrs. Eyebrows added a goatee and a handlebar mustache, turning into "Weirdo with a beard-o" for the benefit of the home teachers.

And here's my little man as he's closing the door in my face. He didn't want his messy room to be exposed to the world of my camera.

Ha ha.

I am an exposer.

***elijah is also the hulk of the family. i wonder how my room came to be  like this ?

p.s. if u answer this you get 2 old sandwiches or a dog slobber smoothie or 6 pieces of mold bread.***

Elijah wrote those last few lines.

Good Report

Yesterday I gave a talk in church on Jean Bingham's talk from General Conference. Here is what I think is the pivotal statement of her talk:

“The greatest form of charity may be to withhold judgment.”

During my baptismal interview when I was 8, Bishop Marble asked me what my favorite Article of Faith was. I told him the 13th bc I thought that one was the most impressive, but I choked when he asked me to recite it.
The last sentence of it is: "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

What if we tweaked that a little and it said, "We see these things." What do we see? What do we focus on, especially in ourselves, because how we see ourselves colors our vision of those around us. See the lovely in ourselves to enable us to see the praiseworthy in others.

On that lovely note, here's something praiseworthy:

 She's not there yet, but at least she's thinking about it

Christmas parties

My parents' neighborhood Christmas party

Elijah brought his bike and was off with the boys for the whole night. 

The next morning David took Elijah to a soccer tournament 

and I headed to our ward Christmas brunch 

with a few angels. 

And a high-tech angelic impersonator 

Syrup

Syrup-smelling babies are a natural part of the morning.

Little fingers carefully decorating sticky cheeks are an added bonus.

Elijah's art sculpture

I love when teachers give positive feedback.

Last week, Elijah's art teacher sent 3 emails. The first one was:

"Elijah had a great day today. Here you can see him considering how to support his structure. More photos to follow."

With this sculpture

The next 2 had more pictures and the comment:

"One of the best ones in all my 5th grade classes!"