Christmas Wish from Samantha

Samantha's teacher, Rebecca Fuller, recorded this at Samantha's Flute lesson and sent it to us today.  I think it's pretty cute!  Click here to see it on You Tube.

Merry Christmas!

Conrad's Christmas Concert

Thanks to Deonne we have our first video of the kids playing their instruments. We did not rehearse this and at their recitals they did much better but you get the idea.

Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer

This is Traeden playing his Christmas piece. We wanted to post this especially for Grandma and Grandpa Overly who are in Russia on a mission. Every year she is usually able to hear all the Grandkids play their songs for her over the holidays.

Yuletide Festival

This week has been already crazy busy and it's only going to get worse. We are singing on Friday and Saturday for the American Festival Choir. It's going to be a amazing concert. I get to sing next to Deonne again. We have fun together and she is a great singer. There are a few parts I personally need to practice, I just got to find an hour to do that.

Like always, Dr. Jessop is pulling out all the stops. He has two guest artist which are really good. There are the USU ballroom dance team, a bell choir, Full orchestra, decorations which make the stage look like a winter wonderland, plus ice sculptures and hot cocoa before and after the concert while people mingle. The music is great. We are singing lots of traditional Christmas tunes and also some non-traditional ones. A great variety. One of my favorites is the Hallelujahs Chorus by Handel. We have practiced Wednesday and Thursday night till 10:00 pm so we are a bit tired. Unfortunately this will be our last concert with the choir. We love singing in it but we will need to wait for a different season in our life to do it again. Hopefully Craig will still be the director. Tickets are $10 a piece if you get them with the choir discount. If you want to come it's not too late. You will not regret it. I've heard a lot of complaints about how expensive it is. I say Ba humbug. People pay more then double to go to a Broadway show, the opera, ballet, or symphony. Not to mention going to a movie is about price now and more when you include the popcorn and drinks. Not that you can compare these events, but this is a production and the orchestra players do get paid. Enough of my soapbox.

Did I say Senior Citizens get in free at the Saturday Afternoon Concert? Here is the link to get tickets. If you want to get the choir member discount let me know and I'll give you the discount code. Hope to see some of you there. Have a great weekend!

Getting ready for Christmas

This week we wrapped up a lot of our Christmas to do's which is nice. We had a goal to get our shopping done by Thanksgiving. We did for the most part. When you have to take out the kids to do shopping it is so much easier to do it online. Devin and I did do one store on Black Friday. It wasn't that bad, no ramming carts or violent acts were witnessed. Now that we are done shopping we have to remember that and not buy anymore! We are really scaling back this year and hopefully focusing on being with family and our Savior.

The kids have been doing an act of service everyday and it's really cute to see them get excited about serving. Conrad helped me make breakfast one morning. They made snowflakes for Devin and I. Traeden has been singing Christmas songs that he learned from friends and then he comes up to me and asks me if he can sing them or if it's bad. "Jingle Bells, batman smells, Robbin lays an egg" I told him it was probably OK unless he is suppose to sing the right lyrics for school or church.

We went to the Live Nativity in Nibley with Greg and Deonne's family on Friday. They had real donkeys, sheep, goats and even a camel. The boys tried to feed the camel, Alex did a great job of that. It really makes you appreciate the circumstances of the humble birth of our Savior. If the Savior was born today, where do you think he would be born? I can't imagine in a busy city. I see something similar, in a barn or country home.

Conrad and Abi after the Nativity

Camel and the kids

Petting the donkey

My first apple pie I made with a friend with Devin's parents apples this week. It was a really yummy pie. You cook the pie in a brown paper bag.

Today we are fasting and praying for my uncle Gary who was in a snowmobile accident yesterday. A neighbor found him unconscious and called 911. He busted his knee and has some serious head wounds. Last night when we heard about it from my mom he was still unconscious. I just talked to my mom who is at the hospital now and said he is now awake. They will be doing a series of surgeries to reconstruct his jaw and one of his eyes. We are hoping he will pull through. We would appreciate your prayers in his behalf.