This Christmas was one full of hope for me. With the Covid-19 pandemic still rampant with the Omnicron variant now in full swing, wars and turmoil all over, natural disasters and more going on in the world, sometimes it is hard to feel hopeful. But Christmas is what we all needed to feel hope! That word HOPE keeps coming to me all Christmas season. And this HOPE is more of an assurance because of the Savior. The other day, as we were driving to see family, we were reading about the Savior and then took some time to ponder on what HOPE the Savior, his life, Atonement, crucifixion, resurrection and second coming gives us. We would have no reason to celebrate Christmas if it weren't for those other things. I love that word HOPE and surely there is no other hopeful name than Jesus! One morning this week was kind of a disaster at home and I snapped big time. I felt horrible and felt like I was failing, but repented and asked for guidance through the tears. As I was later pondering over the Savior and the HOPE He brings me, I saw Him smiling and felt that He is cheering us along. He wants us to have joy and be happy and repent, and that gives me HOPE. He appreciates our efforts and loves when we choose Him. The scripture came to mind from 2 Nephi 31:20 - "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of HOPE, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I also kept thinking of other scriptures, quotes and hymns about hope during the season. The babe that came into the world 2,021 years ago brings us all hope to look forward to! I am thankful for his birth, life, mission, atonement and resurrection for us all and this chance to celebrate Him - the Hope of the world!
Here are some ways we celebrated Christmas this year...
The First Presidency Christmas Devotional - So much hope comes because we have living prophets and apostles who testify of Christ and speak His words to us today. This is always the best way to start off the season! Two of my old flute teachers were side by side playing, so that was great to see. The messages were amazing and the kids were quiet some of the time and had sweet laughter going the other.
Ryerse family Christmas party - Family time brings me hope of what we have to look forward to in eternity. We had our Ryerse fam Christmas party the week before Christmas, we've never done this before so it was something new. Jerry & Stacy were staying home for Christmas so we decided to do it before. We had Ryerse tacos for dinner, played Bingo, had a white elephant gift exchange, played lots of rounds of Bingo, and celebrated everyones birthdays with our loud and crazy rendition of the birthday song. The kids ran around and played and we had a giant sleepover, which was fun but loud and no one got much sleep. Saturday, we did lots of playing, paddle ball and silly string, some went to a movie, went shopping, and just enjoyed being together.
Christmas lights - We love the lights of the season and the brightness they give off in a sometimes dark world. Just as Jesus brings light and hope, the lights help us remember the Light of the World. We got to go to the Lights Parade in Lyman with cousins Boji and Kanon and their cousins, who we've seen a lot of lately at wrestling meets. We also got to go hang out with Amy, Kolby, Boji, Kanon and Mark, Mayela and Amber came up one night too. We made pizzas, had coconut hot chocolate and played. Yay! Another time we went to Logan to Mark & Mayela's international Christmas party. They do this every year but this is the first we've been able to go to. Great talking to people from all walks of life and tasting food fro where people or their ancestors are from or where they served their missions. We made Kringle from Denmark, yum! Sydnie made some best friends and they were so cute together. They light the way on unity and togetherness. One night, we went to Artic Circle and then around the town to see all the lights and picked a few that were our favorites all decked out. We were also able to go to our town park and see the lights all go on, and sit on Santa's lap. We never got the pictures sent to us though, shoot!
Gingerbread house - We always used to make a gingerbread house growing up so even though it is something we look forward to doing every year. Keeping up Christmas traditions helps us feel the hope in family ties. This year, we made an A-frame gingerbread house and it was Sydnie's idea to do a house for some Lego minifigs. So we all made our Lego people and then put them by the house.
Christmas concerts - Music, especially Christmas music brings us together and helps us feel the hope for the present and future. The older kids have concerts in January, but Covey and Lucy performed. Covey wanted to get all dressed in his tux again and sang "Christmas Time is Here" from Charlie Brown, and sang some classic Christmas songs and even danced for a number which was so fun! He was super nervous but did great. Lucy had a band concert and performed well on the bells, and the snare drum. She really keeps the beat well for her band, our little drummer girl.
Bob and Rose - Our elves came back to help us Light the World once again, and service always helps us see the hope in humanity. We made a treat and card for health care workers, paid some extra fast offerings and tithes, helped our neighbors, thanked people, learned about our ancestors and more.
Christmas service - We were able to help some families in need this Christmas - nothing more joyous and hopeful than helping someone in a hard spot. While we never saw them open their presents or get their food, we know we felt the joy that comes from giving the best.
Ward party - Our ward party was nice. Traditional ham dinner, and then we went around to different rooms for musical numbers, readings, discussions, and treats. Emma helped make the truffles for dessert, Cal was a guide that took groups around. It was a great night!
Neighbor treats, employee gifts and homemade things - We have hope because of the good people around us and like to show our appreciation with some gifts. This year, we made almond chex mix and hot glue snowflake ornaments with a poem about how the snowflake reminds us of God's love. We also made some orange wreaths, too for some, especially those on strict diets or with allergies. For Dave's team, he gave out gas gift cards, syrup and pancake or waffle mix. Crafting and being creative and putting heart into gifts helps me have hope that we can do simple things to make others happy. For our families, we made a personalized puzzle with the family pictures we took this summer. On the other side, we made breakfast trays that were monogrammed and personalized along with syrup and pancake or waffle mix for the adults. The kids got Lego building trays we put together, they were a hit and I know we've been using ours a lot. The kids made their gifts for each other - Emma created a custom singlet for Callahan, Callahan cut out Irish dance paper dolls and got an Irish dance outfit for her American Girl doll, Lucy made a cute card for Sydnie with a Frozen sisters necklace she colored and Emma helped her make and then a Frozen nail kit, Coverton got Emma a cat liscence plate frame and has been working on a felt cat keychain, and Lucy got Coverton a catapult kit and made things to throw from it and they put them together and decorated them together and have been playing non stop with them.
Christmas Eve/Brian's birthday - Christmas Eve brings hope that comes through traditions centered on the Savior and family. We started things off with the Stoddards, where we cooked an English meal together. That is where many of ancestors are from. We had roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, English roast, and Yorkshire pudding. It was tasty and fun to do something different. The kids love checking their cute stockings on the tree every time we visited to see what was in there. Sometimes candy or little toys or gum, that was a fun thing my mom started. We watched the movie Encanto that just came out and glad we had the closed captioning on and a few translators there. It was super cute and we all liked it! We then had our Christmas program. Everyone got to pick a song to play or sing together and then we all told what our gifts were to Jesus. My mom said she has done this for years where she gives the gifts of "gold, frankensence and myrrh" to Christ each year. The gold is something monetary she gives, the frankensence is something about wellness she does and myrrh is rejuvenating so she does something spiritually for that one. Pretty great idea! It was fun to see what everyone came up with. Working harder, being more faithful, slowing down, sharing the Gospel, doing geneology more, being kinder, and more were some we came up with. The kids also loved playing the different musical instruments and spent lots of time jamming out together. Then it was over to the Ryerses for dinner and Brian's birthday. We made paninis for dinner, then did our pinata, which was a kittycorn this year. Dave duct-taped it to look like a raccoon though, haha! We all laughed and had a great time doing that. Then we sang to Brian for his birthday and had spice cake. We read the Christmas story from the scriptures, Cov prayed (he made sure to bless that Santa would be safe as he traveled throughout the world, so sweet!) and it was off to bed for the kids. Sydnie kept going to the window looking for signs of Santa. They had a rough time settling down but Emma helped get them all to sleep finally. Dave and I went with Brian and Ryan (Brian's best friend) to Walgreens to see the crazies and to get Slurpees, a tradition we've been doing for at least 10 years. Then we watched midnight mass on TV. Most of the time we laugh through it. I really loved some of Pope Francis' comments though. He talked about we can be the Christmas card as we write Christ on our hearts. The Christmas lights as we let our light shine. The Christmas meal as we share what we have with others. I thought that was cool.
Christmas Day - The hope that comes because we celebrate Christ's birth on this day. We have hope for the past, present and future because of who He is and all He has done for us! We lined the kids up, all of the kiddos woke up with no problem, except Sydnie. Then they went to see what Santa brought! He brought Sydnie a few Calico Critters, a Polly Pocket set and an ice-cream set. Cov got a hover board. Lucy got an American Girl doll that looks like her that she named Bree. Emma got an electric guitar. And Callahan got a bass guitar. They were all so excited and got spoiled this year! Santa also brought some fun stocking stuffers. I love the joy and excitement on their faces! We played for a bit and then headed to the Stoddards for brunch. We had ableskeivers, french toast bake, hash browns and fruit for breakfast. We played, the kids opened their fun presents from grandparents and we played some more. Then we went back to the Ryerses to open more presents and play all afternoon. We also saw Grandpa Chuck (Grandma Carol was sleeping). We shared our favorite scriptures about Christ and had a turkey dinner. That night, some went to go see a Spiderman movie at the theatre. Then we went to church the day after. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what it's all about! Dave and I gave each other our trip this fall, and we gave the kids a pass that will get us into Lagoon and lots of other local fun places this year, a Christmas book, and a diorama nativity.
Post Christmas - Christmas break was spent cleaning, playing with our new toys, trying not to fight too much, being outside, shoveling snow, having sleepovers in the living room, playing the Switch, reading lots, and more. Grandma & Granpda Stoddard came for a couple of nights and days. We made some good food, tried to get Sydnie to sleep in her own bed, went to the library for their life size Candy Land, went to a couple stores, played board games, and went to see the movie Sing 2 at the theatres. One night we went to our ice skating rink. It was so fun all lit up, disco ball and all!
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