A Fun Tuesday

I enjoy my Tuesday morning Inklings group. Before I go to my Inklings meeting, I study the General Conference talk and then watch the Inklings podcast. 

Emily Belle Freeman hosts the podcasts. She posts on Thursday morning and then my group meets the following Tuesday to have our discussion. I love that she was in her pajamas for this podcast because it was Christmas morning and aren't we all in our pajamas on Christmas morning? We are at my house. 

I really enjoy doing a deep dive into the conference talk for the week and then listening to the podcast is great too. But my favorite part of Inklings is meeting with my group. We are at all ages and stages of life. I'm the oldest one and we have a couple of ladies in their twenties. All of us are moms, some have little children and some of us have adult children. It is fun to learn from one another. 

Abby and I went out for lunch at Domoishi. It is fun having one on one time with my grandchildren. 

We ended the day at the movie theater to watch David.

The movie was good. We all enjoyed it. It is fun to be able to do these fun activities with our family. 

Family Christmas

Family Christmas was fun! We made soups, had a veggie tray, cheese tray, and breads. It was yummy! 

Then the kids sorted and passed out the gifts. 

There were lots of squeals and laughter. It is always fun to watch the kids open their gifts. 

Everyone had fun checking out their gifts and chatting. 

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is different when everyone in the house is an adult. 

We had a breakfast casserole for breakfast with the Kissels and then we exchanged gifts. 

Izzy got a weighted Highland Cow.

Izzy wanted a CD/cassette tape player and a Fleetwood Mac CD

Gary was happy with his socks, tools, and shirts. I ordered him some books but they won't be arriving until after Christmas. 

Izzy heading home with her gifts. 

Clay is ready to try out some of his new kitchen tools

Liz loved her new books, calendar, cookbook, and coupon for shopping.

This beautiful nativity picture was in that big box that had me wondering what was inside. 

I love my gifts! A book I wanted by Sheri Dew, A Harry Potter Pop Up book, 27 Dresses, a fun movie, Here Come the Brides TV show from my childhood, chocolate peppermint herbal tea, and a carved nativity tree. 

Here's a better photo of the nativity tree

Gary's gifts. 

Then we all had some time to relax and check out our new gifts. We were going to the Aina home for our family Christmas dinner at four. 

Getting Ready For Christmas

We went to the Ray's annual Hot Chocolate Stand. 

They've been doing this for 10 years now. They donate the money they raise to a charity each year. This year they are donating to The Giving Machine DC. 

One fun thing is that they use my Hot Chocolate Mix recipe. It is a yummy hot chocolate!

The Aina family caroled while there was a group gathered at the Hot Chocolate Stand and then they were off to carol to other families in Leonard's Grant.

I enjoy listening to Christmas music in the dark, by tree light and sipping hot chocolate.

Ellie came over one afternoon and helped me wrap presents. Then after dinner, Izzy taught Ellie and I to make some origami stars. 

We had fun crafting and chatting. Ellie made a four point star and Izzy made a five point star. 

My star is smaller and it is a six point star. We had a fun time. 

Gary also got in on the gift wrapping fun!

I even got a smile from him. 

This is what we do with large packages. We use up all the odd scraps of wrapping paper. There is at least one every Christmas. 

I have no idea what is in the big, brown, cardboard box. It is a gift for me from Gary. 

We attended the Zobell's Annual Soup Kitchen too. There are always yummy soups and I appreciate it that Erin always makes sure that there is at least one gluten free soup. This year there were two gluten free soups, so Gary tried both. I tried her ravioli soup and also the chicken and mushroom soup. Both were yummy. It is a fun way to just relax with friends, enjoy a yummy meal of soup before Christmas. 

This year I had all of my Christmas cards mailed before Christmas and the gifts were all wrapped before we went to the Zobell's house. We actually dropped off our gifts for the Aina family at their home after we left the Zobell's house. Sarah, Adeline, and Isla, helped us carry everything inside. Tony was out shopping with Ezra, Ellie, and Abby. That way everything would be there for our family Christmas dinner on Christmas day.

I got one of my gifts early. Tony and Sarah made these cute wooden presents for me. I love them!

Our final stop was Food Lion to pick up some last minute things. Look who we saw, he even had a Food Lion nametag on that said Santa. 

Ward Christmas Party

Check out this cute sheep in the children's nativity play

This shepherd loves his sheep

The donkey was ready to carry Mary to Bethlehem

Tony and Abby sang Mary's Little Boy Child

The sister missionaries, Sis Holt and Sis Stearns sang

It was a nice evening with our ward family. We had ham and side dishes and lots of yummy desserts too. We sang Christmas songs and enjoyed the children presenting the nativity play. 

Book Basket Party

What fun book baskets for our party! Everyone brought a favorite book they have read but it wasn't a book club pick. We each selected a few items that tied into the book and then placed all the items in a basket. It was a fun evening. 

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman

Akarnae by Lynette Noni

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

The Three Miss Margarets by Louis Shaffer

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margaretta Magnusson

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez

Assistant To The Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer.

Happy Reading everyone!