What a great family Christmas party we had!!  We missed Jenn and Scott terribly, but were glad they could join us electronically for a few moments.  I have some photos that I will try to get Dad to help me put up when he gets home.  I must look into the app that Elise has that makes it easy to do that...

 

My very favorite part of the party was being at the bookstore with the grandchildren.  I loved watching them look for books, read them together, give each other ideas, show aunts and uncles their choices.  It was sweet to see Elise reading to Joe and recommending books to Emma.  It was fun to watch Joe and Lori chase the twins around and doing "Jack in the Box," with squeals each time Jack jumped out!  It was delightful to hear darling little Eliza adamantly state that she would only settle for a book about monsters (she finally chose one about a pig).  Thank you, thank you for allowing me such a wonderful time with the children. I really hope it can become a tradition!  We loved spending time at the church, too.  Fun, fun times.  Loved every minute of it :)

 

And thanks for your kindness to me.  I feel officially graduated now!  Thank you for the flowers, the oils, the support and patience.  I'm grateful for the experience and all I've learned. It has been a life-changing experience for me.

 

Now, on to the next phase of Christmas.  Emma is about finished collecting money for her private "sub for Santa" effort.  She tries to find some very needy people and usually goes to Angela (Ashcroft) Hansen for ideas.  Angela is the RS Pres in a ward by Willow Park where there are some very intense needs.  She is always so grateful and says the people are very humbled and grateful to receive any help.  For perspective, I've pasted a copy of her email here.  These are the kinds of folks we feel very good about helping.

 

"Robin and helpers,

Here are some people. There's quite a few. Don't feel obligated to do them all. Pick the ones you want.  And thanks so much for helping! You make a huge difference!

Any type of gift would be great for these first few families.

Gentile's:

    Brinlie - age 9

    Gauge - age 7
    Elliana - age 6
    Max - age 3
Bunkall:
    Kyle - age 10
Done:
    Zachary - age 14
    Kyle - age 13
Wilkins:
    Corey - age 10

For the families below I have a few suggestions:
Mathison family: They have 1 son named Oscar - age 7 or 8. We don't have him on our records for some reason (probably wasn't blessed as a baby) so I can't look up his exact age....  His family is very dysfunctional - but leaps and bounds more functional than the families his parents grew up in. So they are doing well...sort of. They are all addicted to their electronic devices and all go to separate rooms to watch TV, play video games, and Oscar watches movies and you-tube videos most of the time. They never eat dinner as a family and their meals consist of hot dogs and chicken nuggets - stuff you can heat up in a microwave. Then they carry it to their rooms and eat alone while they do their games and stuff. I would recommend some thing they can do as a family like board games, etc.
Bro. Carlson - age 59. I recommend some kind of care package. He had a brain tumor years ago. When they did brain surgery it left one side of his body not able to work - kind of like someone who has had a stroke. He is very poor and is only able to work 4 hours per day at the DI. I know he doesn't eat well because he can't really cook one-handed and it's super hard for him to even open a can. He recently quit smoking and went through the temple this year for the first time! He comes to church an hour early and waits for ward council to get out so the men can help him put on a tie, tie his shoes, and button up his shirt. I'm sure its a hard task to get ready every Sunday morning. However, lately he hasn't come at all for the last 5 weeks. We are all very concerned about him. We're concerned he feels he's a burden to everyone. :(
Helen - age 47. She recently got out of jail and moved into a camper trailer in the trailer park in our ward. She is doing great - comes to church every week without fail. She's working hard to change her life. She's going to start working at DI this week. She could use some curtains or fabric to make curtains or a propane tank to heat her trailer (about the size of one you'd use for your grill).
Sis. Cox - age 75 widow. A care package would be great for her too.

Thanks so much for all you do!!!!!"

Have a lovely Christmas, you wonderful family, you!!  I hope you find joy in helping some people who need a lift this season.  Like Emma said, "Why is it only at Christmas time that we think it's the 'season for giving'?"  She's certainly right - we can determine to give more generously all year long! That would be a great New Year's resolution...

Speaking of New Year's - we talked with some of you about Carl's invitation to have another party at his house on the first day of 2016.  If you are interested in attending, please let us know right away!