We had two big events here last week. One was the arrival of the Christmas tree in our home. On Monday evening after yoga (we still go to yoga class every Monday afternoon), we drove up to the tree farm on Greenman Hill. They had so many beautiful trees that it took us a while to decide on one. We finally chose an eight foot spruce that had just been cut that day. They wrapped it for us and we brought it home. We decorated it for Family Home Evening. It took us several hours to complete the decorating with all the untangling of light strings and the telling of the stories that accompany most of the ornaments. The end result was beautiful. As usual, we proclaimed it the prettiest tree we ever had. Now our Christmas decorating is complete.
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| Choosing a tree. |
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| Wrapping the tree for transport. |
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| Decorating. |
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| The finished tree. |
Now that the Christmas tree is up, some of us have been wrapping presents. It seems that every couple of days a few more turn up under the tree.
The other big event last week was going to see StarWars VIII: The Last Jedi. My family (by which I mean me and my children) are big Star Wars fans. It all began with me back in 1977 when the first movie, Star Wars (which was renamed Epsiode IV: A New Hope), came out. I went to see it ten times before I left on my mission and then I got to watch it again while I was in Japan. The next movie, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), came out right after I returned home from Japan and I went to see it on opening night. We, by which I mean me and then my children as they came along, went to see each installment – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), and Episode VII: The Force Awakens, (2015), plus the spin-off Rogue One (2016). We’ve watched all of them many times at the theater and at home. This latest installment was pretty good. We’ve had some fun discussions about what has happened with the story and our theories about where it will go next. It’s fun to sit and talk (or message with the distant children) about it all.
Daniel and I spent some time during the week building book shelves in the big room upstairs. We’ve been trying to organize that room. It gets a bit chaotic as it functions as my work room, the family room, and sometimes as a guest bedroom. When the shelves were done, we gathered books that were lodged willy-nilly on smaller shelves around the house and put them all in one place. Now we have two big book cases in the house – one in the music room downstairs and one in the big room upstairs.
The next step in organizing the big room came on Saturday when we tackled the closet in that room. It was packed to the top with toys, luggage, clothing, and other items. We tossed some things out, gave some of it to the thrift store, and then organized what remained into bins. I like putting things in order. The room is tidy and ready for company. The company will be here on Friday when the Thayns arrive to spend Christmas with us. We’re so excited that they will be here with us!
The other big event last week was going to see StarWars VIII: The Last Jedi. My family (by which I mean me and my children) are big Star Wars fans. It all began with me back in 1977 when the first movie, Star Wars (which was renamed Epsiode IV: A New Hope), came out. I went to see it ten times before I left on my mission and then I got to watch it again while I was in Japan. The next movie, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), came out right after I returned home from Japan and I went to see it on opening night. We, by which I mean me and then my children as they came along, went to see each installment – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), and Episode VII: The Force Awakens, (2015), plus the spin-off Rogue One (2016). We’ve watched all of them many times at the theater and at home. This latest installment was pretty good. We’ve had some fun discussions about what has happened with the story and our theories about where it will go next. It’s fun to sit and talk (or message with the distant children) about it all.
Daniel and I spent some time during the week building book shelves in the big room upstairs. We’ve been trying to organize that room. It gets a bit chaotic as it functions as my work room, the family room, and sometimes as a guest bedroom. When the shelves were done, we gathered books that were lodged willy-nilly on smaller shelves around the house and put them all in one place. Now we have two big book cases in the house – one in the music room downstairs and one in the big room upstairs.
The next step in organizing the big room came on Saturday when we tackled the closet in that room. It was packed to the top with toys, luggage, clothing, and other items. We tossed some things out, gave some of it to the thrift store, and then organized what remained into bins. I like putting things in order. The room is tidy and ready for company. The company will be here on Friday when the Thayns arrive to spend Christmas with us. We’re so excited that they will be here with us!
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| New book shelves and clean closet in the big room. |
Nature decided to do some Christmas decorating last week too. We got some snow during the week. We have about six inches of it on the ground and I’m hoping it stays long enough for us to have a white Christmas for once. The last few years, our Christmases have been warm and brown. Last year on Christmas Day we took a walk up the road in just shirt sleeves. The weather forecast doesn’t look too hopeful for this Christmas, though. The temperatures all week will be just above freezing which will turn the snow to slush. So, I’ll be singing I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, and Let it Snow all week.
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