Full Calendar

Just for me... I want to note my December Calendar.

Dec. 1.  Empty Nester FHE Christmas party with home ward

Dec. 2. Christmas band gigs begin. Elsie 6th Birthday,  Emma Nissen Holiday concert.

Dec. 3. Water Tower Branch dinner and Choir practice

Dec. 4. Addiction Recovery meeting

Dec. 5. Home ward Cowboy Christmas party.  Wayne playing songs on his guitar

Dec. 6. Poppy baptism.

Dec. 7.  Family dinner

Dec. 8.  Merrily We Roll Along tickets with Landon’s family

Dec. 9. Band Christmas gig. Cole Sibling Christmas party at Joy Luck.  Liz in charge

Dec. 10  Water tower Branch dinner and Choir practice

Dec. 11. Addiction Recovery meeting

Dec. 12. Holly Friend 2 Friend Christmas program.   Grandkid game night

Dec. 13. Friend 2 Friend Christmas program. Welch family Christmas Home Alone Party.

Dec. 14.  Lights on party!

Dec. 15.  School secret Santa gift exchange,  Holly’s Friend 2 Friend Program, Sophia Christmas Choir concert at Viewpoint

Dec. 16.  Carol’s brunch, Band Christmas gig.  Friend 2 friend final program.

Dec. 17. Deliver Christmas bagels to all our Partner Schools,  Water Tower branch dinner and Choir practice

Dec. 18. Elsie and Lady song and dance Christmas program, Addiction Recovery meeting.

Dec. 19. Dinner with West Bountiful friends at Webster’s home.

Dec. 20. A Christmas Story show at Centerpoint with friend Bonnie Benedict

Dec. 21.  Water Tower Branch Christmas Choir program and Brunch.  Cole family extended dinner and white elephant exchange.

Dec. 22. FHE with Edgar's Christmas gathering

Dec. 23.  Band Christmas Gig, 

Dec. 24.  Christmas Around the world— Spain. 

Dec. 25.  Christmas Day.   Addiction recovery meeting and dinner.  

And in and around all of this Wayne as made over 100 loaves of Sourdough bread!

Lights ON 2025

Our annual Lights on party was splendid.  We have to start with Fondue-- it's mandatory at this point. When else can you dip and dunk and try to your hearts content.  We dip everything in chocolate or cheese.  we have meatballs, steak and smokies for our protein and a ton of fruits, veggies, cookies, chips and crackers.  (17 of us, we were only missing Laila and Markus)

 Christmas pajamas for all the grandkids.  I didn't do well with sizing this year... they grew faster than I thought..so we just passed down the pj's and Andrew didn't get any-- he was okay with that.  We pinned a little pair to his body for the picture.

We start in a dark house, and head outside for the TESLA light show and the turning on of the house lights.  We ooh and ahh over every light that gets turned on and we sing a Christmas song.  I'm so grateful that my family likes to sing.  The music is the best part for me.

Tese lyrics are particularly impactful to me this year: Away in a Manger-- "Be near me Lord Jesus I ask thee to stay close by me forever and love me I pray."  and from Oh come All Ye Faithful -- "Oh come let us adore Him!"  I love that Jesus is easy to love and we get to all do that together.

We huddle together and light up the Christmas village, the nativities, and finally the Christmas tree. Then we pass around a candle and tell how the person next to us lights up the world... most by being kind, generous, and thoughtful.  It's sweet to hear what the kids have to say about each other.

THEN  the Talent show begins!  We had Andrew and Sophia playing a song on the saxophone and flute.  We ahd Tayla, Lady and Elsie singing a Jesus nativity song with actons, Lady andd Poppy doing a dance and song they made up about themselves, Elsie doing a cartwheel and Geo a somersault, Alfie playing the piano while Poppy sings all 12 vs to 12 days of Christmas, Landon "Doing Choreography" from White Christmas as Danny kaye, Truman reciting a part of the Clueless movie, Addison juggling bags and hitting the drum on the exact beart of a Whitney Houston song, Bre playing the piano, Monson wiggling his ears, Lexi talking about all of her talents that can't be performed, Wayne playing the guitar and I led everone in a sing along.  Alex brought Brazilian cheese balls as his talent. I forgot to do a card trick that I had prepared... there's always next year.  Then we watched old family videos of our grandkids.  It was a glorious night.  This is my favorite holiday tradition.

Home Alone

Our “Home Alone” themed party for the Welch extended family was good!  We had pizza, salad, and Wayne brought his ice cream machine– and we went through 110 cones-  We had 65 family members in attendance… and Wanee was thrilled.  We had a Home Alone movie quiz, and then we all yelled “Kevin,” and put our hands on our faces and said “Ahhhhh!”   This is like putting on a ward party every year.

Bingo with prizes is always the highlight!  Wayne and Rob ran it this year. I’m so grateful for this big Welch family that I get to be a part of. Monson helped get the ice cream machine there and set up…he, Lexi and their girls, and Geo, Alfie and Landon came from our family.  Landon is always so great at taking time to greet everyone, going from table to table talking to all of his cousins, aunts and uncles.  I love this about him.

O come All you Unfaithful.

 I got to sing this song to our Water Tower Branch on Sunday.  It has such a beautiful message.   I sang a duet with Stanford Phipps... our branch choir director.  He used to be in a hard metal rock band before his prison time.  Now he spends all of his days at the Family research center doing work on his ancestors.  He's a gem.  Wayne and Nick Cash played guitar and Dave Adams the piano.  

O come, all you Unfaithful. Come, weak and unstable. Come, know you are not alone.  

O come, barren and waiting ones, weary of praying.  Come. See what your God has done. 

 O come, bitter and broken. Come, with fears unspoken. Come, taste of his perfect love.  

O come, guilty and hiding ones, there is no need to fun.  See what your God has done.  

Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you.

He's the lamb who was given. Slain for our Pardon. His promise is peace for those who believe.   

Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. 

Grand kid game night December

Grandkid game night was Friday… We had Holly’s Christmas program beforehand at Centerpoint– which Alfie, Poppy, and Geo came to– then we gathered at our house for chicken nuggets as per our usual dinner– then we walked through the Layton lights– it would have been better had there been snow, but it was still pretty magical.  George proclaimed to everyone that this was the best night of his life!  

Alfie and Poppy could not leave each other alone while they were squished in the car– sometimes siblings are like this– it went on and on– Tayla tried to referee, but finally Wayne said, “Hey, if you two can’t get along, you will have to get out of the car and walk home!”  Just like he did to Landon and Addison when they were little– that got their attention.  The end of the Addison and Landon story is that they showed up at our house just a few minutes after Wayne and I got home because Grandpa Lyle drove by them and picked them up.  No lesson learned– except Grandpa Lyle is the rescuer.   

We came back to our house, and Andrew and Sophia joined us for the making of Gingerbread-candy houses.  We tried putting frosting and candy on all of the parts before they were assembled.  So we decorated it all flat, then we hot-glued the houses together– it worked out pretty well. We had frosting EVERYWHERE!   The two I was most impressed with were Elsie and George– they just went ahead doing it all by themselves and being very creative about it.   Elsie was detailed and precise with her placement of everything and Geo just plastered his with frosting and candy and everything he likes to eat.  So cute.  Sophia finished up with a round of Santa, candy cane, elf, rudolph.  We love having these grands with us.   

Poppy lost a tooth while she was here– she was thrilled because my grands all know they can bypass the tooth fairy by giving the tooth to me and I’ll pay them 5 bucks!  

Lady got braces and it’s a struggle to get pediatric braces at 7 years old…. Yikes.  While she was here, she was wiping frosting off her face with a washcloth, and the washcloth got caught on her braces!  It was dramatic to get it back off..and my eyes are not that great, so Alfie was instructing me on what to do, while Lady tried not to cry.

Wayne asked Geo if he wanted an almond.  Geo said, “I like almonds.  They taste like nuts!”

You can't get them back....

We’re 30. It’s December. And he asks me what I want for Christmas this year.  I laugh and say…

Oh, I don’t know.  Sleep. Silence.  Sanity?

He half smiles because we both know I can’t have that.

We’re in our 60’s now.  It’s December.  And he asks me what I want for Christmas this year.

I look at the tree, filled with handmade ornaments, now decades old.  They hang quietly, untouched.

I look at the lights, glowing across an empty floor.

No longer full of toy cars, Lego, and crumbs.

I recall the years when everything felt crazy alive.

The squeals at sunrise.

The torn open boxes.

The little voices yelling, “Mom, come see!”

I cry and say, “Oh, I don’t know.  Just one more Christmas when they were little?”

He half smiles because we both know I can’t have that.

And that’s when it hits me. I got everything I thought I wanted when I was 30.  

The days are messy, but the years are magic. And you can’t get them back.

Enjoy them.

Christmas is now a melancholy time for me.

Poppy's baptism

 Our Poppy the Joyful got baptized and she was so thrilled!  Addison baptized her and Wayne confirmed her.  I said a prayer and her other 2 grandparents gave talks.  Poppy wore a gorgeous white dress, with a flower crown that her and Addison made together.  She sang a special song with some of her girl cousins-- "A Child's Prayer." She loved the attention.  

ON sunday, she got up and bore her simple testimony.  Poppy is very thoughtful and worte down what she wanted to say and remember about her baptism day... she said, " I was baptized yesterday and I felt warmness and peace. And now I'm trying to be like Jesus and I know it is hard to be like him.  Amen."