Christmas 2020 Came--

Christmas Eve we headed to Panda Express which has been our new(er) tradition now that the kids are adults.  On the way to the restaurant, Gary took a couple of detours to show us some houses whose lights had made the news.

The first one was way to overdone that I didn't even take a picture, but this house was quite amazing and enjoyable to observe.  They also do a musical performance which you could listen to on the radio but we didn't arrange to be there at the right times for that.

A corner house, they put lights all the way down their side/back yards as well.......

Some people really give an extra effort on their displays.  We enjoyed looking at the lights, but you wonder how the neighbors feel about the lights and the extra traffic they bring.

We ate our Panda Express and watched a Christmas movie or two.  We then read the Christmas story together, each reading a verse.  Reading the story with Jena is quite a treat and I appreciate the work she put in to learn to read.

And as tradition allows--one present for the children to open from Mrs. Claus. But surprise, this year she left one for Gary as well.

A pair of train pjs for Gary--in honor of some of his favorite pjs as a kid--train pjs from his grandma (that started our whole Christmas pjs. tradition.)

We lined up for the traditional "Christmas train" hanging up of the stockings.  Gary made so many train noises that it got the dogs barking and following us around the house until Gary finally got to the fire place to hand our stockings.  We leave the other four stockings hung up in honor of our other four children and their families who are celebrating in their own homes this Christmas.

Christmas Morning---

the tree is ready

the stockings are stuffed (Gary's is covered up because he filled my stocking after I filled his and no peeking is allowed.)

We used our timer to take a family shot to share with our kids--

i

n the piano room with our new thin Christmas tree.....

Lined up in the kitchen to retrieve our Christmas stockings---

We took a break between our stockings and opening presents because the breakfast casserole was done.

And as usual, one of the highlights of the morning is reading the tags that Jena puts on my presents--

The man???

Did you get a present from the tooth fairy?

Gary said that Jena is only following my example---

And she does do some "traditional" tags----

Gary got into the act this year as well with a couple of gifts that he wrapped himself.

Jena passed out the gifts this year.  She likes us each to have a present and then all three of us unwrapped our gifts at the same time.  It is fun but we will need to plan for that in the future and get our present count similar.

Jena had asked for a purple shirt for Christmas.  She looks great in purple and often gets comments when wearing purple so it didn't surprise me.  So she got two new purple shirts.  Here is one of them.

When she opened them up, she said, "They will remind me of Uncle Lance."  Purple is Lance's favorite color.  How sweet is that!  Now they will remind me of him each times she wears one of them, too.

Christmas afternoon was spent cooking as we were going to have Christmas dinner with Jessica, Elessia, and their kids including baby Ezri.

Earlier in the day, I had looked on facebook and saw people's pictures of their Christmas dinner table and thought I should do the same--but I forgot so this is what you get--rib bones and potato salad.  The food was good, even though the kids were more excited to be at Grandma's house than eating.  The adults enjoyed it.

Trying to get a family photo with five little people.  I took about 20 shots but none that were good---but this is life!

Brothers by the Christmas tree--

We were so glad to spend some time with them on Christmas day!

Despite the niceness of the day and the fun of the evening, it was hard to not have Ben with us.  We weren't even able to talk to him as no one answered the patient phone when we called earlier in the day and then when I got through in the evening, Ben was already in bed (at 8:30).  This is our first Christmas without spending part of the day with him.  Even when he was in the state hospital before, we spent the night in Provo and spent time with him on Christmas eve and Christmas day.  We aren't alone in this, of course.  Because of the pandemic, people are alone in hospitals, assisted living places, and in their own homes to keep themselves and others safe.  I know that and I understand it.  I am grateful for the state hospital for being so cautious because that protects Ben as well.  But it doesn't mean that I miss him less.  I miss Scott and Tosha and their families as well, but that is a different kind of missing--they are surrounded by their own children and working to make the holiday special for them.  That is what I want them to be doing.  And it was fun to see their messages and photos of the day on my phone.  Not quite as good as being there--but great anyway.

Tosha and Austen's Christmas---

These were part of the matching pjs set that Tosha got for their whole family---they wear their Christmas pajamas all month long which is such a great idea--because the fun of actual Christmas pajamas is wearing them during the holiday season.  I have enjoyed catching them in their pajamas as we facetimed during the month.

Two of the three of them in pajamas from us--Niki had the more grown-up sharks on his.  They are standing in front of their kids Christmas tree in their upstairs landing.

Scott/Chantel's: Unfortunately, the Christmas box didn't arrive in time for James and Scarlett to get their pajamas on Christmas eve.  I haven't heard if it has even arrived now.  However, they had a great Christmas without it.  They made cinnamon rolls together on Christmas Eve--one of their new traditions, Chantel said. Scott said they had a great Christmas.

Jessica and Elessia's:    pjs from us on Christmas Eve----

I think it was a success in Salt Lake, Oro Valley, Tacoma, and Syracuse.  Despite the pandemic and worries of the year--we did it anyway!

Merry Christmas to all and to all, a good night!