AND SHE *SINGS* TOO!

Hi Alert Readers!  Santa nearly broke his sleigh dragging presents into the house this year!  Last year, there were only seven of us to be together for Christmas. THIS year, we had THREE more!!!!!  This year, we added our returned-missionary grandson Nick, his beautiful fiancée Emily, and –of course- Li'l Miss Rory!  It was great fun!!!!!!  But in all the hubbub and ballyhoo of the holiday, I neglected to write the blog, and Rory wasn't here to write it either. Well, she was HERE, but too busy playing with her grownups to write anything.  I'll have a little talk with her about that.

One week ago today, Ali, Trevor, Nick&Emily (that's how we think of them now!), and RORY came over and we made our traditional family truffles. YUMMY!  It was so fun to all be together!  And the truffles turned out great!

Sunday, we all went to church at Chris and Kristin's Ward. We almost always go to their Ward for the Christmas program, but especially now that Chris is in the Bishopric.  Rory arrived in full glory in her gorgeous Christmas coat and pretty red dress.  We had bought her a pair of silver shoes (soft ones), but they didn't want to stay on.     . . .  sigh . . .    Isn't that the way it goes??????? 

She was quite a hit in Sacrament Meeting.  The minute the organ began to play the opening carol, Rory began to "sing". She "sang" clear through the song. I was holding her at the time, and Denny and I were concerned that we wouldn't be able to make her stop when the song ended. BUT the minute WE all stopped singing, so did she!!!!!  That is, until the Sacrament Hymn, which –again- she sang, at the top of her lungs.  Sooooooooo cute!  We relaxed when the Sacrament Hymn was over, thinking we were "safe". We hadn't thought about the CHOIR!  Oh yeah . . . she joined the Three Fountains Ward Choir in full throat. We were all about falling apart by then.  She was ready to move up a row to sit with Uncle Trevor then- and there was no more music until the closing carol, which she slept through. I think we might have a musician in our midst!  TRA-LA-LA!  Oh my, she is so stinkin' cute!

Christmas Eve, Andrew and Nick had to work, but they were off by 5:00 and we met at our house for dinner at 6:00.  Ummmmmmmm . . . prime rib, stuffed potatoes, corn, etc. And cheese cake with cherries!  After dinner, we played a game set around the scriptural account of the Savior's birth. (For example: how many Wise Men were there? Bet your guess is not correct! The Bible doesn't say! It just says, "Wise men . . .". No number!)  We had prizes and everything!  Then we watched "The Grinch . . .", another family tradition. Denny had purchased a tray of snacks from a Figi's catalog, with summer sausages, a variety of cheeses –both soft and hard-, some sweet goodies, etc. It was a big hit!  Then 6 of us played "Scattergories" while the others just chatted and laughed. Everybody left about 10:00 or so . . . .

Christmas morning, we all met at Chris and Krissy's at 9:00'ish for cinnamon rolls, orange rolls and milk. Nick, Trevor and Rory each opened a small gift from Santa, and then Andrew and Ali brought Rory to our house, and we got to play with her while the rest of the family went to see "Les Mis". They went to the noon showing, and came back to pick up Rory about 3:30'ish. We don't have a car seat, so we couldn't take her anywhere. But we all went back to Chris and Kristin's to open presents!!!!  We got started about 4:00! WOW!  Andrew helped me roast the other prime rib, and it turned out great!  We ate dinner about 6:00 or so . . . and then just sat around and chatted and/or slept.

We had a terrific time with Rory at our house.  We had given her a cute caterpillar toy for Christmas. It comes with five round balls and some wheels. If you push down on the MIDDLE ball, the caterpillar scoots quickly across the floor. It is really cute. We showed Rory several times how to make it work, but she is only six months and didn't get it. BUT, she was flailing her hands around, and accidentally banged the middle ball. The caterpillar went flying across the floor and smacked into the bookshelf!  Rory looked up at me like I had yanked her bottle away or something!  Of course, I laughed . . . but then repented and got the caterpillar for her. Oh my . . . we love that little stinker!  We gave her a spinning top (all enclosed and really cute), a little musical thing that she can sing along with, and a BendyBall. We had given her the BIG present a couple of months ago. It is so fun to have a little one to shop for again!  ;-] 

We had a really lovely Christmas. It was wonderful to have the whole family together like that!  And what a rich blessing Rory is to our whole group . . .  

No big plans for New Year's Eve. We've recorded some old black and white movies ("Going My Way", "Alibi Ike", "Meet John Doe" and others – we like CHOICES!) to watch. Also of course, "movie snacks"! Just the two of us. YAY! 

Okay- that's it for today. Rory just arrived for her Friday visit with her Papa and GG.  I'm sorry, but if you balance loving on Rory against writing more it this blog, RORY WINS, EVERY TIME!!!!!!

Farwell for now, Alert Readers. More to follow!  HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all!