The 3 Gifts of the Wisemen

 

At our book club breakfast, Lois Sucher, who is quite a scripture scholar, shared with us what the 3 gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh meant. 

According to Lois' studies, gold was brought because gold was always brought (and usually demanded) when one paid a visit to a king. So, gold for the KING.

Frankincense was incense burned in the ancient temple. It was burned by the high priest at the veil that led to the Holy of Holies. The high priest would use a special cup that was shaped like a hand, that had a long handle, to pick up hot coals and add to the incense. The hot coals plus incense would cause smoke to rise like prayers to heaven. Frankincense for the HIGH PRIEST. 

Myrrh, as used anciently, was a special myrrh harvested from certain trees by pounding spikes into the bark. A gum would ooze from the damaged spots on the tree. The hardened gum is myrrh and was used for healing. Myrrh because of HIS SACRIFICE. 

Preparing for Christmas

I have had so much fun getting ready for Christmas this year. I went to Luminaria with Annie Oswald, I went to a German Christmas Market in Salt Lake. I attended a Swedish Lucia Celebration. I went to a King's Singers concert at BYU. I saw a gingerbread house competition. It's been a really, really fun month. AND if the weather cooperates, the girls and I will be at DISNEYLAND ON CHRISTMAS DAY!

Dad has a temple patron who works at Thanksgiving Point and she gifted him some tickets to Luminaria. Dad gave me 2 and I took Annie. She's cheap like I am and had never taken her kids, so it was her first time. We had a blast. It was late November and wasn't snowy or icy. It wasn't too crowded, either. We really had a good time. We got some fun photos. Near the end of our time, a man offered to take our picture and we got my favorite pictures of us together. The nice man also left a selfie on my phone. We laughed about that one. 

The funny guy who took our awesome photos

On Friday, December 3, I was sitting in the School of Family Life Student Association board meeting and we were talking about Christmas traditions. I mentioned Santa Lucia and someone asked me if I was going to Lucia in Salt Lake. I had no idea there was a celebration in SLC. Evidently it sells out fast, so my chances of going were 0. But, after the meeting, Lauren, our president came and asked me if I wanted her ticket for the 4th. She couldn't go and wanted it to get used. It was only $6. I was so excited. I had also heard about a German Christmas market that was going on at the This is the Place Park. 

The morning of the 4th, I met Annie Oswald at University Place, where we walked a bit and took in the gingerbread house competition. We loved the Harry Potter Diagon Alley house. It should have won. There is so much talent. I don't have the patience to do such fussy work. 

Diagon Alley

Jabba the Hut's lair

After lunch, I got dressed in my fun Christmas dress and headed to SLC. The German market was PACKED! It was a beautiful day, no snow, not cold. It was wonderful. I honestly didn't know what to see or do, then I heard someone call my name. It was Rebecca, an SFLSA board member who volunteers at the market. I asked her what her favorite is at the market and she suggested the Silent Night presentation in the old church. It was lovely. there was narration and singing. 2 men sang in German. Did you know that Silent Night is so revered in Austria that they wait to sing it until 5:00 pm on December 24? Cool. I also bought a couple of cute Santa ornaments - one for MaryJane McGuire and one for me.

All I had to do was drive down 13th East to the First Baptist Church to get to the Lucia celebration. As I was driving there, I realized how crowded the market was...the line of cars wanting to turn and park in the This is the Place parking lot was sooooo long. I'm glad google maps took me to the backside of the park where parking was quite easy. I got to the venue early enough to browse the store. I had no idea what to expect. They do have a store with a lot of Swedish items, from traditional dress to cheese. The checkout line was super long, so I didn't even consider buying anything. I went to the church to get in line. That paid off because I got a great seat. I was seated next to a woman who was seated on the aisle, so I had very little obstructions in my photos. On the other side of me was a very nice woman named Sarah Christensen. Her husband and daughter served missions in Sweden. They have 7 generations of missionaries serving in Sweden. When I mentioned to her that I didn't buy anything at the store, especially yulmust, a drink that dad loves, she told me to follow her out to their car after the Lucia and she would give me a bottle for dad. The Lucia was BEAUTIFUL. It was so fun to connect with my Swedish roots. I really want to take my kids next year. All of the songs were in Swedish. The Christensens were so kind and gave me 2 bottles of yulmust for dad. 

My neighbor, Misty Wright, had given me 2 tickets to the King's Singers' concert at BYU on Friday, December 10. Mom and I went. Again, I put on my Christmas dress. We had a really nice time. The King's Singers is an acapella mens group out of England that has been performing for over 50 years. As singers age out, they replace them with younger members. They sang some old, old Christmas songs and some fun new ones. We really enjoyed ourselves. I do wonder when we're going to be able to ditch masks indoors. This dumb pandemic!

Saturday, December 11, was our Book Gang Christmas Favorite Things Breakfast. My book gang friends are wonderful. Annie has the same Christmas dress as I do, so we both wore the dress just for fun. Corinne made delicious waffles and Sandra made a yumm-o egg casserole. We had fruit, pumpkin bread, etc. We also exchanged gifts and I came home with a package of 30 Sharpie markers. I think the girls will really have fun with them. 

Mel and I celebrated Santa Lucia on Monday, the 13th. I made her favorite pastry and smoothie bowls. It was a yummy breakfast. I gave her a Spiderman ornament in honor of our love of the Disney ride Webslingers. 

I'm now on winter break, spending time getting ready for winter semester. I'm working with our instructional designer to make sure everything is ready for winter. I have bits and pieces to do. I have my to-do list. I pick up Allie at the airport tomorrow and I'll do work here and there. We'll be ready. We always are! I love my job! I've loved the Christmas season this year. 

So Much to Be Thankful For

Another awesome Thanksgiving in the books. 

The Braus invited me to their Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday. That was a blast. Jay was home from law school, family friend Arin was there, Kamiko and Bekki, Jim, Michelle, and me. We had a ham feast, complete with funeral potatoes, yummy salads, rolls, and I brought a lemon cream and chocolate cream pie. It was so fun. We played scum after dinner and I didn't do too horribly. We also did virtual reality. That was fun. The Brau family are a blessing in my life. I love them so much. The day before going, I got a crazy idea to make Michelle a Christmas apron. I facetimed Bekki to have her help me pick out fabric. We went with a light blue and green Christmas print that I was first drawn to. Kamiko said the lemon cream pie I made was the best pie I'd ever made. Mel and I stopped at JDawgs on our way home that night to share a hot dog and to try their new French fries. They are really delicious, even if they're a bit cold because the place is about to close. 

This year, because I don't have a lot of visitors at my house, I took the poster to work to have my Tuesday classes write on it. My primary activity kids also wrote on it. My favorite...Melia's first contribution..."Our King Jeff Probst" We love Survivor!

After the gym, in front of my thankful poster, making pies

The Crocketts were in town from Colorado, so I joined them on Thanksgiving Day at the theater. Karen and I went on a walk that morning. We saw "King Richard," a movie about Serena and Venus Williams and their dad. They are two of the best tennis players and they have a very non-traditional road to pro tennis, thanks to their dad. In addition to Karen and all kids, Scott and Candice Crockett and some of their kids were there. We always love our Crockett time. The kids were with Keenan at a restaurant. I also did some cooking in preparation for dinner on Friday. Somehow the kids talked me into making a full spread on Friday. I spatchcocked and prepped my turkey for dry brine. I was very proud. Watched a tutorial for help. Also hoped I wouldn't impale myself with my kitchen scissors or my chef's knife. I lived to write this, so it all worked out just great. I had invitations to Starlyn's and mom and dad's but was really happy to just be cooking and go to the movie. A great day! I have so much for which to be grateful. 

Karen and I tried the zipline on our walk

Movie with Crocketts. I'm always front row. Crocketts are always back row. Back: Connor, Cooper, Allie, Chase, Candice, Alan, Elle, Sam. Front: Anya, me, Karen

Look at those rolls!

She doesn't look great, but she was wonderful

My lovely friend RaDawn doesn't generally like Thanksgiving, so I made her an apron years ago to wear. It lets her feel like she's getting a hug and encouragement from me. She sent me this picture on Thanksgiving morning.

Pre-oven

Pre-oven

Friday was a great day. Made beautiful rolls. Again, watched a tutorial to know how to shape rolls perfectly and it worked. Thanks Mel's Kitchen Cafe! My TA Thomas knows how to do it and I wanted to teach myself. They looked like Rhodes rolls. Perfectly round. They also tasted good. I had made apple pie and mashed potatoes on Thursday. Friday left me with turkey and cranberry sauce and gravy. Again, I tried my skills that I've honed in teaching my advanced class and made yummy gravy. I forgot to add some umami in the form of a splash of soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce. I'll do it next time. Since Karen was in town, Jenny wanted to come down and see her. Scott was out of town and I had invited Jenny to join me and my kids for turkey. Karen ended up coming too. I invited Allison and James and kids to come after for pie. Alan and all 4 Crockett kids and mom also came over for pie. It was so much fun. We had about 15 people here. We only had 1/2 of a Costco pumpkin pie and an apple pie, but it miraculously fed all of us, like the loaves and the fishes. Side note...we have good walls. Our neighbors did not hear all o15 of us. It was pure joy. 

Karen Crockett, James DeVuyst, and me

Me, Chase Crockett, Jenny Sykes, and Alan Crockett

Sam and Elle Crockett with Grandma Hunter

Kamiko and Melia with aunt Karen

Grandma and Bekki

Alan Crockett and Allison DeVuyst

Saturday, after all the Thanksgiving festivities, I decorated for Christmas. 

A new decoration from Jenny is the triangle gnome and believe sign. They're both reversible for Halloween. The gnome is a candy corn on the back. 

No little kids, so I set up the advent calendar for things I want and I love it. 

It was hard to go back to work after Thanksgiving. Last year, due to Covid, we finished the semester on campus at Thanksgiving. The rest of the semester was completed remotely. It was hard to go back for 2 more weeks, but we did it. I do love my job, but I also love vacation. 

Debbie gave me this cute Joy to the World quilted pillow