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.
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| 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.
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| Diagon Alley |
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| 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.
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