December 2010 Round-up

We had a really great December. It proved to be so good, in fact, that we did not get a blog post put up about it. Here are a few of the highlights. . .

One of the most fun things we did was visit Mt. Vernon with the Cub Scouts. Mt. Vernon lets the scouts participate in a special ceremony to lay a wreath on Washington’s tomb. I was really proud of the boys. They were respectful and reverent (mostly!). They also made a great wreath.

AJP and BLP in front of the Mt. Vernon Mansion (Potomac side). What a beautiful view from that spot!

We had a great ward Christmas party with a theme of “Come to Bethlehem and See”. It was an incredible opportunity to experience the Christmas season in a visual, tactile, and auditory way. The people involved did an incredible job.

We went to see the Congressional Christmas Tree that came from Wyoming. I was especially proud of my home state. My nephew even contributed an ornament to the tree! It was so fun to show the kids that the tree came from the National Park not far from where I grew up (not far by Wyoming standards). We also hit the Botanical Gardens. It was wonderful to feel the warm tropical climate in the building that helped the beautiful orchids and wonderful bromeliads to grow.

BLP by some orchids at the Botanical Gardens showing her pride in her WYO connection!

We had the B and H family over for Christmas Eve. This was great fun! We had corn dogs, spam wrapped in a blanket, cookies, birthday cake (including singing Happy Birthday to Jesus) and a piñata. I think it was a Christmas Eve especially designed for kids. They all loved it. Especially when we are away from family, it was nice to have great friends to spend such a special holiday with.

We went to see the Temple lights on Christmas Day. The perfect ending to a great day!

We went to NC to visit JTP’s parents. All of JTP’s brothers and their families were crammed into one house. It went really well. I was very worried with so many people in such a tight space but everyone behaved and we had a great time. AJP and BLP loved playing with the cousins and we enjoyed talking with all of the adults. We did a number of great activities but one of the favorites was a Duke Basketball game. It was Coach K’s 880^th win. AJP could not have been more pleased. We rang in the New Year there with JTP’s brother M, his parents and a friend of his mother. (Everyone else had gone home the Friday before.) We ate fondue and dessert, played games and laughed a lot. AJP and BLP were complete hams and kept us all in stitches! I suppose I did misspeak about “ringing in the New Year” since we went to bed at about 10:30. No matter – we had a great time all the same.

AJP at the Duke game.