The Best Christmas Present!

You know, the present? As in, right now? That's right, this is the best Christmas happening - right now. But also this is the best present (as in gift) we could wish for - to have all our family here. So in honor of their visit, here are a few scenes from home.

;;;;;;;;;Chris getting the kids to bed.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Lorna, Chris and Kayla
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Ian on the "alien" horse;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Kayla getting ready for prayer
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Just think about this. . .

So, Mom and I are visiting Deseret Book in Sacramento while we wait for David, and as we're leaving the parking lot we see a truck with "Bill's Hydraulic Jack Service" painted on the side. That started me thinking: what if a guy named John owned a business that distributed invoices for payments to all of the irrigation districts and large water users throughout the valley. Wouldn't he have a sign that read "Jack's Hydraulic Bill Service" painted on the side of his truck?

Your mother accused me of not having enough to occupy my mind, which is certainly true. But the real shame is that these kinds of things occur to me ALL of the time - even when my mind IS otherwise occupied. I have just learned not to voice them in her presence.

Home for the Holidays

We picked up David in Sacramento Saturday night. He had a couple of "white knuckle" experiences driving his ride's car through the blizzard in Idaho and over the snowy (he had to put chains on) Donner Summit in California - but they made it alright. Nevertheless, 14 hours in the car is never great fun.

We get Kim Tuesday night (late) and Chris & Lorna come in Friday night/Saturday morning. Humm. . . it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

It's Brrrrr Cold!

Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with all of the quaint sayings in the Hall family, "Brrrr Cold" is much worse than your common, everyday, ordinary cold. And it's Brrrr Cold here now. It's been below freezing three nights this week. I've actually had to scrape my windshield in the morning. To make matters worse, the heater in my car is broken - so I get no relief driving to school. And they are predicting light snow overnight this Sunday. On the other hand, when it's clear like this, it warms up real nice in the afternoon. Shirt-sleeve weather.

Must be all that global warming I hear so much about. . .

In other news, I did my Christmes Concert with both schools last night. It went real well. There's always a few minor gaffs that no one but me (and the students) know about - but over all they did great job. We played some pretty mature music for this age group: Phantom of the Opera, Pachelbel's Canon in D, and on the lighter side: Sleigh Ride and Born to Be Wild. I have to keep reminding myself that the oldest, most mature students I have are. . . Deacon and Beehive aged. Who'd a thunk they could do such things?

Mom and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Trim Up the Tree with Christmas Stuff. . .

Mom bought the tree Monday and I set it up, got the decorations out and put the lights on. Then it sat there looking at us all week while we worked our day jobs. Tonight we finally got around to actually putting the decorations on the tree. Looks pretty good, huh? That's because Mom knows what she's doing.

At the stake center we always put on a BIG Creche display with literally hundreds of nativity scenes from all over the world. It's our gift to the community and always draws lots of visitors.

I don't have a picture of it yet, but Mom has her own mini Creche Exhibit in our living room.

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WARNING! If you have young children viewing this blog with you, it might be a good idea to preview the contents of the video without them present first. It was made with what all you kids used to call the "Scary Santa" hat.