December came and went so fast that it is almost a blur! We were very busy with our temple assignments along with subbing 4 times and cleaning the temple with our ward family.
After our shift on Tuesday the 5th, we went to the home of Bro and Sis Casperson for our Tuesday mid shift Christmas Party. The Casperson's no longer serve on this shift because of health issues but insisted that the party be held at their home again this year as in years past. They have a beautiful home and it was decorated so cute. They also decorate their lane outside and thousands of cars drive through it each season to see the decorations.(you can see these decorations on the December 2016 blog) They live south of the Curry Crossing in Twin Falls.
The family room with the serving tables and round tables for all to sit and eat
Just a few of the nativities that decorated their home
The train set greeted us as we entered the home.
We all brought some food to go with the ham and funeral potatoes that were provided by our shift coordinators. There was so much food!
As you can see, the serving tables were clear full of deserts, breads, candies, salads
Sister Jacobson at the piano and Brother Jacobson introducing themselves
After we ate, Brother and Sister Jacobson and their son performed a few Primary songs for us
Bro. and Sis May, Bro. and Sis Searle (he is one of our sealers), Bro. and Sis. Aston
The Whitings, The James, our shift coordinators, and the Ricks
The Whittle's, Devere Hope, and the Rains
This was the single sisters table: Sister Burch, Stocking, Stoker, back row: Kleinkoff, Pyfer, Jensen
The Draius's (leaving on a mission), The Jarmin's and the Baileys
The Brown's, The Christensen's and the Bishop's (they got married on Dec. 23rd.)
The Parkers, Bro. Stewart and the Newby's
The Beck's, the Hardy's, the Casperson's, and the Jacobson's
The Archibald's were our shift coordinators when we began on this shift
The Thompsons and the Stastny's
Bro. Meekum (he just had to retire from the temple due to health issues) The Morgan's were not able to come this evening as Sister Morgan got sick today on our shift and had to go home early. We were also missing Bro. Allen and probably several others that I can't remember
And then Brother Searle played a few songs on the piano. He is amazing on the piano. We ended up singing Silent Night and our evening with our temple family came to an end. These are amazing, dedicated people who love their Heavenly Father and love to serve his children. There are a few of them that are starting to get to that age and health where they will have to retire from the temple. It will be a tough day for them and us as we have come to love and appreciate all of them.
We drove to Idaho Falls on Thursday the 7th and got scanned again to see how the herbs are reacting with our bodies. Things are doing good and we are feeling good. We spent the night with Frank and Pauline in Shelly. We bought some more of Frank's wooden art pieces. He really does a great job. We now have an elk, a deer, a moose, a bear, geese, and Christmas tree ornaments.
Our Ward Christmas party was on the 9th. We went to support the ward family but were disappointed that there was no program, we just sang a few Christmas carols. We attended Annie and Chandler's Christmas concert in Twin Falls on the 12th. It is fun to be able to attend these and support the kids. We spent the rest of the week getting groceries and food ready for our family Christmas party on the 16th.
We decided that our family here didn't need anymore presents so we spent our money on gifts for one of our retirement centers. The family had to decorate 2 sacks and then fill them with the items like socks, hand sanitizers, fingernail polish, lotions, and candy. We had planned on delivering these and singing carols but the BSU football bowl game came on at 4 so we had to be done and at our house for the kick off. We had a dinner of chicken or beef lasagna, green salad, rolls, corn, and black berry jello. It was a hit with everyone.
Chan and I trying to decide who had the ugliest sweatshirt.
Aydan, Gideon, Chandler, Dillon, Shayla and Justin down one side
Sarah, Annie, Eisley, Tracy, Ashton, Lon, Ryanne and Riley on the other. So thankful that we are able to use the church for this dinner. The boys really enjoy playing in the gym. We did a left-right Christmas game and cleaned up so that we could get to the game on time. Dessert would be served at our house during the game. Lon made blackberry (gone first), cherry, pumpkin and apple pies.
For those who didn't care about the game, they played games in the piano room. Dillon, Eisley, and Aydan
Dillon, Chandler, Gideon, Aydan and Ashton really had fun playing poker using jenga blocks as their cash.
Watching the game Annie, Sarah, Lon (he put on his ear phones to hear the game and block out all the noise of the boys and their poker game) Tracy, Shayla, Ryanne, Justin
The computer was set up in the bedroom with Christmas movies for those who were bored with the football game or the card games. Eisley, Annie and Ashton took turns here. The house didn't seem too small as we were able to keep everyone occupied for several hours.
On the 18th, we took halibut casserole, blackberry jello, rolls and apple pie to Larry and Blanca's for lunch. Blanca added her special potato salad. We had a very nice visit with them.
It is getting harder and harder to get Mom out of her house. She is feeling the effects of the cold weather with arthritis and it is getting hard for her to get up and down. I did get her to go to lunch twice though and once was with Judy. Mom loves to go to the Dairy Queen and have a fish sandwich and a pineapple sunday.
Christmas day and Lon is now 68 years old. Wow, where have the years gone. We enjoyed a quiet morning together and went to Tracy and Sarah's home for dinner.
We received new BSU sweatshirts, golf club covers and even a BSU totum pole.
Getting ready to open our gifts
We had found some boxers in Alaska that you had to put in water and they would grow for the boys. Chan thought they were really cool.
The girls got socks that had to be put in water to grow also
Instead of money like Sarah got, Tracy got the deer to go with his Elk that Frank made.
Eisley is showing us how her new microphone works so she can sing to her I-pad.
We ate a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Tracy again deep-fat-fried the turkey. We sure do enjoy these kids living close to us. We had a wonderful Christmas and was able to either facetime, text, or call our children and grandchildren. Lon got calls from his brothers wishing him a Happy Birthday.
We spent Tuesday the 26th, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday in the temple. What a wonderful way to finish out a year. We are so blessed to have a temple so close and to be able to serve there together.
So 2017 has come to an end. We had a very busy year and it sure went by fast. We were able to spend time with children and grandchildren, extended family and friends. We look forward to the New Year and the adventures that it will bring. We testify that our Heavenly Father is in charge of our lives and we need to put our trust in Him and He will lead us and guide us to become more than we could ever become on our own. We intend to enjoy each and every day that we are given. Welcome 2018!
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