The Family Life is the Good Life: Happy Christmas!

My British friend says I must say happy Christmas because merry means drunk. It is true that the only festive singing group I saw walking in my neighborhood on Christmas Day was a group of merry makers who must have been returning from a party or pub not carolers. Brits drink way too much, it's a big part of just about any celebration. We had a nice Christmas without any of that. And as usual, Christmas seems to have come and gone so fast and I've gotta hurry and plan something for Lidia's birthday.
On Christmas Eve we watched the Nativity video, Charlie Brown's Christmas, and some other nice videos on the church website. I particularly liked the one called the old shoemaker. Then I hid scavenger hunt clues all over the house. I found them online. They're cute and rhyme. The hunt ended at the tree and with one present which was a table tennis set. So we cleared the table and put on the net and played ping pong. It's narrower than a ping pong table but still fun. There is a full size one at the church if we want to use it. We didn't do a fancy dinner but Cory and I did stay up late making pies and cookies for the next day.
I didn't go to sleep until 3 and the boys had us all up at 6. They requested to have all the presents mixed up under the tree this year instead of nice orderly piles on the couch. It did look more festive. I think everyone liked what they received, even me. Cory made an effort this year and asked what I wanted and got things from my list. It's not easy for him to buy me shoes since he thinks I have too many as it is, but I love shoes. He bought me nice green ankle boots and some nice fruity lotions from body shop as well as some Belgian chocolate that looks like paint and a paintbrush and he got me a lamp with cherry blossoms painted on it. I gifted myself a couple of sweaters, some Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth iPad speaker. Cory got two watches, go pro case and accessories, some clothes and shoes, and a man purse. Lidia and Aiden both got a new jacket, t shirt, and vest jacket from Superdry, which is an expensive trendy store here. The Brits call an outerwear vest a gilet, pronounced gee let. Lidia also got a nice bag from the popular Cath Kidston shop here as well as boots and some board games and movies. Tristan, Lidia and Aiden got aviator sunglasses. They think they look super cool. Lidia thought they were expensive but I told her I bought cheap ones. If she ever wants ray bans she will have to buy them herself. Aiden also got a lava lamp and plasma ball lamp which he really wanted and he got some shoes, a man purse, some movies. All three boys got swords from a kickstarter project I supported. They're really nice. They're gonna want more so they can switch the parts around. Tristan got a quad copter drone but one of the propellers didn't work so I'm sending it back and I've ordered a different one. I wish I had tested it out when it arrived. It's a bummer when you're favorite present doesn't work. He also got some kinex sets which they have been building. They're robots and a roller coaster. He also got some books he wanted and board games and movies and Bluetooth headphones which he really likes. Avery got a lego set he wanted and some kinex which we kinda had to force him to try since he's so partial to Legos as well as a blanket he wanted and loves and several pokemon toys. Lidia also got a pokemon plush toy in her stocking. She loves Pokemon too. Aiden's the only one of the kids not interested in Pokemon. The kids have been busy watching all the movies they got and we've had fun as a family playing the games like scrabble which I would have won if I drew any tiles other than vowels and had not helped the kids so much, and Spontuneous which Aiden is really good at but I barely won at the end, and old fashioned bingo which Lidia thought was a gambling game because of the cage full of balls like the lotto, and the planets game which I have not managed to make it to Pluto but Cory has. We haven't played settlers of Catan yet but we will and the ping pong will get used a lot, esp by Aiden and Tristan and Cory. I'm not too bad at it myself. Avery tends to want to just run off and play by himself with his toys. We have to force him to participate in group activities.
We cooked a spiral ham for Christmas lunch and had potato salad, rolls, and veggies with it and pumpkin and cherry pie for dessert. We also decorated sugar cookies and had the sister missionaries and our friend Heidi come over. The sisters skyped with their families from our house. They were so excited. One sister I'd from Korea and the other from CA. They are so sweet. We spoke to our parents briefly that night and called it a day. We were tired.
On Boxing Day we played with the kids most of the day and then had the elders for dinner. Our plan was to get Chinese take out but we realized at the last minute everything was closed so we improvised and had breakfast for dinner, sausage biscuits and gravy with hash browns and OJ and leftover pie for dessert. I also made them take candy home with them. We have loads. Avery has been living off of his stocking candy I think. I'll be glad when it's gone.
I have a yucky cold, lots of head congestion. I'm sleeping lots. I need to be better for our fun plans for New Years and Lidia's birthday.
I'm afraid as time is drawing near the kids are getting anxious to get back home. We have a countdown chain of weeks till we go to America. We leave in 24 Fridays.
On the Monday before Christmas we went with a few other families to sing to the folks at a care home nearby. They sure do appreciate it. One man was singing his heart out along with us. We gave him a hymn book. He may have been singing the rest of the night. It's nice to get the kids out for service and to see that there are others not as fortunate as them.
I taught RS the Sunday before Christmas and the lesson was about the second coming. At first I thought it strange timing, not very Christmasy, but then I realized that we are living preparing for the next great Christmas and that we are just like those people watching and praying for Christ's birth. We live in a special time. Just as president J F Smith, I too look forward to the day when worldly things end and the work of righteousness and peace is in full force.