The Spirit of the Season...

I love Christmastime - there are so many opportunities to serve others and experience wonderful music! I feel so lucky to have experienced all of the above in my little Poky!

Our family has been so moved by the outpouring of support for a young family in our church that is going through a huge trial right now. The young father of 2 contracted the swine flu in October and things went downhill quickly. It eventually turned in pneumonia and was complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). He was transferred to Colorado for further treatment. His poor little family - how scary it must be to see your strong, healthy father/husband get completely wiped out. I've been so proud of how our ward family and community has taken care of them. There have been numerous prayers, fasting and monetary contributions to assist the family. Imagine having the main source of income completely gone for months. Not to mention the insurmountable medical bills!

A few days ago, his employer hosted a benefit dinner. Half of Poky showed up - it was advertised on the front page of the local paper (a nice perk living in a smaller town). It was very moving to experience. I loved that my kids appreciated the spirit of service for this family. One of the coolest things about the evening was when we were paying for our dinner I glanced over at their family picture and realized that I had never even met this family! Here we had been donating money, praying for and cooking a ton of cinnamon rolls on behalf of this family that we didn't even know! That is so awesome!

He was transferred back to Poky this weekend. He's very weak and has long recovery ahead of him, but he's alive and has the support of an entire community is behind him. What a wonderful reminder of the important things to reflect upon this season.

On a lighter note, I've been so energized by all of the music surrounding me lately. I haven't been able to focus on music in a long time and I've been reintroduced. I must say that it's a part of my life that provides such positive energy - I'm so excited to focus on it more. Joel bought me the best (early) Christmas present a couple of months ago: a beautiful baby grand piano. It (and the kitchen) is the center of our home - I love it so much! We all play it.



JD and I take guitar lessons together and I am loving it! Initially JD wasn't so much, but something clicked and he is starting to enjoy it. I think it helps that he can actually play some songs now. It is so dang cool to play variations on the 12 bar blues together. Eric, our teacher comes up to our house every week and he's great for JD. I can't wait to see what the future will hold for our little stringed duo! I hope Joel will pick up the guitar again and we can make it a trio (hint, hint Joel :) I love this picture from years ago. I had no idea at the time it was taken that my JD and I would be playing actual music together! I hope we'll be able to have many more pics like this to come.



In the spirit of the season, I attended a surprisingly cool Messiah sing-in. Poky has culture I'm telling you - it's surprising! Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up at the beautiful performing arts center to enjoy one of the funnest pieces of music to sing at Christmastime. I was so happy! The soloists were taken from ISU faculty and they were great. The choir (the audience members) was a bit rusty, but that didn't stop us from trying! I have sung the Messiah (choir and solo) many times through the years, but I realized it had been way too long since the last time I had sung it. There were moments where the people around me (including myself) were laughing because we weren't exactly sure what was coming out of our mouths! The amazing thing was that there were also moments when my voice just kind of took over and I was singing things I had forgotten I knew. As I was singing I kept thinking, "How am I remembering this?" It was kind of groovy. I guess my brain has some hope after all. Christmas just isn't Christmas without the Messiah - welcome back Handel my friend!



Joel and I enjoyed a fun Christmas concert with some friends the other night. Kurt Bestor came up to Poky and we had front row tickets (much easier to do in a smaller city!). It brought back so many memories - we've been absent from Utah culture for so long. His music took me back 15 years ago to when Joel took me to his Christmas concert in Salt Lake. It's fun connecting to my roots again. After the concert, Kurt Bestor signed a couple of cd's I purchased - another perk living in a smaller city.



Finally, I took JD and Camryn to their first Nutcracker ballet. A Russian group performed it at the performing arts center. It was so dang fun! We all got dressed up and had a nice dinner date prior to the performance. I know they had a great time and enjoyed the beginning of a tradition in the making. JD laughed at the tight pants the boys had to wear. Typical. Camryn kept comparing everything to her Barbie, the Nutcracker movie. Funny. I'm mad I didn't take a picture of the three of us. Next year for sure.

I love this season - the sights, the service, the music - it's wonderful!
Merry Christmas to me!