Wisdom Teeth

Jeffrey went to the dentist this morning to have his wisdom teeth removed.  It took about an hour and a half.  He did really well during the procedure, but the pain and bleeding got to him later.  He spent his day in bed, changing the gauze and taking pain relievers.  Caz, Ashley, and Camden left for home in the afternoon.  It was nice having them here, and we will miss holding Camden.

Christmas Day

I managed to stay in my pajamas all day today.  We woke up and all together discovered Santa gifts.  Baylor received a new whiteboard and markers.  Jeffrey received a new tablet with bluetooth pedals to use with digital music.  Wendy got an adjustable kitchen shelf for her mixer.  Ashley, Caz, Jaylen and Tyler had stockings.  After Santa gifts we went upstairs for our traditional breakfast of Ebelskivers, bacon, hashbrowns, and juice.  Kevin, Kay, and Kaleb joined us for breakfast as well as Grandma Sims.  After cleaning up breakfast we went back downstairs to open the rest of the gifts.  The family split up in the afternoon.  Tyler and Jaylen went to her parent's home in Inkom.  Ashley and Caz went to his parents.  Kevin and Kay returned home.  We had a quiet afternoon.  Ashley and Caz and Camden returned later.  We played a new card game that Ashley had given Caz.  Its called "Dutch Blitz".  We enjoyed it, so Wendy bought one for us.  It was a good day.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner tonight.  We had prime rib that we purchased from Del Monte Meats.  Ashley rubbed in additional seasoning, and it was so good.  We had raspberry Jello salad from Grandma Sims.  We had rolls from Geraldine's Bakery, seasoned green beans, baked potatoes, shrimp, and a variety of olives.  After cleaning up we listened to a story from Grandma Sims.  We finished the evening with a white elephant gift exchange.

 

Christmas Eve Movie

We almost had the entire auditorium to ourselves again this year, just like last year except that the theater was open to everyone.  We decided to watch "Puss in Boots".  We had everyone there except for Ryan and Megan's family.  They continued the movie tradition in Virginia by watching "Avatar - The Way of Water".  They said they enjoyed the movie very much.  Camden also missed out this year and stayed with his Grandma Alley.  Little Baylor spent much of her time wandering the theater.

Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir

Wendy and I were able to go to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City tonight.  We had hoped that other family members could go, but we were only able to get two tickets, thanks to everyone who submitted requests and to Kevin who was able to receive two tickets.  We drove down to Utah this afternoon and stopped to visit with Mom and David in North Ogden, and Elma Sims in Syracuse.  We had a lasagna dinner with Ashley and Caz before going to the Conference Center.  Parking was an issue, which is why they only partially filled the seats.  We parked on a neighborhood street about half a mile away.  We had to walk slowly due to ice on the sidewalks, but we made it to our seats with about 25 minutes to spare.  The concert was excellent as usual.  The guest singer was Lea Salonga who sang several numbers.  Our favorite was, "O Holy Night".  The guest speaker, David Suchet, told the story of Nicholas Winton who saved over six hundred children from Nazi concentration camps.  He invited the audience to turn on their phone lights and the auditorium lit up with cell phones.  We really enjoyed the whole program.  We walked carefully back to our car, but a couple in front of us both slipped and went down on the ice.  We managed to get to the car without falling and made it back to Ashley and Caz's home about 11:00 p.m.

Christmas Recital

Tonight we went to see a Christmas recital at the Tyhee Stake Center with all of the students for Jeffrey's piano teacher, Natalie Beebe.  There were about 18 kids who participated.  Jeffrey is now the oldest student.  He was the second to last performer.  He did very well, and he had a nice reception to his playing of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing".  He also played "Still, Still, Still".  It's hard to imagine that next year will be his last.  Click here for a video of his performance.

Church Musical Number

Century Band and Choir Holiday Concert

Century wins 4A State Drama Competition

The Century Drama students traveled to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for the state competition.  They left at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 1st.  It was a snowy day, but they still made good time.  They arrived in Coeur d'Alene by 4:00 p.m. and checked into the Best Western.  They went to dinner and Jeffrey called us to say they were at Texas Roadhouse.  We laughed because that is where we were also.  The students competed all day Friday and Saturday.  Jeffrey and Glen performed well.  Each of the three judges placed them in fourth, which was very good.  Only the top three acts went to the semi-finals, but Jeffrey was happy with the results.  Century placed first overall among the 4A schools, and this is the third year that they have won first in state drama.  The bus left Coeur d'Alene about 9:00 p.m. and they arrived back at Century High School at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

Ward Christmas Party