Christmas Wonders

An account of Christmas 2014 is made possible, in part, by SCC and a special pop-up book she made for her class.

On Christmas Eve we go to my great grandparents' house and eat a big dinner, and then all of the kids dress up as members of the nativity story and then act it out.  After that everyone sings or plays a song.  Once we are done Santa leaves a gift for everyone.  Then we go home and see where Santa is.  Then we go to bed.

Christmas Eve pretty much went as SCC described it.  We did a family musical number "Good Christian Men Rejoice" with RVC on chimes; SCC on resonator bars; Dad, Tom, and CAC on vocals and mom on the piano.  The Nativity was sweet and entertaining as usual.  Kids were more wired than tired when it was time for bed, but somehow we settled down just in time for Santa to come.

SCC's book also reflects on gifts she's received.

A Christmas I remember most is when I got a lot of art supplies.  It was like I only got art stuff, such as my art kit.  All of it was cool, but now it is just a pain to put away.

It's fun to see how the kids change from year to year in what they wish to receive for Christmas.  MEC's list was somewhat influenced by whatever his siblings thought he might like, but seemed to settle on a truck or train.  CAC hoped for a jewelry box that played music.  SCC had her expectations high with a camera, telescope, and rollerblades on her list.  TLC wanted a pocket knife and a surprise, and RVC asked for washi tape and I imagine hoped for clothes.  They came out pretty well, I must say.  What's more, their excitement for GIVING to each other was also high.

SCC's book of Christmas Wonders also mentions one of our favorite family traditions.

My favorite part of Christmas is when my family gets out our tower that has Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the three kings.  On the second story, the shepherds spin, and on the third story angels sing.  I love to look at the shadow on the ceiling because of the shadow it makes.  I also like having my family with me when we do it.  It gives me joy to blow out the candles.  That is my favorite part of Christmas.

Some other traditions that made it on the calendar were going downtown to see the lights on Temple Square,

making gingerbread cookies (I think we made 6 recipes by the time we made it to Christmas...Santa was lucky we saved two in the freezer; otherwise he'd have been out of luck Christmas Eve),

hanging ornaments on our advent calendar, and getting together with friends and neighbors.

This year we even invited a couple of families over to our house for a Christmas family home evening.

And of course, we finished off the year with some other favorite traditions.

We have mostly stashed away the holiday decorations and are trying to get our house back to normal, all while taking advantage of the plentitude of down time we have.  2014 was a good year, but I'm always ready to move on.  Here's to the Wonders we have ahead of us.

Season of Greetings 2014

What our walls have to say...

Every year, sometime in early November, some tree branches appear on the wall of our kitchen. Soon we manage to sit ourselves down to reflect on the many blessings we've received during the year. This year our branches stayed embarassingly bare for a couple of weeks, but once we started, it didn't take long for our wall to be covered with colorful leaves, handwritten thoughts and even drawings. It's one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. 

After General Conference back in October, TEC was looking for a message that our family could focus on for a family home evening lesson. He ended up taking the closing remarks from President Thomas S. Monson and found quite a list of things at which we can all be a little better. We made some reminder cards to put on our wall, and I'm not sure now if we'll ever be ready to take them down. I'm grateful for a living prophet and for messages that encourage and inspire.

Halloween 2014

 Halloween night, 2014.

Halloween season for the Cundicksfeatured some favorite characters: Harry Potter, Cruella Deville, Cindy Lou Who, and Thomas the Train.  We also had an entry in the original costume category with our tough (but nice) Roller Derby girl.

We celebrated with all the usual...

Papa's party with all the Cundick cousins,

Next, the Rosecrest 2nd ward Trunk-or-Treat party, this year complete with a bounce house and train,

School parades (for both schools) and parties (MEC and I helped out at SCC's party),

And, last but not least, was Halloween itself.  It was a beautiful evening of walking the neighborhood, stopping to say hi to friends, and of course Trick-or-Treating. R opted to go out with friends this year, but we managed to catch one festive family picture.

Fall findings

We've had a beautiful Fall.  Colors have lasted much longer than I'm used to for Utah and the weather has been so nice.

I'm sure I'm going to be caught in a panic when the snow comes and we realize everyone has outgrown their winter boots and snow pants, but for now, we're enjoying the crisp mornings and comfortable afternoons.

Fall soccer has already come and gone.  The kids had a great season with only one rainy game to soldier through.  Soccer games and Utah Football ruled our Saturdays for most of September and October.  TLC was a lucky winner of a drawing that made him the Carl's Jr. Super Fan of the Fresno State game.  He received four tickets to the game, with a VIP lunch beforehand, a chance to meet swoop and have some film time up on the big screen.  His other responsibility was to run onto the field to retrieve the tee after the kickoff.

 TEC's birthday fell over Fall Break/UEA weekend.  We spent a few days up at the cabin.  I forget how relaxing it is to be up there, especially when we have the cabin to ourselves.  It makes me realize how distracted I get at home when I'm surrounded by unfinished projects, paper piles, and endless chores.  It really makes me want to simplify things around our home, get to the point where everything has a place and we have a workable system of everything... where we have more time in the day for moments like these...