Winding down… and realizing.

After a whirlwind of performances… December is finally winding down.

Taylor had her Christmas Concert at the High School last night and her last field trip performance today. Her recital on Saturday has been canceled.

I can’t believe Christmas is next week.

It has been different this year. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think it has a lot to do with the struggles of so many around us. Unemployment, divorce, addiction, depression… we are aware of some who are suffering, and unaware of (many) others. Knowing that those we know and love are struggling is what I think has changed my perspective.

We are blessed with good jobs. 
We are blessed with a bright outlook for the New Year.
We are blessed with obedient and faithful children.
We are blessed to be able to help those in need.
We are blessed with 4 temples within 20 minutes of our home.
We are blessed with a home full of love for the Savior.
We are blessed by His atoning sacrifice.

May your Christmas celebration this year be different too. May there be less focus on the “getting” and more focus on the “giving”.  May you realize the depth of your own blessings.

May there be more of the Savior in your CHRISTmas day!!!

Amazing Graycie

Today (finally) Evan and I were able to go meet our new niece. We picked up Connie this morning and headed down to Utah county.

She is a perfect little baby and she did not make a sound the whole time we were there. She got up only once last night for a feeding, which is a great blessing for Emily as she is recovering from a C-Section.

She is the perfect addition to a beautiful family!!

The weather outside is frightful

Today I had the opportunity to ditch work and help chaperone about 100 JHS Choir kids downtown. We left at 9:30 AM, jumped on Trax and ate lunch at Gateway. They later sang at The Church Office Building and then at the Joseph Smith Memorial.

One of Taylor’s friends recently had ACL Surgery on her knee and was hurting as she tried to hobble around on a crutch in the snow. I was worried about her slipping and impeding her recovery.  A quick call to Evan to see if he was downtown returned bad news. I then resorted to an associate from work, as we always have someone downtown during most of the day. This call produced door to door service for us. Jason picked us up at the food court and delivered us in front of the lobby at our first destination.

Two great performances by three awesome choirs, a quick train ride home and gratitude for light rail on such a cold, snowy day.