Holiday Season

 I love being able to enjoy more holiday concerts this year, or any holiday concerts, as last year there were none. Austin's choir concert was the first Wednesday of the month. He really enjoys being a part of the choir and has a really good ear for music. I do hate the fact that they have to wear face masks while singing. We still miss so much with those masks on when people are singing. 

After the concert.

The orchestra concert, with Victoria, Kai, and Austin involved, was a little easier with face masks on and so enjoyable! The Sunday after that, I got to play with those kiddos of mine along with about 6 other people from my ward who play string instruments. It was so fun to prepare and play beautiful Christmas music with them. This is something I really like doing with my kids. I know they have plenty of music to practice for school and I'm not very good, but it makes me so happy to share this with them!

Austin was at the back and hard to see from Jason's seat in the audience, but since I was a chaperone, I got to see him from backstage!

And then I got to walk by Victoria and Kai as Austin's group was leaving the stage and surprise them with a pic as they started to go on stage!

Victoria is on the left and Kai is on the right.

At our ward Christmas breakfast, Erik got to be Joseph, which he happily complied to do. We also made graham cracker gingerbread houses at our socially distanced/ family tables. All the supplies were provided in gift bags at each of our tables. 

Erik's little buddy Jacob is to his right. He didn't want to leave his side!

Erik and Jacob's

Some creative gingerbread houses!

We drove by Erik's school teacher's house which is all decked out and even has music on the radio to go with the Santa hologram. We delivered popcorn to our friends and neighbors the same evening. After returning from our time out, Erik ran through the foliage of our yard and stepped on a nail that went right through his croc and then his foot! He wanted to go to school the next day, but afterward, I took him to get a tetanus shot and some antibiotics. He's due for his shot next year, so that's one less he'll have to get then! I'm glad he wanted to go to school because Victoria and Kai had virtual learning because of the lockdown of the week before. (Update on that: I heard a rumor that they found out who had the gun and went to his house, but they had nothing to prove, so that was that. I hope and pray for all these high schools who have had threats that all this will blow over after the holidays and we can start the year off peacefully).

We think this piece of wood got blown off of somebody's decorations, or something. It was definitely not in the area when I was raking it and we had some very high winds the day before!

Our neighbor Christmas gifts. It says "Just Poppin' by to wish you a Merry Christmas!"

We made lots of sugar cookies at home for Victoria's dance party and for my calling with the Primary girls so they could decorate them at our activity. The older kids got to deliver holiday baskets to some people in our ward who are lonely during this time of year. 

On Saturday, Victoria got to finish her humanities assignment of attending a museum and writing about it. I took her and the boys to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) and I really enjoyed it. Especially because it was the first time in a long time I could enjoy the museum with my kids without chasing them around or telling them to be quiet. They were very respectful and even enjoyed it! Kai was taking the driver's training test at the time, which she passed! Now, it's time for her to practice driving!

Donkey with a mask!

I took pictures of all the Nativity pictures I saw.

We enjoyed this interactive piece of a meal. It almost convinced me that Erik was eating a fancy meal!

There are a lot of paintings with dead rabbits in them. Weird!

One of my favorite Nativity art pieces there.

I didn't end up posting when I wrote this over the weekend, so here's some more holiday fun:

I decided that since we just finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants for the Come Follow Me curriculum and it has been a while since Kai, Austin, and Erik had been to Kirtland, we needed to go! Victoria was able to go a few years ago with Youth Conference before Kai was eligible to go. There was also a recent trip with the kids from seminary on a Saturday, but Kai had color guard that day, so this was it! The next time we study it, she will probably not be at home with us and we live so close to Kirtland! Victoria had to work, so Kai brought her friend CJ who had never been to Kirtland and, as it turns out, is a direct descendant of Parley P. Pratt, who was an amazing missionary during the early years of the church and was with Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and Joseph Smith through many struggles and miracles. She didn't mention that until his name was brought up on part of the tour, in which case I mentioned that we're related to the Knight Family. It turned out that the Kirtland Temple was closed when I could have sworn it said it was open after looking it up last week, but we really enjoyed the tour of the Whitney store and home, including the room for the School of the Prophets and the adjoining room where 46 of the revelations for the Doctrine and Covenant were received! We also toured the Ashery and Sawmill.

Whitney Store

Ashery

Water wheel

Kirtland Temple up the road from the Visitor's Center.

Added bonus: there were nativities donated from the members in that area and had been collected from around the world which were displayed in the Visitor's Center. We enjoyed admiring them, as well as hearing some of the history of Kirtland, including the Kirtland Temple, and the sacredness of it. 

From Chile

From Chile

From Australia

Some of our favorites!

Added bonus: we stopped by the Toledo Zoo on the way home to see The Lights Before Christmas. They have tons of lights and even lights "choreographed" to the music. It was fun to see animals that are active at night that we don't normally see during the day. 

Wolves

Growling tiger

Snow leopard

Singing an Anime version of Jingle Bells.