Oh Calm, All Ye Stressful

Someone told me they heard that farsical title for "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful", and I thought it was very fitting for the week we've had!   We've had one event after the other every single night since last Saturday, and it will continue that way until this coming Monday.  They are all good, fun, Christmas-y (for the most part) activities, and all things I want to do (for the most part!), but for a home-body like me, it gets a little stressful being away from home every night. 

Last Friday, Kylie invited a few friends over to make gingerbread houses.  None of the boys in the group she usually hangs out with were able to come, so the dynamics were a little different than I was used to with four teenage girls.  They were very nice to include Jillian and Ben.  Nate stayed as far away as he could, for good reason!  Silliness prevailed.

One of Kylie's friends made the house in the middle.  I'm pretty sure she was just kidding around, but you never know with teenage girls!

Jillian, Kylie, and Ben's creations.

Saturday night was our ward Christmas party, a Whobilation Celebration of historic proportions!  Our ward has grown so much over the past year that I think we've outgrown sit-down dinners.  The entire cultural hall was packed with tables, 10 to 12 to a table, and still people had to stand or sit out in the hall.  The activities committee outdid themselves; maybe as a final hurrah since the word from church headquarters is that the activities committees should no longer exist.  They planned a production of "The Grinch who Stole Christmas" and invited everyone to dress up as Whos.  Ben and Jillian really got into it.  They had more fun dressing up for this than they did for Halloween.

Chloe, Jillian, and two of the Grinch's great-grandaughters, and Cindy-Lou Who (the cutie on the right with  the most amazing hair!  Her mom said it took two hours to put up.  Neither of my girls would have ever sat still that long, and I never would have wanted to spend that much time on hair!)

Best friends! 

Sorry this one's a little blurry, I must have been laughing while I took the picture!

 

More Whos....

and more Whos...

and more...

and more,

and more Whos!  (They reproduce like crazy, you know!)

This is the only decent picture from the play portion of the evening.  I haven't figured out if there's a better low light setting on my camera.

At the end, the Grinch was available for pictures.  Poor Timmy wasn't too sure about him! 

Sunday night was the Stake Choir Celebration.  Jillian has been part of our ward choir for the past six months or so, and it has been wonderful to see her interacting with so many people she normally wouldn't get a chance to associate with otherwise.  Each of the ten ward choirs performed a piece, then at the end they all sang "Joy to the World".  The choirs were seated on the sides of the chapel and into the cultural hall, so the audience was surrounded by music when they sang together.  It felt like we were in the midst of a chorus of angels.  I wish they would have done more combined songs!

Monday evening we went to our ward's Nativity exhibit.  More than 100 nativities from all over the world were on display.  I really wish my camera did better in low light.  I didn't take any pictures because I knew they wouldn't turn out, but there were so many beautiful nativities.  It made me wish I had thought of buying a nativity in the Philippines when Kylie and I were there last summer.  I would love to have a collection of nativities from the different countries I visit.  Yes, right now it would be a very small collection, since I've only been to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Canada! 

Tuesday was a double event, first Kylie's Holiday Band Concert, then the Relief Society Christmas Party.  No pictures from either event, but both were very nice.  Kylie is in the Symphonic Band and they played selections from the Nutcracker.  After she was finished playing I rushed over to the church to catch the end of the Relief Society party.  I turned over most of the planning to my trusty assistants, so it was a little more relaxing for me this year.  They did a fabulous job putting everything together.  There were several musical numbers and a sister who just returned from Israel spoke about her experience hiking the Jesus Trail. 

Technically Wednesday night I didn't have to be anywhere, but my kids had their activities at church.  We did a little family activity before we dropped them off.  The youth had a nice dinner for the grandmas and grandpas in the ward.  Each "elder" sat with six of seven "youngers" to eat and visit.  Both Kylie and Nate said it was a very fun evening.  Jillian and her group had a babysitting night, which she really enjoyed.  She loves little kids. 

The next five nights are filled with activities as well.  I'm really ready for Christmas break to get here so at least I can sleep in a little in the morning!