The Sunday before Christmas always feels like Christmas Day to me, ........no....... better than Christmas Day in some important ways... It is one of my most favorite days of the whole year.
It is a day focused entirely on the true meaning of Christmas. It is a close and cozy day spent with family and with other people I dearly love. It is always a day filled with music, beautiful music, special programs, inspiring talks and love love love.
The spirit, words and music of a Christmas Sunday are truly inspiring. There is so much love in the air that it is almost tangible.
In the evening we have a family dinner and party....the Crowley Cousin Christmas Party.
This year's Christmas Sunday is one we will always cherish......
It actually started the night before...
With the arrival of the VanWagenen's, my sister and her wonderful family. They were one of the lucky ones to "win" tickets to the David Archuletta Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert! Our kids waited for them... even Scotty (who is 3) to arrive. And they finally did at about 12:30 pm!
When they arrived Scott was out the door in his pajamas to their car so fast....to greet them. He could not wait to see them...so excited..for days!
With Christmas there is always a little bit of crazy excitement...trying to do as much as possible in not a lot of time... So...
Diana and I practiced a song together at 1 am. Ha!! We thought we would try to sing together in the Relief Society program in the morning. It is pure joy to sing with my sisters..... pure joy... and we take the opportunity to do this any chance we get ..even if it means practicing at 1 am!
Sunday morning, I got a call from my good friend Joan, who wanted me to sing a song with her in Young Women's and "could I come to practice with her in 45 minutes." Fun!! Ofcourse I said yes!
So, the morning went something like this.... Diana and I rushed off to practice with Joan, after that rushed off to choir practice with Joan and Coletty, my dear freinds. We had choir practice at Garriott's beautiful home... Steve squeezed in a bit of choir practice before his meeting.
After choir practice we showed up to Relief Society 10 min before it started to see if we could do our song and grab any willing accompanist who is as crazy as we are. And we did it! We were so grateful!
And with Uncle Ron's help, we even managed to get all 10 kids to church on time!
Thanks Uncle Ron!!
We had a group of kids, including Alyssa and Julia perform a song in Relief Society, (it was beautiful!) then Di, Ron and I sang our song and then I headed over to Young Women's to sing with Joan and then in Sacrament Meeting, we had a beautiful, sweet meeting with wonderful talks and musical numbers by the choir and primary... Diana sang with me in the choir! And ofcourse the first time she saw that music (me too) was that morning in choir practice... and it all went smoothly..Oh the fun!
It was the sweetest day... A Worshipful day.... a day to think about the birth of our Savior and what it means...
And through it all... so much love ..so much joy... worshipping, singing, praying with people I love. On Christmas Sundays that is just how it is... Being at Church is just a joyful experience.
And what would make a beautiful day even better....???
The arrival of our college Boy...home for Christmas!!!
What a happy moment to open the door and know he was home for Christmas!!! Triumphant returning college student.... !
There is something special about cousins... they just love each other.
The cousins hanging out..watching Narnia...
I love my sisters... and one of my favorite things to do with them is cook in the kitchen..
Diana and Ron.... sweet..
Christine and Aaron....sweet again...
And sorry to say, I got distracted and didn't get a picture of our Mike and Cathy together...sorry guys! I need to hire a photographer for these events.. ha ha!
Snacking on appetizers before dinner....
Uncle Mike and Uncle Ron....
Time to Eat!
I LOVE my sisters... the only problem is we are missing Leslie, Gayle, Caryn, Sharon, Lynette and Jill! And our dear MOM! You were with us in spirit.
Narrating the Christmas Story....
Glorious angels with Glorious news...
"For behold, unto you is born this day in the city of David, A Savior Which is Christ the Lord."
The Shepherds made haste and found Mary, Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.
We Three Kings....
The Wicked King Herrod and his mangy beast....
Everyone adoring the baby Jesus...
The Wisemen offering their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh..
Adoring and Adorable Women of the Village...
Gloria in Excelsis Deo....
Weren't the angels splendid?
Everyone was splendid! Thank you To Christine and Aaron for bringing such great costumes and providing for such a great Christmas program. Everyone loved it.
We ended the night with more music. Di, Ron and I sang "Nativity Carol" together.... love that song and love singing with my sisters...and brother in law ..thanks Ron!
And the last song we sang was a very special song called Gethsemane. Jacob and I sang it as a duet! It was great!
.........When you listen to this... be sure to pause the playlist on this blog, so you don't have two songs playing at the same time...
Here are the words...
Jesus Climbed the Hill to the Garden Still
His steps were heavy and slow. Love and prayer took him there
to the place only he could go.
Gethsemane, Jesus Loves me
So he went willingly, to Gethsemane
He felt all that was sad, wicked or bad, all the pain we would ever know
While his friends were asleep he fought to keep his promise made long ago.
Gethsemane, Jesus Loves me
So he went willingly to Gethsemane
The hardest thing that ever was done, the greatest pain that ever was known, the biggest battle that ever was won, this was done by Jesus! The fight was won by Jesus.
Gethsemane, Jesus loves me. So he gives his gift to me, from Gethesemane.
The Christmas Spirit...What a blessing... The Sunday before Christmas is truly a special day from start to finish...
I loved our meetings on Sunday, it was truly a magnificent day. I don't know if it's possible, but I'm even MORE excited for Christmas after reading this sweet post :)
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