December Doings

12th birthday.

Post movie (Back to the Future) entertainment: ping pong, bongo board, player piano and FIFA 17 on the X-Box.

Re-purposing disgarded maps from the BYU map library.

Christmas outings: BYU folk dancers. This year they included an Indonesian Saman dance (above) and a Palestinian Dabka.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.

A few days before Christmas, Sarah had her thrice annual scan and check up at Huntsman Cancer Institute (with its nice view of Salt lake Valley)--No new tumors and no significant growth, which is good news. Sarah's doctor said she could put in her mission papers this summer, but with the Doctor's recommendation that Sarah serve somewhere in the US where she can continue her regular check-ups.

Indonesian Independence Day banners re-purposed as Christmas decorations.

After 18 years, Marie finally wore out her treadmill, so guess what she is getting for Christmas. It barely fit in the back of the Subaru. Joel and I hid it under the ping pong table for four days and she never noticed.

Emmett Family Christmas party at my sister Mary's house. Almost all of generation four (the great grandkids of John and Norda Emmett) in the annual Nativity pageant with lots of authentic garb from the Middle East. With Will's turning 12 he was freed from having to perform in the pageant thus making this the first pageant in over 30 years to no have a grandchild performing. Luckily there are others in the next generation happy to perform the role of the donkey.

All but two of generation three. Lots of girls and seven of the 24 (total) are red-heads.

All six of generation two.



For the talent show portion of the evening our family entertained with two carols played on Indonesian angklungs.

On Christmas Eve at Marie's sister Diane's house we were divided into groups to act out Christmas Carol names and then perform some rendition of that carol. It was entertaining and fun.

While enjoying deserts Joel and Will played their piano recital pieces. I have never played a song that used the lowest key (A) on the piano, Will now has. View their recital performances on these links to YouTube:

Joel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94r2xb2iKKA&t=107s

Will
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1HIK4woA3Y

More singing with Aunt Diane at the piano.

Christmas morning selfie (which I discovered a week later) on my phone at church. Will is a brand new deacon and passed the sacrament for his second time.

Christmas morning, after 9:00 Church, waiting to go out and see Santa's presents that he had conveniently covered with blankets.

Last summer Sarah selected the pattern and the fabric and then pieced this quilt--her first. For Christmas we had it machine quilted by a woman I have home taught for over 15 year. Sarah will now bind it and then it will take its place on her dorm room bed.

Will got the four volume complete set of Calvin and Hobbes.

And a new bed from Ikea. Here he is reading a note that came in the wrapped package of bed legs telling him to go look in the spare bedroom in the basement where the box (to be assembled) and rolled up mattress were waiting.

After all the gifts were opened Joel opened the last gift--a beginning Indonesian book and this note.

He was excited and I got a hug of thanks. It will be a fun adventure for the two of us.

Joel and Sarah wrote this guide for their meme-illiterate dad. It was fun to have them go through and explain it all. See the following blog post for the full text.

Fresh snow for Christmas morning.

So far we've had three fun days of skiing at Brighton.

On the Wednesday after Christmas we met one of our Semester at Sea friends for an afternoon of skating at the Gallivan Center and a visit to Temple Square. Nurul is from Sumatra and is currently studying at the University of Florida. It was a fun outing.

Will's first time on skates. He did very well.

Once upon a time, a younger Sarah even took skating lessons.