Merry Christmas!

We had very Merry Christmas, though we dearly missed Joey, Angie and Mike, Becca and Matt's gang, Carl and Robin's tribe, and Tina and Aaron's bunch. We also missed Audrey, who wasn't feeling well, and Cindy who's saving up her travel time for January's main event!

There is a wonderful slideshow of pictures, thanks to Sam and Hannah, at http://gallery.mac.com/smautz/100057. Here are a few highlights of the festivities:

The Christmas Eve program was a cultural extravaganza, including the three Thelin girls playing multiple instruments, some learned that very day. Amy on the trumpet was a marvel to behold. Heidi and Holly also excelled in their various talents which included piano, recorder, xylophone and rhythm blocks. The girls also exhibited great vocal talent and coordination as they joined Hannah in the classic "Twelve Days of Christmas" with motions. Chris left a lasting impression by playing a song on the saxophone while he accompanied himself on the piano with his feet! Grandpa played a dance band number on the sax, as well. He hasn't lost his touch! Steven performed a great piano rendition of a couple of Charlie Brown Christmas songs, and Jeff played a mean trumpet, accompanied by Chris. Dan, Jill, Danny, Steven, and Hannah successfully sang a choir version of "While Shepherds Watched their Flocks." Danny showed a fabulous video of himself dancing in a Star Wars inspired cha-cha. Shirley Mautz sang a lovely solo accompanied by Carl Mautz. Marit sang and accompanied herself on the guitar. Gordon demonstrated walking. (Which had been his goal for the last four months since his leg injury: "I will be walking by Christmas!") Jack sang a stirring rendition of "Hawaiin Christmas" as well as the ever popular "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," Ernestine-style. Erica pretty much thought it was all for her. She performed between numbers by playing the piano, sprawling on the piano bench, and leading us all in "Wheels on the Bus."

For the Nativity, Jack was the narrator; Hannah was Mary; Chris was Joseph; Steven and Jeffrey were wise men; Heidi, as usual, was the angel; Holly and Amy were sheep, with Erica as their shepherd. We couldn’t find a baby Jesus (I had sent the traditional Cabbage Patch doll to Megan for Christmas) so the alternative was a troll, which Hannah refused to use. So Hannah just wrapped up . . . air . . . in a bundle of swaddling clothes, and no one was the wiser. Hannah, at nearly 7 months pregnant, was a convincing Mary.

Christmas here at the F residence was relatively peaceful. Steven awakened Danny, Daddy and me at 7 AM. We were almost done unwrapping by 7:45 when we called Elder JF (hurray!) who is well and enthusiastic. The craziest gift of the day was a pair of specialty glasses for Steven, which see at such an angle that you can watch TV without raising your head. There are many other possibilities as well, such as walking around upright while watching your feet and bumping into things. The house brightened up when Hannah, Sam and Erica arrived. She arrived with her new princess cell phone in a little zipper purse…and quickly assumed responsibility for nurturing her dolly in its new doll stroller. All grown up!

Then there's the T residence. You cannot imagine the surprise that Holly received on Christmas morning. Imagine a four foot tall robotic horse that looks absolutely real. The thing moves its head, ears, eats carrots, makes realistic sounds, trots (in place), and responds when you say its name, "Butterscotch." No kidding--you say its name and it turns and looks at you, twitching its ears. Scary, actually. The fun thing, according to reliable sources, was watching Santa's elves putting it together late Christmas eve over at Grandma’s house. I guess Gaby, Grandma, and Grandpa were all just hysterical at the spectacle. When they opened the box containing just the head it was like a scene from "The Godfather." During its assembly, the horse would turn and look at them or wiggle its ears. Just wildly funny in the middle of the night, thanks to the joys of sleep deprivation. In the morning the T's had their surprises at home, then came over to Grandma’s for the grand finale unveiling of the horse. When Holly saw it, she collapsed on the floor. "Were you surprised?" her parents asked. "I fainted, didn’t I?" she responded.

Amy played all day with a plastic sword (in her belt) and a two dollar pair of handcuffs she received. Danny was her prisoner, and he pretty much followed her around all day, bound like Chewbacca on the detention level. He was allowed to eat Christmas dinner, however. Heidi spent some time outfitting all the Barbies in the house with their new wardrobe, and also made a great fourth player for the boys, Chris, Jeff, and Steven, in their board games. "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" was a hit. Jeffrey, who received a gorilla suit for his birthday, received an array of wigs for Christmas. Every time we turned around, there was one (or all) of the boys as some alternate personality, sporting beards, afros, bald heads, etc. Grandma took a few moments to catch on, thinking at first that Chris had done something drastic to his curly hair. "Oh, no, I don’t like it," she said, until she realized that it was just a wig. We had to leave Steven at the T's overnight because they were deep into filmmaking when it was time to depart. Be looking at the boys' website for the final product! (Spoiler alert: It may involve something coming down the chimney.)

As they say, a fun time was had by all . . . but we missed all our loved ones in faraway locations. We send our love, and best wishes for a Merry Christmas Season, and a Happy New Year!