Birthday & Christmas

December 24th   

      We had a wonderful time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We started off the 24th by going to the archives for half a day. It was their annual Christmas Party. How great it coincided with Sister Edward's birthday. While we took in some treats to share, the spread of food they included made for quite the celebration.

      After the party we took advantage of the rest of the afternoon to do some last minute shopping before heading back to our flat. Sister Hemi & Sister Phillips stopped by in the evening for the birthday celebration. It is always nice when they can stop by.

Celebrations at the archives are always wonderful because of the many delicious options on the table.

We celebrated with a Raspberry Surprise cake from the Danish Bakery. It was mouth-watering!!

Sister Phillips and Sister Hemi helped make a chorus of three to sing Happy Birthday.

December 25th

     Christmas was a busy day at our flat. We started our morning by opening presents and then preparing for the Elders to stop by. We made our place available for them to make their Christmas calls to home using our iPads and internet. It was fun to see the excitement on Elder Mortenson's face after he spent an hour with his family in Tropic, Utah. It reminded us of those precious calls when our son Brett was in Louisiana on his mission. Later, Elder Shaak stopped by to call his mother in South Africa. A similar smile followed that conversation.

We had an unexpected snow storm on Christmas Day. How magical!!

We managed to decorate on a budget. There was a definite feeling of peace in our flat.

After a few great deals we had a beautiful Christmas tree.

Homemade table decorations made by a talented Sister Edward..... who knew.

Elders Daniel & Mortenson made homemade orange rolls for dinner.... delicious.

Okay, we didn't have a snowstorm.... can you say Photoshop. The only white things in the yard were roses.

       Vivienne, our friend from the Archives, spent Christmas afternoon and evening with us. She didn't seem to mind the missionaries coming and going..... and we finally enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner together.

Vivienne & Sister Edward enjoyed a good laugh as they exchanged presents.

     On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, Elder Shaw stopped by to make his call home to Canada. Later, Elder Daniel finished up the calls with his family in Wyoming. 

     While we experienced a different atmosphere during the Christmas season this year, it was a good feeling to know that we are in the service of our Heavenly Father and doing His work. We feel that those probates we are digitizing are sacred records. We know that through our service we are helping not only those who are currently doing their family research, we are paving the way for future researchers to find their ancestors.