New Year's was very different for us this year as we actually went to a friend's house. We typically are homebodies, but my friend Susan and her husband Gary (the stake patriarch) invited us over for the evening. I was expecting a resounding, 'NO, that's not what we do for New Year's' from the kids. But instead I got a, 'that sounds cool'. So we went. The missionaries were there for dinner but then had to leave. Although I know Susan fairly well, the rest of my family doesn't so she had asked us to bring something for us to share about ourselves. We almost all brought drawings we had done, but each showed a different side of us. Mine showed my interest in people; their emotions and history. Milla's showed her adeptness at creating movement and multiple versions of the same character that she envisioned in her head. Sean said that he drew a character so that he could then write a story about them. Catherine also talked about her writing and sent a requested sample to Gary later that week. I was amazed at how the Dixon's genuineness and interest in my kids brought them out to really be their 'best selves' that night. Thomas was, of course, a little restless, but even he shared a new stuffed animal that he'd gotten for Christmas, saying that he liked things that were 'new' so he could discover them. Then he spent a bit of time with Gary running beanie babies down the stair railing and catching them at the bottom. We got to hear how they met in college in Texas in the 60's and about how Susan had spent several years traveling around with a music group that she played the guitar in. With some persuasion, Gary convinced her to play a little number for us. Gary told us about when he was first introduced to the church in college and how his first thought was, 'This is good' and 'if it's not true, it ought to be'.
Then we played 'The game of things', had some snacks (including the mozzarella sticks that Catherine insisted on bringing that the Dixon's had never tried before!) and went home at 9, to let our friends get to bed.
I'm not one for parties, but sharing a night with just a few others is just about perfect.
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| My main Christmas gift from Brandon was a 'penguin encounter' at the zoo. We went on Dec 30th and had a blast! There were only 8 of us in the group and we had to compete dangling anything shiny or straplike to try and get the 2 African penguins we met to come see us! They waddled around like little toddlers, distracted by anything that caught their eye. We couldn't hold them, but one did come up behind my legs and went right between them to get where he was going and I got a few good pets. Towards the end the zookeepers passed out peacock feathers to attract the penguins, which were a big hit. We also got a behind the scenes tour of the penguin facilities as well as Bird World. Brandon is about the best gift giver there is. |
