Busy Christmas: Parties, Visitors, Engagement and then a new grandson

Since early December, we have been kept incredibly busy doing what we believe are good things.  We find that the more that we try to do good things, the blessings from our Heavenly Father seem to be without end.  Our Christmas Season was full of parties, family, service and focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We added to that a marriage engagement of our son, Jacob, and a 10 day visit from our daughter Gina and Danny and their family of five children.   In the end, it all turned out wonderful and we were strengthened with divine help.  January has continued at almost the same pace as we enjoyed the birth of a new grandson (Austin), are emotionally involved in wedding preparations and have begun transitioning out of our many responsibilities in preparation for our upcoming mission.  We have learned to take one step at a time.  When a priority is accomplished, we move on to the next.  It may seem crazy, but it is working.

Highlights of the last two months, Visit from Gina's family, Birth of Austin (Pollyanna's son), and Jacob's engagement

Let's start with December.  Christmas season in our family is complex as we try to buy a present for each of our 50+ grandchildren and each of our children and their spouses.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  As we finished our Thanksgiving dinner, we jumped right into decorations, inside and out.  When we posted our blog in early December, we had a pile of packages from Amazon that had already appeared.

This photo was taken on December 1, 2023

Once the decorations were up, Debbie began the wrapping of presents.  The following photo shows our Christmas tree, which included the gifts to our children and grandchildren that live in Utah.  Debbie uses a different wrapping paper for each family so we can keep them straight as they come to visit.

With presents mostly wrapped and decorations complete,  we prepared for a marathon of Christmas parties that we were hosting during the same weekend, December 16 to 18.  

On Saturday, December 16, we had our ward/neighborhood Christmas activity. Our Church calling is as the head of the Activities Committee in our ward, which meant that we were in charge of this dinner and activity for around 170 individuals.  This sounds worse than it was, since we have an excellent committee that took care of many of the details.  We decided to do a "Nativity" focus on the activity, starting with Nativity displays from ward members.  This was available for all to see 30 minutes before the dinner.  The dinner was catered, except for water and desserts, but there was still a lot of work to coordinate, serve, and clean up.  We then had a ward sing-a-long of beloved Christmas carols.  This was followed by a nativity presentation by great grandchildren of one of our ward members.  It all turned out quite well and we were happy to have it completed.

All set up and prepared with amazing decorations from a few sisters in our ward.  This included a complete nativity background and accessories for the Nativity presentation.

Each of the 20 tables had a centerpiece and had salads and desserts ready and waiting for the guests.  Along the back of the hall was multiple tables of nativity displays.

The specialized centerpiece for each table, including a nativity ornament to be taken home by someone at each table

Additional Nativity Displays on the side of the hall

A full cultural hall, enjoying the nativity presentation 

The finale of the nativity presentation, including Mary in a wheel chair with a broken leg

The next day, Sunday, December 17, we hosted our family Christmas party at our Clubhouse.  We had  48 participating.  The party included dinner, a nativity, and a gift exchange between the cousins.  This is one of our best attended family activities each year.  Unfortunately no photos of the nativity, since I was the narrator.

Adults and teenagers waiting for the nativity as the kids are downstairs preparing.

Ready for the Gift Exchange

More from the gift exchange, different angle

The next morning, December 18, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers had their annual Christmas party.  Debbie is the captain of this group, so it was her third party to host in three days.  As we finished partying, we entered into our last week before Christmas.   

It began with Gina arriving in town with her family that very day.  They had not been back to Utah as a family since they moved a year and a half ago.  They took over our downstairs for the next 10 days as they visited with other friends and family during much of this time.  We were blessed to see more of them since they started and ended most days with us, including Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.   They fit into our two bedrooms and an office downstairs for sleeping accommodations.  Jacob moved upstairs for the 10 days, sleeping in our living room. We set up a separate christmas tree downstairs for them to enjoy during this trip. The kids helped decorate it the very next day.  Photos below show some of the highlights of this visit.

Hudson opened his birthday present the first thing after they arrived, as he turned 7 years old two weeks earlier.

They enjoyed decorating our old artificial Christmas Tree that is older than Gina, bought when we first moved to Brazil in 1987.

They participated in our first cookie decorating activity of the season the next morning while their parents went to the temple, since they had built in baby sitters

On that same day, December 19, 2023, Jacob returned to the temple for the first time in almost 10 years.  We enjoyed an initiatory session together before he went to work.  They evening we were scheduled to do an endowment session together.  I was honored to have this special time with him.  At the last minute he invited his girlfriend, Deb, to join us at the temple that evening.  I left them alone at the temple after the temple endowment so that they could have some time together.  I then waited for them to walk to the back of the temple on their way home to our condo.  As planned by Jacob, he proposed to Deb while I witnessed this with my camera in hand.  The night was cool and wet, but the proposal was accepted and Deborah Ruth Beutler became Jacob's finacé.  We are delighted with Deb and are excited for her to join our family.  They make a wonderful couple.  Their engagement couldn't have happened in a better setting.

Jacob and Deb at the Jordan River Temple right after their engagement

The engagement ring!

Once Gina got us started, Debbie kept the cookie decorating activity going as we hosted over 20 of our grandchildren to decorate Christmas cookies with their Oma.  The next day we had two of Pollyanna's daughters. The following day we had two of Beckie's kids.  On Friday we went to Cache Valley and celebrated Christmas with three of our children and their families.  This included a joint cookie decorating activity for 8 grandchildren.  Five more came over on Saturday.

Katelyn came and joined with Gina's family.  Never too old to decorate cookies with Oma!

Debbie making the cookie dough with Aria and Paisley

Who were very creative with their cookies

Kaleb and Abbie the next day

With eight more grandkids in Hyrum on Friday

Another view of two Digerness families and the Sheltons

Four more Digerness kids on Saturday

We delivered Christmas presents to each of the three families on our Friday trip:  Just a few of the photos:

Owen, loving his gift with his brothers looking on

Had to share this photo of Ashton receiving my old baseball mitt that he used during this past baseball season.

Kari receiving her book of images of all of Debbie's recipe cards.  Kari asked for this and Debbie gave it to all of her daughters and daughter-in-laws

Serenity with her Lego set

The Digerness girls enjoying our game of the year "Magnetic Chess" which is not really Chess, but it is magnetic and fun.

We spent our Christmas Eve doing a Shepherd's Meal at our home at the request of Gina.  We loved having her family and Ben, Jacob and Deb with us.  Gina's kids were the cutest and best dressed shepherds that we have ever had.  They all loved their uncles and future aunt.

Gina's kids dressed up as shepherds

Shepherds eating their shepherd meal with Jacob and Deb

And enjoying ice cream with their Uncle Ben

Enjoying their Christmas Eve pajamas

Enjoying Christmas morning with little children!

Other Christmas Day activities - Our Stair Chair

And Oma's Electric Piano with fun sounds!

With my daughter Gina on the day after Christmas

The rest of our Christmas Day and the day following were spent with most of our other children.  In five days, we saw most of our children and grandchildren.

Tiare and her friendship necklace

Gina and Giovanna with some of their kids

A big group on the day after Christmas

Two cousins playing "magnetic chess"

There are some of our grandkids that we rarely see.  These are some that do not live with our own children.  Being with them takes a lot more effort to orchestrate.  During this season, Debbie had a prompting that we should organize a luncheon for some of these grandkids.  We were pleased to take four of our grandkids out to lunch right after the new year.  We want this to become an annual tradition.  We had a wonderful time with them.

Lunch with Naliyah, Cherish, Natalia, and Tiancom

Some of our most enjoyable Christmas moments were when we visited some of our neighbors.  So many of them are struggling with health issues.  One visit that we enjoyed was with our neighbor and her husband, who had just moved into a memory care unit of Legacy.  This was a difficult decision, but she has spent most of her time with him to make sure he can make the adjustment.  Other visits were made when dropping off a neighbor gift. These extended into nice visits with those that we don't spend enough time with.  As much as we love all of our Christmas Activities, the sweetest spirit was felt in the homes of neighbors and friends.  The photo below is of our friend, Joyce Crosby.  She is 93 years old and just keeps going.  She visits the temple and does 5 to 10 endowment sessions each week.  In December she was having great struggles to walk at all and stopped going to Church and the temple.  When we told her we were coming to visit, she got all dressed up for our visit.  Fortunately, she made it back to Church on Christmas Eve and now is back in the temple on a regular basis.

Our friend, Joyce Crosby.  She was born one day after my mother.  I call her my mom's little sister.

Other Holiday events:

There always seems to be other opportunities to be with those we love.  A few of them from the past two months are highlighted below:

We got to go to the 50th wedding celebration of Debbie's brother Tom.  This photo shows us hoping that we can make fifty years married in this life.  Only 25 years to go!

We missed a piano recital for our granddaughter, Ellie, and her mother Melanie.  However, on our visit to Hyrum, they played their songs for us.

Ellie playing her piano recital for us

Melanie playing her recital number, a great mother daughter activity

Jacob in his holiday choir concert, performed in January

Jacob with his Grandparents.  He has grown and matured so much in the past year or two.  We are proud of him!

Evelyn's 9th Birthday

A scripture holder that Oma gave to Evelyn for her Book of Mormon.  We also gave her a Bible that I had received when I was 10 years old for her to carry in her bag with her Book of Mormon.

Debbie's Birthday:

The Holiday season is never over until Debbie celebrates her birthday on January 7.  This year she turned 71 years old.  She is the cutest 71 year old I have ever seen!  Since it was a Sunday, we had dinner and a movie the day before and after.  On Sunday, I was able to have her presents wrapped and stacked on a new little bookshelf that we bought for our room.

Presents in deceptive boxes

Enjoying her carrot cake with a candle

Another Grandchild:

We planned a busy weekend for January 13 and 14.  We were taking our grandkids to the Brigham City Temple to do baptisms for the dead, meeting Ashton (from Hyrum) there.  Then on Sunday we would see Jon ordained a priest and then have a family activity that night, including a baby shower for Pollyanna.  On Friday, January 12, we got a call from Pollyanna saying that she thought this was the day.  We came over and watched her kids while little Austin was born later that evening.

Obviously, everything else changed.  We canceled the baptism trip and stayed with Pollyanna's four daughters until Sunday morning.  We changed the family activity to a Zoom planning meeting and told everyone to deliver their gifts to Pollyanna separately.  Even though we went to Jon's ordination, it also got delayed one more week.  However, in return, we had a wonderful time with Pollyanna's girls for two days, including taking them to the hospital to see their new little brother and their parents.

This was our highlight of the month of January.  We love these children.  This is our fourth extended tending visit with grandchildren in the past 8 months.  What a joy it is to be with them for multiple days.  We get to know them so much more and build bonds of love that are amazing.

Reading bedtime stories is so fun.  The oldest three girls just soak it up.

The second night was just as much fun as the first

When we got to the hospital, each of the three oldest girls got to hold their little brother.  Hayvin was so cute.  She wouldn't stop holding Austin.  We then got our traditional family photo.

Aria was the first to hold Austin.  She got quite emotional.  She has so much love for her younger siblings.

Hayvin just loved holding Austin

Hayvin kept watching even when Oma had a turn

And when Opa had his turn

Austin kept his eyes closed the whole time

Their first family photo

When we got home we had to get ready for them to celebrate Rick's birthday which was on Sunday, January 14.

Paisley and Aria playing games with Oma

Everyone making birthday cards for their dad

Everything ready for their parents and Austin to come home.  They helped Oma make a birthday cake for Rick.

Family Zoom planning meeting instead of the family activity

We got back to visit with Pollyanna and her family a week later and got updated photos of Austin and her family. 

Austin had a pretty nice smile in this photo 

An updated family photo

A few days later (January 17) we heard noise outside our window.  When Debbie looked out we saw hundreds or thousands of birds.  They were all over the ground outside our window for just a few minutes then they flew away.  It kind of reminded us of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds":  Here are a few photos that we got of this strange phenomenon:

Photo through our blinds

More close up across the street

Then they all flew away

The snow covered ground outside our window, no longer had snow where the birds had been

Just as the birds flew away, we are in the process of transitioning out of our many responsibilities and routines in preparation to serve our full-time mission at the Palmyra New York Temple in March.  That transition is already starting.  We will discuss that in more detail in our next blog.

Come Follow Me:

Finally, a new year means a new course of study in Come Follow Me.  Our study of this curriculum has changed our lives.  It is a high priority in our lives and what we are learning is a powerful guide for our every day priorities and actions.  We are excited to study the Book of Mormon this year.  Our month of January has already been phenomenal.

In 2023, my personal goal was to get to know my Savior Jesus Christ through the study of the New Testament.  Throughout the year, I recorded what I had learned.  I feel like He is much more personal in my life than ever before.  My notes go on for pages and pages.  However, I want to share my condensed summary of what I learned:

What am I learning about the character of Christ?

Source: What the Holy Ghost teaches me from the New Testament in 2023

 

The more we know of Jesus, the more we will LOVE HIM.

The more we know of Jesus, the more we will TRUST HIM.

The more we know of Jesus, the more we will want to BE LIKE HIM

-Neal A. Maxwell

 

WHAT seek ye?  To know Jesus Christ more fully and become more like Him this year. I will seek out attributes that we study that I can better implement in my life. 

 

·      The Character of Christ - turning outward in compassion and love

·      Condescending to earth so that He can help us ascend

·      Being taught by the Father

·      Preaching and fulfilling the Father’s plan - The Atonement of Jesus Christ:

·      Reaching out to those who are unclean

·      Relieving pain and suffering, both mortal and spiritual

·      Loving me - I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine

·      Covenanting with Us as we are born again into a relationship with Him and have access to His Grace

·      Fulfilling the Law, emphasizing our thoughts and feelings in a celestial way

·      Judging righteously

·      Submitting to God’s will, having Faith to not be healed 

·      Taking time for compassionate detours

·      Inviting us to come unto Him, taking His yoke and finding rest

·      Teaching us the mysteries of the Kingdom as we are ready

·      Teaches us to look towards the Lord for His help; expect miracles

·      The greatest definition of being Christlike is learning how to submit to the will of the Father in our own personal bitter cups. 

·      Jesus Christ is the one who determines what priesthood keys are delegated to mortals and how those keys will be used. 

·      Jesus Christ will forgive all of our sins or debts and will rescue us from our mortal journey. He has indescribable compassion and compassion. 

·      The Savior’s compassion in the face of our imperfections draws us toward Him and motivates us in our repeated struggles to repent and emulate Him.

·      Jesus Christ is a personal God who feels your pain. Ponder His compassion, and you will be blessed with added spiritual sensitivity and become more Christlike.

·      Jesus Christ wants us to seek light, hungering after righteousness, then the heavenly veil is pierced. 

·      Jesus Christ loves His Father and all of His Father’s children. That must be my purpose and motivation in keeping all of His commandments. Then I will find much greater joy and understanding.

·      Raising up peacemakers to guide His wandering sheep 

·      Inviting us to love one another as He has loved us

·      Staying connected to us as a vine to its branches through the Spirit of the Holy Ghost

·      His atoning sacrifice provides grace to overcome afflictions and infirmities, weaknesses and imperfections. We can acquire gifts of the Spirit or divine attributes through sincere prayer. 

·      Jesus Christ taught us how to suffer, forgiving and bearing no malice, reaching outward, not focusing on ourselves. 

·      Jesus Christ has all power and overcame all things, even death, and He will be with us in all that He asks. 

·      Jesus Christ has delivered infallible truths of His resurrection to His apostles who have acted as witnesses to us so that we can also be witnesses of Jesus Christ. 

·      Once we recognize that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, we must be willing to answer as Saul of Tarsus, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 

·      Jesus Christ is interested in our eternal welfare, not our daily comfort.      

·      Jesus Christ is not an unknown God, He invites us to know Him and worship Him, for that is life eternal. 

·      Jesus Christ wants us to share our conversion story

·      Jesus Christ loves perfectly. It is called charity, the pure love of Jesus Christ. It is what He is. 

·      Jesus Christ overcame evil with good, with reasonable service

·      Jesus Christ wants to feed us with meat, but we are carnal, with strife, envying and division. We must seek heavenly meat. 

·      Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ. . . They do not envy others and are not caught up in their own importance.

·      Jesus Christ has a celestial body - by obedience to the Gospel we shall put on the heavenly

·      Jesus Christ is the light that shines out of darkness, into our hearts

·      When I am weak, I am strong in Jesus Christ, whose Grace is sufficient

·      To walk in the Spirit of Christ, we must crucify the flesh or the natural man 

·      All things in this dispensation are gathered together in Jesus Christ, that which are in heaven and which are on earth.  This includes the work beyond the veil.  He is looking to us to accomplish this work in behalf of our ancestors.

·      Jesus Christ gives me strength to do all things that are according to His will.  I can expect miracles when my will is aligned with His.

·      Hope in Jesus Christ is not a wishing for something, but rather a trusting in Someone. Sanctification can only come through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

·      The word of Jesus Christ found in scripture, words of the living prophets and in personal revelation has the power to fortify and arm the Saints so they can resist evil, hold fast to the good and find joy in this life.

·      Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 

·      Jesus Christ is the High Priest of Good Things to Come.   We can only access the Father through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.  We exercise this access through faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

·      If we yield to the enticements of the Holy Spirit, becoming a Saint through the atonement of Jesus Christ, our tongue can be tamed through the influence of Jesus Christ. Then we can give words of love and encouragement to everyone in our lives.  

·      Ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  In this process, our natures change until we are possessed of His love. This love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ . . . the greatest of these is charity.

·      God and Jesus Christ are love.  Their love is manifest because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. The first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of his heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life.  Because of their abiding love of us, we must trust Them.

·      Jesus Christ knows our works.  He knows us. Our relationship with Him is personal, based on His incredible love for us. I strive to recognize His greatness and goodness every day, but I choose to focus on His amazing love for me individually and for all of His children and creations. Having said that I fully expect and desire to fall to my knees when I find myself in His presence. 

·      I can be in the presence of my Father with incredible promised blessings if I accept the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life.  For my robes will be washed white in the blood of the Lamb after I come out of great affliction.  I must be tried and come out faithful and refined.

·      Jesus provided this opportunity to come to a fallen world and to be dependent on Him so that I could feel His love and learn to love as He did.

·      As I begin to truly know Jesus Christ, I feel His incredible love for me, His desire to help me grow. Everything that He did was and is for my eternal well-being. As I better understand His love and strive to become like Him, through His grace I am being filled with that love. This moves and enables me to love and minister to others more diligently. I believe that as I progress in developing charity, ministering to others accordingly, I will be happy with what is written in my book of life. 

 

“The bottom line is that God commands us to love Him because of what He knows it will do for us. He commands us to love one another for the same reason. Love of God transforms us. Love of God transforms our love for each other. This love is requisite for our coming to know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is the key to our becoming like Him.”  (Elder D. Todd Christofferson)