A Party, A Fireside, and a Red-Faced Mom

During the second week of December, we attended our ward Christmas Party.  I have to say that this ward has been quite different from our ward in Georgia in many ways, but perhaps the most obvious is the support of various ward activities.  For example, our ward Christmas party filled up the gym this year, as it does every year, from what I'm told.  It was crowded.  Everyone was there.  On a weeknight.  

Our ward Christmas parties in Georgia?  Not so much.  One year there were literally 12 people there.  Including children.  We were the first ones there and showed up to an empty parking lot and a dark locked building.  We hung out in the parking lot for a few minutes, then a couple arrived who had keys, so we went in, turned on the lights, and found the church void of decorations.  Two other families showed up, and my two kids and the other three kids ran around and played in the gym while the adults had a lovely time visiting and eating the treats we'd brought.  Some say small parties are the best.  Well, we did have a good time together, and it certainly was memorable, haha.

Anyway, back to the party we attended in Orem in 2012...

Santa walked around to the tables and delivered lollipops.
He must have had some leftovers from the ward party he attended in Mexico...

because all of the lollipops said, "Feliz Navidad."
¡Hurra!  ¡Qué delicia!

The Primary was asked to supply the program, so we had the kids dress up
and they acted out the Nativity story while we sang "The Nativity Song."
I led the kids, then led the congregation in "Silent Night" at the end.

Cat had a part in the program as the angel (next to the star) and Jack was a
shepherd in the shepherd & angel choir.  Eliza just wanted to hang out up front.

Jack was blinded by his headcovering at one point, but was able to remedy the situation.

Just a few days later, the MBA Spouse Association put on a Christmas fireside which was just lovely.  There was an art gallery, filled with a variety of artwork from MBA students, spouses, and children, which was quite impressive. 

I've already included this picture in a previous blog post about art,
but this is the event where the kids' art work was on display.  So cool.

Then there was a 50-minute program of music and narration that was just wonderful.  Our kids were part of the children's choir, which sang two Christmas songs from the Children's Songbook and... well, you'll just have to see.

We should have been tipped off that something might go amiss when Jack had no
interest in doing hand motions during the rehearsal just before the program.
Cat and Eliza did a great job with the hand motions...

Jack didn't even want to fold his arms.

During the actual performance, Jack was more interested in sticking his tongue out than singing. 

Eliza turned around to see what he was doing back there.

She admonished him to behave.
I can just hear her saying, "Jack, don't stick yo' tongue out.  That's a bad choice." 

Then he did one of the hand motions while sticking his tongue out as Eliza looked on. 

And she did a hand motion while sticking her tongue out.

There's no hiding it.

Jack was ready to make more trouble, and Cat was trying to discourage him.
I was sitting in the middle of the third row wishing there was some way I could intervene,
but I just couldn't figure out how without making it worse.

Then Eliza progressed to full-blown silliness.

AND.... Jack made a leap for it.

I must have stopped taking pictures at this point because I was so embarrassed, but it only got worse.  By the time the children's choir was finished, both Jack and Eliza had been knocked to the floor and were having a grand old time monkeying around.  I was mortified.  It was one of those times I was really glad that only a handful of people in attendance knew who those crazy children belonged to.  Sheesh.

But... I also wish I had it on video because I can definitely appreciate the humor of it.  Supposedly, one of the wives does have a video recording of it and I've emailed her but haven't been able to get my hands on it yet.  Trust me, if I get it, I'll share it.  Of course, it was the one time I chose not to make a video of my kids' performances.  Ughh.  Never again!  I will video tape everything they do from now on!  ;-)

We sat by our friends Eric & Krista, who have two girls.  Krista, Ben and I were all singing in a large group number at the end of the program, so Eric was kind enough to take care of these hooligans, in addition to his girls, while we were up on the stage.  The kids loved it.  Eric?  I'm not so sure.

In spite of Jack's and Eliza's shenanigans, I was glad that everyone in the family participated.  We also found out that there are many more musically and artistically inclined people around us than we were aware of - I love it!  It was a wonderful evening and I was so grateful for the many hours the organizers put into it.