Dec 29 Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi, how are you?  It was so wonderful to Skype with you!  My watched had stopped, so I still thought it was 2:30 when I saw you'd tried to Skype us.  No wonder Dad kept saying that we had to get on Skype, ha ha!  I'm so glad you didn't have to wait long before I saw you'd been calling.  Like I said, I really enjoyed the time we had to Skype with you.  I thought it was the best Skype session ever.  Was it fun to see Lily?  She's getting so big, isn't she?  How did the rest of your Christmas day go?  I hope it was wonderful.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the movies.  It was a Christmas present from Cassandra and Emerson, and we had lots of fun.  In the evening we all got in our pajamas and did gifts from the heart before Lily went to bed.  Jon had Lily and gave her her own set of keys to play with.  Lily gave Katrina some bookmarks with pictures of her on them.  Cassandra gave Jon some certificates for Skyping sessions, Dad gave Miriam a certificate to detail her car inside and out.  I gave Cassandra a "year of Cassandra" book with journal entries of her from Dec 1989 to 1990, Katrina gave Thomas three hours of her time to do whatever he wants to do, Thomas gave me a sweet note that I will enclose because I loved it, Miriam scraped ice off Emerson's windshield the whole time they were here so he wouldn't have to, Emerson gave Dad a shooting outing, They were all sweet gifts, and we had a wonderful time.  After Lily went to bed that night, we ate our Christmas dinner which was steak, potatoes, broccoli, and salad.  Also each person had their own bottle of Martinelli's sparkling apple juice.  It was a very fun evening.  Before bed, we read the Christmas story and sang a couple of carols.

We really enjoyed having Cassandra and Emerson over on Christmas day.  It was wonderful watching Lily open her toys.  She got a music box record player.  She calls the little plastic records that come with it "DVD's."  We also got her a bath tub for her baby doll which Cassandra put in the car for her to open when she got home.  Since then, Cassandra says she's played with it and loves it.  Jonathan bought her a Darth Tater, too.  She was in gift heaven.  We also got a gift for a little baby boy that they are expecting, too.  It was fun to buy a cute little baby boy outfit.  Everyone had lots of fun opening presents.  Miriam gave everyone a gift, wasn't that sweet?  After we opened presents, Jon made us a delicious breakfast of egg and sausage bagels.  We opened Christmas crackers and ate our breakfast, and had a wonderful time.  Of course the highlight of the day was Skyping with you, Matt.  That evening, Dad, Emerson, Cassandra, Katrina, Thomas, and I all played a board game and Preston came over and he and Miriam watched a movie together.

On Thursday, we got to take care of Lily while Cassandra and Emerson went to the temple.  Dad and I took her to Costco, and then Katrina played with her, and then she went down for a nap.  It was so fun!  That evening, Emerson and Cassandra treated us all to dinner.  We had a wonderful time, the ten of us including Jon and Preston.  Lily was so cute, when Cassandra told her that her meal was macaroni and cheese, Lily cried, and said, "I want pasta!"  She wasn't happy until Cassandra called it pasta, ha ha.

Friday was our anniversary, and that morning, Emerson's brother came to visit so that he and Emerson could spend some time together.  After his brother got here, the guys went target shooting.  Preston and his step dad, Chris, came, too.  Miriam was the only one of us girls who went. While the were gone, Cassandra and Katrina cleaned the house for me for an anniversary gift while I played outside with Lily.  She loved the hammock, and the slides, but most of all she loved the "airplane" swing.  We had so much fun!  I also got out the little picnic table and we'd take little breaks to eat snacks at it.  We were out there for about an hour before she wanted to go in.  It was awesome!

After the guys got home, Dad and I went out on a date.  We watched "Saving Mr. Banks," which we both loved, and ate a late lunch together.  It was a very nice date.  Emerson, his brother, and Thomas played board games most of the day.  We also had lots of fun visiting with each other after we got home.

Saturday, Emerson, Riley, and Thomas played games again while Dad and we girls went to lunch and visited campus.  Lily had fun running around all over the place.  She also liked the driving video game at the bowling center.  We really enjoyed ourselves.  When we got home, I played outside with Lily again while Cassandra and Emerson finished packing.  After that, Riley left for home, Dad left for the gun show, and Emerson, Cassandra, and Lily left for home, too.  As they got ready to leave Lily yelled, "Good bye, good bye, see you soon!"  I wish we could see her soon.  It was very hard to see them go.  That night, Dad didn't feel well, and he still feels unwell today.  In fact, he stayed home from church. We got to talk to Cassandra a few hours ago.  They got home safe and sound, and Lily sang me a song on the phone.  She is very happy to be home.  I wanted to do something as a family tonight, so we are watching The Christmas Carol which is all Dad is up to right now.  We hope to have a New Years family home evening lesson tonight or tomorrow night.

I hope you liked hearing a bit about our week, Matt.  I hope that you will tell us a bit about yours, too.  I love you very much!

Love,
Mom