Christmas is Music is Christmas . . . and Parties!

We decked the halls as soon as we got home from Cancun, 
knowing we wanted to take the decorations down 

before we left to go up north to take care of Blake 
while Rick's family traveled 
to Hong Kong and China over Christmastime. 

Hands down, my favorite part of the Christmas celebration is the music.

Every year Ryan and Emily invite us to the EVMCO Christmas concert in Mesa. 
It is a magnificent performance of around 800 voices under the direction of  Brandon Stewart.      
They are going to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC this summer.
Ben has advanced to the concert choir, and he loves us to come.
It is a beautiful way to kick off the Christmas season!

Besides those on stage, there are three tiers of singers all along the sides pouring out gorgeous sounds!

Both sets of grandparents show up every year for this treat!

We took Stacy and Emily to lunch next day to a fun restaurant in Old Gilbert.

The unique bruschetta was delicious!

We were able to watch Anna and Londyn cheer at a basketball game that night. They are both flyers 

and are A-MA-ZING1

And we were also treated to some yummy meals. Thanks, Em and RY Ry!

It was a quick trip but so worth it!

Next musical treat was hearing Kay's Keynotes sing in the newly renovated St. George Tabernacle.

Wow, what a lovely, lovely concert!

These ladies blend so very beautifully and when they sang, O Holy Night I got tears when they hit the high notes.

 I could hear my talented sister, Kay's rich voice with gorgeous round tones add so much to their lush sound.

When we celebrated our 51st Wedding Anniversary (December 14, 1967) in Vegas (next post), 

we got to hear a super Christmas show - jukebox hits and Christmas classics 

by a great quartet from Australia, Human Nature.

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They had everyone standing up, singing and dancing before they were through. 

So fun!

We had some fun entertainment at our Branch Christmas party. 

The daughter of Mary Lee Flagler (Branch member), 

who is an accomplished singer, 

sang for us and Dale Brower (Branch member) and his niece 

sang accompanied by his guitar. 

The evening was capped off when the presidency sang Rudolf!

Our good friends, the Taylors, got tickets for us to hear the Heritage Choir Christmas Concert. 

I love their director, Ken Peterson. I got to sing with him when I sang with the Southwest Symphony Choir 

and he is so fun and so good at getting expression out of the singers.

The guest artists were Dallyn Vail Bayles, who is a real favorite of ours . . . 

. . . and Mindy Smoot Robbins, who has a terrific, high soprano voice.

We loved the concert and we loved getting together with Jay and Anne.

Before the concert, we attended a Christmas dinner sponsored by Cache Valley Bank, one of their sponsors. 

Our Branch INSTA-CHOIR Sacrament program went very well this year. 

I had each new Branch Presidency member choose his favorite Christmas hymn. 

After each spoke about the message of the one he had chosen, the choir sang it. 

We sang, Angels We Have Hear On High, I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day, and Far, Far Away On Judea's Plains, accompanied on the piano and violin. 

These carols are some of my favorites, too!

Actually, our first Christmas party of the season was having dinner at Cliffside Restaurant 

with the employees and volunteers of the St. George Chamber of Conference. 

We enjoyed a delicious dinner and the special camaraderie with these great people.

I didn't realize until the party that there are only three of us (volunteers) at the Chamber.

The NAI Christmas party was at Magelby's with a buffet dinner, then we played a game with die 

where you start with two $10s each. It is kind of like the one where you pass white elephant gifts left and right, 

but you're playing with money and gift certificates. 

Roger and I came out pretty good at the end!

Here is our annual Christmas card.

The music and parties we got to attend kicked our Christmas season off to a great start!