On the 10th the kids had their Christmas piano recital at the assisted living facility. It was fun for the kids to perform their christmas music in that environment and they all did a really good job!
Avynlea and Rylee performed a duet of "Oh little Town of Bethlehem". They did such a great job and it was so fun watching them perform together. Avynlea commented that this was the first time she wasn't nervous to get up and perform. I suspect it was because she had her sister by her side.
Ryker performed "" and he sounded awesome also. He was irritated with me because I made him dress up for the recital and other kids performing were not dressed up. He looked good and I am glad I made him put on his suit. He looked nicer then those other kids and I think one should dress nice for performing.
After the recital we took Avynlea to her friends house for a late night christmas party and later that evening Ryker and Kenedy went to a Stake Dance. It was Ryker's first Dance and he was excited plus a little bit nervous, it was pretty cute. He wanted to leave so that they would get there when the dance started but Kenedy being the all knowing older sister told him no way, nobody arrived hen it started and she made him wait at least an hour.
Kefford and I were invited to a couple's white elephant christmas party put on by a couple in our new ward. I was nervous about going because it is hard for me to be social with people I do not know but I knew we needed to go so that we could start making friends and being comfortable in our new ward. With everyone leaving that night poor Rylee was left to fend for herself. I left my phone with her, turned on a movie and promised her we would not be gone too long. She kept texting Kefford while we were gone and it was pretty cute reading her messages.
The party was a lot of fun and I met more people from our ward which was awesome. We played the m&m game where you take some m&ms and then according to what colors you get you have tot ell different things about yourself. It was pretty entertaining. For the white elephant exchange Kefford wrapped up a box of onions and mints and I made a "for making life's major decisions" kit with a rock, paper and scissors inside. While we were getting ready to start the exchange the other guest talked about last years party where one of the guys got a homemade crocheted minion bikini from another attendee. I thought that was pretty funny until I opened the gift I chose and realized I inherited said bikini. oh boy. The most clever gift, in my opinion, was a 2017 scenic calendar that had a picture on every scenic page of a different couple from the party. They people have all been friends for years so I wasn't surprised to see all of their pictures show up. I was surprised however when I saw even Kefford and I were featured on one of the months! She found my Facebook page and took a picture from their. Pretty clever and a little alarming. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know more people. The kids all saw the gifts we got and Ryker told me he thought it was mean of someone to give that as a gift when clearly we could never use it. I was confused by his reaction until I realized he did not know how a white elephant worked. Once I explained the concept and gave the example of what his Dad gave he got it and found the humor in it all.
On Monday Kefford and I drove out to the farm while the kids were in school so that he could work on a gift for Kenedy for Christmas. While he was busy at the shop I played with Sadie and Madi at his parents house. We were playing with the train and Madi was cracking me up with her imagination, she kept saying she had an evil plan and had put bombs on the train, hilarious. Sadie gave me my phone and told me to take her picture so of course I did. I love that these two have become really comfortable with me and I sure do love them.
Moving in to a new ward and not knowing anyone has been harder on me then I thought it would. But I am grateful for the people who have reached out to make us feel welcome and wanted.
