Dave and Gretta: The Heart of Christmas

Christmas 2021! It was a festive time, with family, good food, and good memories.

Scott’s family joined us for a Christmas Eve dinner and program. Scott and I are a good team in putting on the dinner. “Let’s do what we always do,” I suggested to Scott, and he arrived with bountiful bowls and platters of fresh fruit and dessert. I bought a honey baked ham and supplemented it with a rice casserole, green salad, and sweet potatoes with apples and orange sauce. The Spendloves were in the great majority, with Dave and me; Mike and Heidi with Audrey; Lisa and Kyle; Michael K, Rebekah, and Lily, with their friends, Steve and Kel Czr, from Idaho Falls; Spencer and Naomi with Eliza; Grant and Meg; Jonny and Jenny with their four boys. Scott and Jean brought Elizabeth, David, and Vanessa. Camille's family spent Christmas in Boston.

For the program, we had each guest tell something interesting, satisfying, or distinctive that had happened to him/her this year. There was lots of good news. Jonny has his fabulous new job planning for connectivity of Deere equipment. Lisa has her great job in the NICU, and she and Kyle will be remodeling their house. Mike has “paused” from his desk job and can devote himself to his investment properties and traveling. Mike and Heidi are having a baby boy in March. And on and on.

We finished with our signature events—Scott’s family signing “Hang Up the Baby’s Stocking,” Scott reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” my reading the Christmas story from Luke 2, and my handing out the family history gift. This year it was the first three chapters of “Hyrum and Nellie.”

To finish the evening, Sam played “Jingle Bells” as we all sang along. He sounded excellent, and amazed us all because he is only eight. Sam was not fazed by becoming an accompanist. This photo of Sam in a suit reminds me of how grown up he seems.

Eliza was up early Christmas morning, not quite sure what all the excitement was about.

Thomas played with Grandma's best "old toy"--bright-colored plastic blocks--while waiting to take his turn picking new toys off Grandma's "Christmas table." There were three separate Christmas tables--one for children, one for young adults, and one for my children with their spouses. Each family member threw dice to get a spot in the queue at his/her table, and then chose presents from the table until the presents were all gone. I have lots of advisors, each Christmas, helping me pick gifts for the tables that will be popular.

We fixed blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Jonny suggested adding lemon peel, which was the perfect seasoning, and Jonny also cooked the pancakes so they were fluffy and just barely brown. Alyssa learned from the master.

By 11:20 a.m., the Eberts had dialed in from Boston and the children were picking gifts from their Christmas table. Henry loves stuffed animals. He scooped up the gray stuffed rabbit he fell in love with at the BYU Museum of Art when we visited the museum together, and then he grabbed the furry yellow fox I bought from Audrey’s wish list on Amazon. “This is a pillow!” he said excitedly, as he undid the Velcro strap on the yellow fox. Both grandchildren and great-grandchildren got picks. Lily will enjoy her new “Ferdinand” book!.

It was interesting to watch as choices were made for the young adults table. I was surprised at how very practical my grandchildren and their spouses are. The Uzbek bowl, wall hanging, and silk scarves I placed on the table didn’t get picked until after every $10 and $25 gift certificate to Café Rio and Amazon had been chosen! When Naomi finally chose the wall hanging, Meg chose the Uzbek bowl, and Rebekah scooped up several silk scarves, I told them I was very glad that the gifts I brought back from Uzbekistan had found good homes! I later noticed that Sarah had chosen the beautiful, tiny lacquer box I bought in Bukhara.

Lisa was the big winner for the adult table. She drew the #1 pick and chose the Polish pottery plates. This was the second year that Camille chose the plates and they then went to someone else. I announced to the group that we would keep having Polish pottery plates on the table until Camille finally won them. Lisa also went home with the Uzbek platter and several Polish pottery serving dishes. I didn’t feel too sorry for Camille, however. She received the beautiful, black Russian lacquer box, the inlaid Uzbek lacquer box, and the blue and white suzani table runner, as well as the cute Polish pottery jug. Jonny slumped in disappointment as Mike won the Oculus virtual reality glasses, but he and Jenny picked up most of the cash. “We can’t take home much on the plane,” Jenny explained, “but we can buy things after we get home.” Kyle’s major gift was the leather carry-on bag that Jonny picked out, as well as a fur hat that he promptly used while he shoveled snow. Heidi chose the dark brown, woman’s fur hat, as well as the large, beautiful Polish pottery serving bowl.

Steve chose the slippers and jacket he picked out for the table, as well as, surprisingly, the ratty-looking sheep wool hat. "I'm going to wear it when Camille invites me to meet her at a party," he explained.