Christmas Eve 2017

Christmas Eve is my favorite!  We had a delightfully full house with my dad and my siblings and cousins galore. The girls' table with some photo bombers!

The boys table.

Chole and Peter at the little people table.

Pete and RePete.  

Brig and Dev

People love it when you try to take their picture while they are eating their dinner.

My girls ADORE their Aunt Laura.

Cousins singing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" to George's duets.

The babies with my first baby.  Sigh.

The cast of the Nativity pageant-- directed by Miss Bethany Fox.

It was quite picturesque this year with the stable made from the pvc pipe fort kit.  George and Emi were the most reverent Mary and Joseph I've ever seen.  Well done.  It helped that Peter was not playing the part of the baby Jesus.  

Beautiful cousins singing Christmas carols.

Patient grandchildren waiting to open their Christmas Eve pajamas...

...all together now!

So snuggly!  Oh, look how cute... it's Greta's first nose picking picture.

Da boyz.

Grandpa reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

 Greta was intrigued.

Bethany humors us with a reading of Cajun Night Before Christmas.  

"Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Grandpa and Gret.

After everyone left and the littles were in bed, the olders and middles had a riot playing a game from Uncle Chip and Aunt Laura--  Catch the Fox.  It involves stuffing chickens in to the fox's pockets and then the fox losing his pants and chickens falling out all over the table.  You can see, why it was so popular.

Simple enough for Peter to play, but exciting enough to interest the teenagers.

Will he or won't he drop his pants?

It's the spirit of the season.

Christmas Eve Sunday2017

Oh, my heart!  She brings so much happiness to our family!  Church on Christmas Eve was beautiful and touching and moving and emotional!  Holy moly!  The emotions of Clark leaving began enforce on Christmas Eve. 

I mean, seriously!  She adores him and must have sensed something coming because she was so clingy to Clark. She would beg to be picked up and then immediately snuggle in and lay her head on his shoulder.  This is her favorite place to be.

George and I have had fun playing some Christmas duets together. 

Looking so handsome in their new suits and their Texas pins.  Based off of his patience and endurance with Abe and his maniacal picture taking over the last week, I trust Clark will be kind and patient with future mission companions. 

Elinor is tall and has been for a while, but she is really growing into a beautiful young woman... if that makes any sense?

Don't mind me if you see me crying over the couple of weeks.  Just smile and hand me a tissue.

I'm thankful for Abe would has seen me fall apart numerous times this week and just loves me and thanks me for not destroying Clark when his and my wills collided many times over the past 18 years!

Cannon Is Such a Party Boy

Whoa!  That was a crazy week! 
Cannon performed 8 shows of The Nutcracker with Ballet West downtown over 5 days right before Christmas!  Three of those days he had matinee and evening performances.    Abe or I chaperoned the party boys backstage on the three of the shows.  I hadn't planned to go his opening night, but I couldn't help myself!  I snagged a ticket and love every minute of it. 

Then Abe and I rode Trax with him to his performance Friday night and then we went on a date to see it.  It was really spectacular and Cannon did so well.  It was beyond thrilling to see him up there.  He loved being a part of the show and making new friends with the boys in his cast. 

With December being so very busy, it was so nice to be on such a nice date with Abe.

We dropped Cannon off for his call time and then had dinner with James and Andrea's family before we all went to the show together. 

Opening night was a very snowy cold evening.

The cheap seats... which are not, as it turns out... that cheap after all.
But totally worth it.

Do you see his name?  Third on the Party Boy list.

We tried to comb his hair for the first performance, but I didn't like seeing him up there without his curls, so for all the others, we went with his curly mop.
So, all in all, it was a magnificent experience, but I am so glad it's done!  The time commitment was more than I had anticipated.  And with so much else happening with getting Clark ready to go and normal December craziness, I'm ready for a calm and boring January!

Clark's Mission Farewell

And the farewell Sunday was upon us.  Clark gave a powerful talk about gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  I'm fairly certain no one could have fallen asleep during his talk!  We think he'll fit right in in Texas!  He did a really nice job and I enjoyed hearing him speak.

This recording wasn't during the meeting-- it was a practice beforehand.

After the meeting, of course we all wanted to visit some more, but we moved ourselves outside to try to get a picture of the group.  Also, to get our loud group outside.

Several people had already headed off to other church meetings, but it was so wonderful to be with so many loved ones.  We are blessed beyond anything I could have hoped for.

Beloved Fox cousins.

Treasured robotics team friendships.

D&D friends.  Clark did a little photo-shopping and added those who didn't make it into the original picture.

Ha, ha ha!  Not too shabby!  

Here is some of the gang at their last D&D gathering this past Saturday night.

May I just say how much I will miss the sounds of raucous laughter and yelling coming from my basement almost every weekend for the past eight (plus) years.  These boys have been an absolute joy in our home!  I will miss them so much.  

Grandma and Grandpa Cannon (right side) and Uncle Lane and Aunt Diane.  I thought it was a beautiful thing to have them both there because Uncle Lane (my mom's brother) was mission companions with my dad in Germany.  That connection is how my parents met.  What life changing connections will Clark make on his mission?

Here's to hoping he is a good letter writer!

Cocoa and Doughnuts Mission Farewell Open House

On December 16th we did a mission farewell open house, combined with our annual neighborhood Cocoa and Doughnuts, for Clark-- he leaves for the Texas Dallas mission, Spanish speaking THIS Thursday. 

In very good news... We love each other.  A lot.

In not such good news, it makes it hard to have an impending separation, albeit only for two years.  But, I'm sort of a hot mess right now.  I had hoped I would handle all this a little more gracefully, but alas, I am not.  Starting on Sunday, I have cried no less than 12 times each day.  And the thing is, I'm SUPER happy he is going.  I'm proud of him and I'm confident he will handle the challenges he'll face.  He will learn and grow and progress and he'll be a blessing to others.  I don't want him to stay here.  I'm excited for the experiences he will have.  But darn it, I really like him.  And I will miss him.  And I will miss our family as it has been with him here.  I will miss watching his interactions with younger siblings who worship the ground he walks on.  I have faith that many good things await him and us while he is gone, but I've sure enjoyed things as they are.  So I'm giving myself the same advice I've given him:  Go ahead and feel all the emotions you have.  Don't fight them, don't resist them.  Let them come and serve their purpose and then they can pass on.  

I love him and I'll miss him and that makes me sad.  I'm going have myself a few days of ugly crying and then I'll adjust to our new normal.  I'll focus on the gratitude I feel for the wonderful relationships and memories we've had.  And I will enjoy being a missionary mom.  

I'm glad that the farewell festivities were a couple weeks back-- before my emotions were so highly charged-- because then I was feeling such happiness and excitement and I thoroughly enjoyed the gathering and the farewell talk the next day. 

We took pictures with the other kids so we can compare how they've grown while he's gone.  

 I wonder if Cannon will pass up Faith by then?

I don't expect much growth from any of these three-- pretty sure they have reached their full height already.  

We couldn't be happier for him or more grateful for who he has become and his example in our family.  

Clark felt so grateful to have so many friends and family come to wish him good luck. 

Clark and his cousin Alexis.  She was the first and only girl (for quite some time) he could tolerate!

Fox family visiting circle!

Keith, Clark's robotics team coach and great friend, Jakob.  

The Johansens were the first to arrive.  They have recently moved from our neighborhood -- just to a different city nearby-- but still, we miss seeing them as regularly.

Some Foxy cousins

Cutie cousins

Greta takes her bedtime seriously.  The whole evening was a little too much for her.

I LOVED  having the "party" the night before, rather than on Sunday after Sacrament meeting.  We really enjoyed the visiting on Saturday and it left us free to just soak in the goodness on Sunday without needing to worry about hustling home to host a gathering.