The shortest and longest Advent

First dinner all together after getting home from Quebec!

Advent season feels like it takes place "after Thanksgiving." So with Canadian Thanksgiving being way back at the beginning of October, it seemed like we could start thinking about Christmas extra early! When it snowed in Quebec and the Christmas lights were up, it felt very Advent-y indeed!

But then we drove back to Utah at what felt like "the beginning of December," and it took us almost a week, and by the time we unpacked and caught our breath and I looked at the calendar, I was astonished to see that Christmas was next week! (I'd thought all along that we'd have about two more weeks, but I should have known we wouldn't—Malachi's birthday is two weeks before Christmas and we'd been traveling for that.) So in that way, it felt like we really only got one week of Advent!

Well, luckily the Christmas presents had mostly arrived as I'd ordered them online (Sebastian had stacked the boxes in a big pile in my bedroom) and, as it was a weird and different year with different fun things to do, we only had a few more Advent things that felt like they had to happen.

First up—Malachi's (late) birthday! Seventeen! He had his cake even later than his birthday dinner and presents (I think it was nearly January by the time we got to it). AND, I told him we couldn't have his usual angel food because it takes twelve egg whites and I couldn't even find eggs at the store! (And when I could find them they cost practically a year's salary.) So, poor boy, he had to pick a different cake. But here he is looking pretty content with it.

Next was Gus turning FIVE! (Impossible thing. He should still be a squishy toddler.) He liked the Caw, Toucan, and Cardinal cake Sam decorated for him.

And he liked his new Caw shirt, which he accessorized thus, with his previously-owned Caw swimming suit, a bow tie, and his other Caw shirt underneath.

Here is everyone gathered around "helping" him with his present (a Playmobil Zamboni)

(Caw shirt again)

We went to see the drive-through Christmas light show for his and Malachi's birthday activity. Lots of really atrociously obnoxious Christmas music, but the lights are good!

Our smaller car had been sitting at home unused for six months, so when we went to drive it we weren't surprised to find the battery dead. We got it all charged up, but apparently not sufficiently, because after church the next day, it died again and we had to walk home! (No great hardship as the church is only a 10-minute walk away, but it was a little chilly for those without jackets, so Ziggy wore Sam's!)

Abe went with my mom to the Utah Children's Choir Christmas concert—he used to be in the choir when he was a wee lad, you may recall. It was fun for him to see Miss Asay again.

Then he finished finals and came home for a few weeks! It was so fun for us! Although he did insist on putting this superfluous hat on this gnome every chance he got.

My mom has a December birthday and we got all the kids together for dinner one night! That is a very rare occasion, to have her and me and all my brothers in one place at the same time. It was wonderful! A few of the adult kids were there too.

I saw this rather strange anthropomorphic wreath in Quebec, ordered it from a site in the U.S., and it was waiting for me when we got home. I like it!

We got to go the temple! Hooray for living close to a temple! We are so blessed! (And blessed to have such a bright sunny day for squinting.)

Clementine fit the Christmas Bunny dress I got for her on Christmas clearance last year!

We celebrated Santa Lucia Day a few days late, since we'd been on the road on the 13th. Junie wasn't into it this year, but Daisy and Goldie and Clementine all wanted to dress up!

We found time to squeeze in a few rounds of Christmas Hallmark Bingo!

Sam and I went to the Nielson Family Candlelight Dinner and apparently these are the pictures I felt were most worth taking. (It was a wrapping game where we had teams and each one tried to wrap a person in wrapping paper the fastest.)

Oh, I have these pictures too, of Sam and me fancily-dressed to go to the party.

Here are all the girls dressed up for church the Sunday before Christmas.

Little boys, also looking sharp

Daisy, in the tall new ankle boots she found at the thrift store. (They still didn't make her taller than Junie, though, to her great disappointment.)

It was quite a warm day with not a hint of snow! We even found one modest violet peeking its head out.

We were happy to be home in time not to miss my mom's annual Joseph Smith Birthday Party! 219 candles on the cake this year.

And then it was the day for the Butterscotch Roll Party! I started some dough the night before, as I've done the last couple years. It works pretty well. Then I can start filling the rolls and shaping them first thing when I get up in the dark early hours.

There was a beautiful sunrise!

And I had my faithful Daisy-helper. The party was good this year, as always! So fun to see lots of people we hadn't seen since before we went to Quebec. I didn't get any pictures once people started coming.

And here we are Christmas Eve night, getting ready for our Cafe Rio dinner!

All together! Such a happy time!

Here is "Baby Jesus" all wrapped up in the manger where the kids had been putting "straw" for their good deeds all week. They were very proud of themselves because even though they had less than half as much time as usual, they got all the straw into the manger to make a soft bed for Baby Jesus. They did lots of good and kind and helpful things! And Goldie made the most beautiful manger scene ever, surrounded by candlelight and angels (and gnomes) looking on.

Sam put the big boys in charge of games at our Christmas Eve "Elf Olympics" this year and it was great. Seb organized a lego-building contest and Malachi and Abe collaborated on some Jackbox games. They were all super fun.

A few pictures I managed to catch of the sibling presents. Goldie made this darling Caw appliqué for one of Gus's jackets.

Hedgehog and Peep trees for Zig from Ky

Gnome and Bunny for Clementine from Junie

Abe gave Seb some cool candle beads that you can pour into any container to make a candle! And there were so many more good presents. Everyone had great ones. I just didn't get pictures of them all.

I got this grey-hatted gnome in Quebec. His legs are telescoping so you can make him taller and shorter. I saw him at some random Christmas store on Rue St. Joseph and told Sam, "I am buying that gnome."

Sam was aghast. "How will we take him home?"

"I'll find a way," I said. (And I did.)

In the meantime, he sat on the high shelf in our Quebec entryway (and later, on the mantle) and people made him tall and short several times a day.

Christmas Eve. The shining tree, presents all wrapped, house quiet, no one awake but me. I love this moment every year.

Christmas morning! Ready to look at the stockings. Waiting not-so-patiently.

I didn't get many pictures of the present-opening festivities on Christmas, either. But I did get this adorable elephant Junie made for Goldie!

It was busy and happy and good.

Clementine got a baby bat, which she promptly named Flippy-flap.

Daisy got a nicer camera, and later that day Seb took her out driving around and showed her how to use it. He took this cute picture of her (wearing her new dress and beautiful gloves I got for her in Quebec).

More picture-taking

A pretty sunset on her camera

We went to my mom's house for dinner on Christmas night, as usual. Sebastian took these pictures of Clementine dancing around afterwards to Abe and me playing the "Sleigh Ride" duet. (Which was a great pleasure, might I add. Neither Abe nor I had practiced it but it's always hilarious just to sit down and pound it out, come what may!)

And a few more post-Christmas pictures. Notice the little scripture case she is carrying around. It's Daisy's, but Clementine has adopted it. One day in the car she said something to me about "where is my Evie and my Casey?" I said, "Who is Casey?" She said, "My little skwipture Casey!"

Also, I just love it when Clementine carries her animals or dolls this way. She loves to tuck them in like that because she loves this picture of me carrying her in the baby wrap when she was a baby: