December 2025

December Happenings and Christmas celebrations:

• Juliette Visits Santa Claus 
• Babysitting Elsie Ryn Raymond while Jaren and Kynsie see a play  
• Christmas Choir Concert at BYU for Kaiya Wilkinson 
• Todd Schauers Christmas worship service St Paul Cathedral 
• Lunch with Juliette and daughters at Zaos 
• Babysitting Juliette wile Savanna helps friend with bridal shower 
• MTC FS office work Christmas party at Scera house 
• Wilkinsons over for dinner and gifts 
• Jared and Weston and Alan go to Washington DC (pictures in separate post) 
• Barrett family Christmas party, sibling gift exchange, and nativity
• Church Christmas program choir and musical number
• Jared's birthday/Christmas celebration combo party
• HBRE Tucanos lunch
• Christmas Eve Progressive Dinner with Schauers family
• Luminaries to invite the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
• Cat sitting and dog sitting while Fiora is in Vernal and Savanna is in Bear Lake
• Christmas dinner hosted by Justin and Shawna
• Visit from Afton on Friday and Saturday after Christmas

I missed Juliette my little buddy while she was in Bear Lake with the Garvins but she came to see me for Sunday dinner. Christmas gift to our kids this year is a family cruise out of Galvaston TX to Honduras in March 2026. We're excited! So blessed! Also, Jared (with the help of Chat GPT) wrote me a Christmas poem this year and I love it: 

The Constant of Christmas 

When Christmas came in early years, 

Just you and I—no little cheers— 

The quiet glow, the peaceful nights, 

Two newly married hearts alight. 

A simple tree, a modest start, 

Yet wonder wrapped around each heart. 

Then seasons turned and little feet 

Made Christmas bright and bittersweet. 

Their whispered hopes, their morning calls, 

The paper snowstorms in the halls. 

The magic grew in every room, 

Joy bursting wide, too big to loom. 

But time, as always, walks us on— 

The children grown, the children gone. 

Now Christmas dawns in quieter ways, 

A softer echo of young days. 

We set the table—just us two— 

Remembering times we once lived through. 

And though the house may feel more still, 

And though the years move where they will, 

The heart of Christmas does not fade— 

Its One True Gift was always made 

Before our memories came to be, Before our children’s history. 

For Christ remains—through joy, through tears— 

Unchanged across our shifting years. 

From early love to parent’s pride,

To quiet evenings side by side. He is the constant, firm and true— 

The light that all our seasons knew. 

And so we celebrate again, 

Not longing for what might have been, 

But grateful that in every part, 

The Savior holds our changing heart. 

For though our lives move on and through, 

The reason stays the whole way through: 

He came for us—our Hope, our Song— 

The Christ who’s been our joy all along. 

Merry Christmas