Christmas 2015

So to keep December from becoming too long I have made Christmas its own post. Being new to my job, I was assigned to work Christmas Day this year. On the 21st Jason got off at lunch and we took the kids shopping for the person whose name they had drawn in our family. After shopping was done we went to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed a great meal together. I worked the 22nd and 23rd and I had off the 24th and the 26th but had to be to work by 6:40 Christmas morning and got off about 7:30 Christmas night. Obviously we are missing Rachel's presence here this year. To help compensate for that we invited the sister missionaries from our ward to come spend Christmas Eve and Day with us. They arrived Christmas Eve about 4pm and stayed for dinner at 5 and presents afterwards.

Christmas Eve day we wrapped presents, prepared the meal, ran some errands and then had our dinner about 5pm. After dinner we settled down and got ready to "do Christmas". We read the Christmas story from the book of Luke and sang hymns as we celebrated the night our Savior was born. After scriptures and prayer we proceeded to open gifts. We have never opened presents on Christmas Eve but desperate times call for desperate measures. =) The first gift opened was a group gift from me and Jason to each of the kids. We made them open one box that had this inside: Lindhs are hard-working, we get the job done. We’re always showing family’s number one. There’s a gift for each of you, for just this occasion, But you must work together to find its location.

Clue #1: Sarah is seven, the last of our bunch. But even being the “baby” she knows how to make lunch. (The camera had been set for the lighting at Jaron's concert and I wasn't really paying attention to how it looked in our home until I had already taken quite a few. Sorry for the funny colors it made.)


Her present was hidden in the pantry. She received three scrabble letters and a clue. Clue #2: Caleb is nine and as quick as a mouse, But he loves to play this and sit still in the house.


His was in by the DS games and he received three letters and a clue. Clue #3: Darik’s eleven, he’ll soon get the priesthood, He’ll need to study this to be learn how to be good.


His was in the box of scriptures and he received three letters and a clue. Clue #4: Jaron’s thirteen, a challenging time, But learning to play will help him cope fine.


Up to the playroom they went until they finally found his present - three letters and a clue. Clue #5: Anna’s fifteen and learning to drive, Her mom up a wall with all her practice time.


Down to the library with Anna's drums and marimba. Three letters and a clue. Clue #6: Nathan is seventeen, a senior too, He serves others with our resources true.


Out to the VW Bug to find his gift. (Nathan gives a neighbor a ride to seminary every morning. It adds time to his schedule that most teenagers want to save for sleeping but Nathan is so good to go and pick this boy up every morning, hence the clue.) No true surprise here, just three letters and a clue. Clue #7: Your job isn’t done yet, so get on it quick. Still working together will be just the trick. To see what Lindhs do when all the work’s done. You know a Lindh works just so they can have fun.


So now they had to put all the letters together to spell something "fun". It took a few minutes and lots of laughs as they tried to figure it out but they finally did it!

The sisters sat in the livingroom with me and Jae as the kids trounced throughout the house finding their presents. Sister Robinson on the left and Sister Bates on the right.


Then it was time to open the gift from each family member. Anna drew my name and I got to open her gift. She got me a walking DVD and a full-length mirror that she decorated herself. It was an awesome gift and I loved it!

What you can't read says, across the top: The Most Beautiful Mother. Down the left side she drew a bird with 7 smaller birds, each labeled mom, Rachel, Nathan, etc. Below the birds she wrote "Come, come, chikadee, come, come! Cheep! Cheep!" Across the bottom she drew two swans facing each other with the words, "For time and all eternity." And down the right hand side of the mirror she drew a stethoscope with the words, "To share your big heart.", a thermometer, "To bring warmth unto others.", a blood pressure cuff, "To relieve the pressure.", an otoscope, "To be the light in the darkness." and a scrub top, "To scrub out the messes.". The last saying on that side is, "To be the best nurse eva, mom eva, wife eva, you eva!"

Then Nathan from Jaron, a new magic 8 ball that serves as a shift knob for his car.



Then Anna from Nathan, lots of great nail supplies.


Jaron from Darik, a blanket and some art supplies.


Darik from Jason, a dart gun, woo-hoo!


Caleb from Sarah, a Pokemon card holder, some more cards and a poster.


Sarah from me, a DS game. Caleb helped me pick this gift and promised to let his sister play his DS whenever she wanted to so that she could play the game. I had helped Cub pick his gift to Rae which was purchased online and shipped directly to her so he kind of missed out on getting to do the whole gift thing. I gladly let him help me with Sarah's.


Rachel's gift to Jason was mailed the 19th and still didn't get here in time. It arrived on the 26th and he got to open it then. It was a collage of pictures from her mission showing Jason what his choice of joining the church 22 years ago has brought about. She wrote him a heartfelt letter expressing her gratitude for his righteous choices and great example he is to her. She said that she sees how others' lives are blessed by his own choices to be a good husband and father.


We also opened our gifts from my parents, gift cards to Barnes and Noble,which are always loved and appreciated around here. Then it was off to bed, it was going to be an early morning. Santa came to visit as we slept and Jae and I were up by 4:50. I got showered and ready for work and at 5:15 we woke the kids. Pictures, stockings and their gift from Santa and I was out the door by 6:00 with my contribution of barbeque meatballs for our work potluck.


I only got one picture of Sarah, her gift was her own DS. She was so excited and moving too much to get a great picture. It is featured below in her picture with Sister Bates.

Then I left. Jae and the kids had a good time hanging out and playing with the new items. They went to see the new Star Wars movie at 10:00. Then they hung out at home in the afternoon until the missionaries and the Caricos came over for dinner and to hang out. I got home at 8:15 and we took some pictures.

And then the VERY BEST part of the holiday, we got to skype with Rachel!!!!

It was WONDERFUL to see her and talk with her again after 4.5 months of only weekly emails. She looked great and was so excited to see us too. All nine of us chatting together with eight squeezed in front of the computer was quite the site to see! Next year I think we'll hook my laptop to the tv so we can see her better and be more comfortable. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas, even spread over the two days like that. I was off on Saturday, had to work on Sunday and then had Mon, Tues, and Wednesday off which I'll post about in a different post.