December is Here!

Elsie's edible craft - activity days

You know December has arrived when the above creations start showing up!

It's official!  Jantzen has the real deal now.  And we have the auto insurance premiums to prove it!  What were we thinking?  It's actually been extremely helpful this month as we have had a lot of comings and goings with the basketball season upon us.

Aaron, Dale Green, Scott Clawson, Ron Klingler

Friday evening (Dec. 1) the former bishopric Aaron served with for 5 years met with Bro. Scott Clawson who faithfully served with them as ward clerk.  Scott has always been a 'quiet giant' among saints and after battling pancreatic cancer, he passed away within 24 hours of their visit.  It was an inspired moment as Aaron, Dale and Ron were all out of town the following week when Scott's funeral services were held.

This year we had a committee to help with the HCP Christmas party - and I was over the committee and the food.  I happily delegated the decorations/publicity/MC for talent show, etc.  It was a big undertaking but fortunately, things came together well for an enjoyable evening.  It was loads of work to prepare food for 150 people (soup, salad, rolls, water, cookie bar) and we were grateful to have access to the Woodman Ballroom in town (even if we did have some electrical glitches during meal prep - yikes!).  Gone are the days of hosting a Christmas gathering in our own home (when SCR associates are invited).  Eric's wife, Debbie, was a real help that evening - everyone did well in their respective responsibilities but it was still a relief to check this one off the holiday list (and early in the month - on purpose!).

Debbie, (Elder) Hansen, Heather

I didn't do a lot of socializing - mostly scurrying around.  And it didn't help that I had to cruise home to check up on a sick child (throwing up) during the event.  But somehow, this kind-hearted young man was able to introduce himself to me as (Elder) Hansen - a good friend of Tanner's from the PA mission field who is now a BYU-I student and employee of HCP.  It warmed our mom hearts to meet this outstanding former missionary and friend of Tanner and Jacob (Debbie's son is also serving in PA mission right now).

The next evening was a bit more relaxed once we found our seats for the BYU-Idaho Christmas Concert with special guests Santino Fontana (voice of Prince Hans in "Frozen") and Lexi Walker, the 15-year old singing sensation with the voice of an angel.  It was an incredible evening of talent with music and dance and set a lovely tone for our holiday season.  We also enjoyed watching the "First Presidency's Christmas Devotional" the following evening.

Hotel lobby Christmas tree - my view while reading a book inside

Monday morning we woke up to ice-covered roads and freezing temperatures.  Aaron and I had to make a few stops en route to the airport (Dr. appointment for me, phone issues at Verizon, etc.) and barely made our flight for LAX.  Aaron had a Strategic Coach class and we used a companion ticket for me to join him for a few days of warmer weather.  We certainly could not have anticipated our timing with the raging California fires - so we were inside more than we were outside while in Santa Monica.  I wore a face mask and braved the polluted air to get a bite for lunch on Tuesday while Aaron was in class all day.  

Kale & quinoa salad at Good Urth Cafe

Holy guacamole!  Yummy Mexican for dinner.

Thanks to the Santa Ana winds, some of the ash and smog cleared out by Wednesday so we spent some time sitting at the beach.  Not really long enough but the pollution came in and out in waves so we had to time things accordingly.  The hotel workers were kept busy cleaning ash off the pool and patio areas constantly for days.  It was quite a mess!

window-shopping in the evening

Aaron & Courtney S. - old college buddies

Our quick work/play trip abruptly ended and we were back at the LAX airport to make our trex home.  Everywhere we turned, we kept running into people we knew.  Aaron ran into an old college buddy in the Delta SkyClub that was on our same flight to SL so it was fun to catch up a bit.  They run into each other in airports every few years - small world!

Quinn & Cooper waiting with Mrs. Bates

The Christmas activities were quite manageable this year.  Everything seemed simplified over years past.  Conscious choices and also circumstances lent themselves to this refreshing reality.  Quinn's school class sang Christmas carols at a local bank and helped decorate a tree in the lobby before eating cookies/milk and boarding a return bus to the school.  Elsie's class enjoyed a special field trip to a movie theater where they watched "Wonder" after reading the book.  They also participated in Colonial Days and had little class parties.

3rd grade - class tree - German ornaments

Janene and Bob reported to the MTC - and are now in Hawaii.

 Quinn completed his first basketball season with a "competitive" 3rd grade team situation.  There is an 'underground' basketball program in this community that I have yet to be able to figure out - haha! But at least Quinn had the opportunity to play in a stronger situation than in years past.  He was especially excited about the Hibbard Hawks uniforms and being able to select his own jersey #11.

Quinn #11

 They mostly played against other 4th grade boys teams and were challenged for sure.  The final game of this random season was against 6-8th grade girls.  It was certainly the most entertaining game we've watched in quite a while!  We thought our little 3rd graders would take a beating but the final score was 50-51 (girls won).

Quinn's Pokemon collection ferreted him $35 online.

One thing we've learned about Quinn is that when he's interested in something - he is 110% invested.  These interests vary and the fads quickly fade.  At least his short stint with Pokemon cards actually brought him a return on his investment (since most of these cards were given/traded to him by other kids).  When his triplet buddies sold their card collection for a profit, Quinn decided to try his luck as well.  He was a very happy boy to pocket $35 cash within a week of listing them online.

December is here!