Voices of Elders and Sisters!!

Today (Saturday) was the Mission Christmas Party.
The pictures try to show the Elders all circling the
 gym....Sisters are in the middle, just before the gifts
 were handed out and Sister Clayton read a story
 with lots of "lefts" and "rights" so the gifts worked
  back and forth around the gym.  All the Elders brought
  a tie from their collection to share...Sisters an
  accessory from their collection.  They had enough
  gifts that the Senior couples joined in...I got some
  shampoo!!  The bottom picture is us and a good
   friend of Jasi's that she sang "How Great Thou
   Art" with.  He was excited to hear Jasi was working
   on her mission papers.  Next we went into the chapel
   and had a slide show of the 360+ baptisms that took
    place in the mission
this year.  Then we sang Christmas carols.....wow,
the chapel was full and those Elders voices were
 absolutely incredible!!  The Christmas
spirit was soaring!!

 Tuesday was our anniversary!!  # 48....how did it get to be that many???  We work
in the temple on Tuesday mornings...I had asked the coordinator if she would arrange
it so my husband and I could do sealings together for our anniversary.  She made
it happen!!  It was incredible to kneel across the alter from my husband 48 years
later and be proxy for someone else to be married.  Elder Medsker told the
sealer it was our anniversary and everyone helping in the room was excited and
joined in the celebration!!

On Thursday we had dinner with Bishop Carter and his wife and the
Woolsteinhulmes the other counselor and his wife.  I was telling them that
 we had celebrated our anniversary, they ask which one...I proudly told them 48!!
 Maravic, the counselor wife, said that is how old I am...Pat her husband was a
 couple of years older...the Bishop and his wife were not even born yet!!
 I am sure we seem very very old to them...and at the moment we felt it!!!!

Wednesday evening it was the Imperial Beach Ward Christmas Party.  It was
a great turn out, members that we don't see very often joined it.  They have
a great tradition of the children in the Primary doing the Nativity.  It was great,
they have a big Primary.  They all had on incredible costumes and sang so cute.
The dinner before was unique.  The chairs were all set up for the program, we
were given a red box with our dinner inside.  We had a chicken salad sandwich
on a croissant, small bag of carrots, chips, a "cutie" already peeled and a bottle
of water.  We all ate and visited with those around us and then the play began.
What a fun way to do a dinner...if any of you are called to do that!  Then after
the program we had cupcakes!

Exciting, exciting Mike and Julia and family just called and they have landed
and will be here in about an hour and a half!!!!!  Family for Christmas, what
more could one want for Christmas!!!!