Rodney and JaNan Neilson Reunion 2014

http://youtu.be/oQnohQLdcNU

Matt Falling from Rope Swing Virginia Trip 2014

December 16th, 2012 Family Letter

My parents are having email problems so I am copying our weekly newsletter here so they can read it.  For videos, scroll down.

It has been one crazy but mostly fun week at our house.  We have enough video links to be your evening entertainment.

We started off the week with our annual ding dong ditch of delivering one nativity piece per night with the corresponding scripture.  That is always fun, and, as far as we know, we didn't get caught.

I spent three full days working on Primary stuff.  Now I know why my rear end is so flat; it is because I am sitting on it all of the time!  I have had 5 teachers quit in the last four weeks and lost 6 more to other callings, and they still haven’t been replaced.  To say the least, I am very frustrated!  I mentioned so in Ward Council and may have ruffled a few feathers.  I guess they can just release me.

Wednesday was the Ward Christmas party.  Sydney and her friend sang a duet of Silent Night, but the Ward members were so rude that they didn't stop talking to listen.  No one even knew they were done singing because they didn't even realize they had started.  It irked me, but Sydney was okay with it because she messed up anyway.  The audience behaved the same way to all of the youth who performed that night.  You can be sure if the roles were reversed, that would not have been okay.

Matt and Morgan missed the party because it was Morgan's final night to work at The Roof.  She made good tips that night, so the experience ended on a good note.

Thursday was Matt's company party.  They were going to have dancing.  I do not look forward to these events because you are socializing with complete strangers.  As part of the entertainment, they had a group of people from the office get together and do a flash mob.  Hopefully you know what a flash mob is.  That was good entertainment and I would like to share it with you!  I put it up on our blog, but the recording on this YouTube link is better quality, so that is the one I would watch.  Matt does a little improv as part of this :).  I wish I was with you all as you watch it.  I will just picture your laughs in my mind. :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgLnUtLmzuo&feature=youtu.be

 
As you know, we have spent the last few weeks making things for our Primary's upcoming sharing time, Journey to Bethlehem, which will take place next Sunday.  On the heels of finishing the final piece, I got a phone call telling me that we might not be able to do it.  I was not a happy camper!  I won't bore you with the details, but it was someone high up who was on a power trip.  Then, we heard about the school shootings in Connecticut.  By the end of the day, I was a mess.  The issue with Journey to Bethlehem is somewhat resolved.  They are going to let us do it, but I know we are going to be closely watched.

Friday night we hosted a gingerbread house decorating party for Sydney and Savy's friends (we offered for Morgan too, but she passed.)  We had 10 girls, lots of frosting, and candy.  They had a really good time.

Saturday morning, we all got up bright and early to go serve others as part of a community Christmas.  We spent several hours in a large and very cold barn, distributing much needed items to families in our community.  Prior to this, the girls had helped make hats and mittens to donate to the cause.  The girls and Matt helped escort people through a makeshift store of food, clothes, diapers, shoes, toys, etc. so they could get the things they needed.  Over 1,200 people were served that day.  Some arrived as early as 5:30 a.m. standing out in the cold without coats, hats, gloves, etc.  It was a good experience for our family.

 We left that event to go to the girls' piano recital.  You can see their performances below.

To finish off the day, we got to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert with Alfie Boe and Tom Brokaw.  The girls' violin teacher plays in the Mormon Orchestra.  She had four extra tickets, so she gave them to us.  Matt opted to not go since he doesn't love MoTab.  The program had Savannah on the edge of her seat for the whole first half.  Tom Brokaw narrated the story of the Candy Bomber.  He was a regular solider in WWII who decided that something he could do to improve the kids' lives where he was stationed was to get the other soldiers to donate their rations of candy and gum.  They tied handkerchiefs to the pieces of candy and dropped them out of the planes for the children.  As they told the story, snow fell from the ceiling of the conference center.  As they told about the parachutes, 100 parachutes with candy were dropped from the ceiling and then, much to the audience's surprise, the 92-year-old original Candy Bomber appeared.  It was really cool and we were glad to be there.

Sunday, the girls performed a musical number in sacrament meeting.  They played the same song in this meeting that they played last week.  They did a good job.  We recorded it for you when we got home.  You can see it below.

We ended the week by being asked to be a Ma and Pa on trek this next summer.  Should be fun, kind of!

O Holy Night December 2012

Sleigh Ride Duet with Teacher December 2012

Piano Recital December 2012

The song is is It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.