The Dickens family Christmas party

I was really bummed to be extremely late to the Dickens family Christmas party. We had spent the whole day driving back from Torrey, UT, then we had to hurry and finish putting together our dessert in time to leave for the party. When we finally arrived in Riverton, we realized that we didn't know where the church was. We stopped at a pizza place to use the phone and call somebody, anybody, but to no avail. Then we decided to go knock on some of Shauna and Doug's neighbors' doors to ask where the church was. Finally we found someone who was just getting into their car. They drove to the church while we tagged behind. We were very grateful to them for showing us the way. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, everyone had already been having fun for almost an hour. We did end up having lots of fun with our family for what remained of the evening. I didn't get any pictures of the delicious chili and baked potatoes, or the cute Christmas tree crafts, but I did manage to get some pictures of the talent show and present-opening.

Samantha, Hazel, Athena and Amanda sang a beautiful rendition of Silent Night.


My sisters and I sang a song, and I can't even remember what it was now, but it was probably a very beautiful rendition also.


Hayley sang I am a Child of God. It was adorable.


Nicholas sang a very nice song from his choir One Voice.


Nathan and Lahela are patiently waiting for the present-opening for the kids.


Katelyn got one of the coveted chocolate bars.


What adorable little girls.


Kimball was really hoping that Claire's present contained a roll of toilet paper. Okay, for the record, he is standing here telling me that he was just SCRATCHING his nose. (Yeah right!)


Nathan was quite thrilled to get five monkeys in a bed.


Kids just hanging out while the adults clean up.

The Christmas Pageant

Okay, I know that Christmas was over a month ago, but I don't want these memories to be forgotten. A few days before Christmas we had a Langton family Christmas party with the whole extended family. Kimball's cousin Tasha decided to put together a Christmas pageant. We had talked about it in years past, and now finally this was the year. It was so cute. The kids all did their parts very well. Nathan got to be one of the wise men, Hazel was the angel, and Claire helped hold up the star with her cousin Emmeline. Top picture, left to right, are: Aubrey Wright, Broderick Ridenour, Nathan Langton, Nathan Cooper, Rachel Cooper (behind N.C.), Daniella Ridenour, Hazel Langton, and Steven Wright. In front are Emmeline Ridenour and Lahela Langton (Claire did not want to be in this picture). It was a lot of fun to have the kids help tell the story of the baby Jesus. They all enjoyed it too.


Proof that Claire really was there.


"We Three Kings"
Just as the wise men were going to sing their song, Claire and Lahela had a rather loud scuffle over a doll stroller. Since I was playing the piano, there wasn't much I could do. The boys suddenly had a hard time singing because of the commotion, so everyone saved the performance by joining in song. I had to tell myself that someday, I may look back on that and laugh.

Moving

Sorry, I don't have any pictures for this post, but I really wanted to take a minute to say a huge thank you to all of you who helped me move all my belongings (even the junk) across the street to our new (actually old, but new to us) home. Also a huge thank you to all those who have come to help clean the old place. I would not have been able to do it all myself. I love you all so much, and I hope you know that I truly mean it. I am so thankful to be living close to my family again, and I'm also happy to be in a great ward that's like a second family. These past two weeks have helped me realize even more how great the people in my life really are.

For those of you who just haven't had the chance to come over to help, please know that I completely understand. This is not meant to be a guilt trip. If the circumstances had allowed, I know you would have been there too.

I feel like a dork writing this next part, but I have tears in my eyes just thinking of how much I love my family (I think I just saw a pink warm fuzzy come into my room). You are each very dear to me, and I loved every minute of the Christmas season that we all spent together. If I could have slowed down time, I surely would have!