A refreshing family Sabbath day

(From my original Blogspot)

Yesterday was such a beautiful Sunday with my family. The week can be so hectic, and it is easy to feel frenzied by the weekend. But this weekend really hit the re-set button for us, as usual.

We went to church in the morning and enjoyed the spirit there. Afterward, we had a nice family dinner around our big dining table. We only eat here on Sundays, and call it the "Sunday" table. It is the one day in the week where we have real manners, and we wait till everyone is seated before we have prayer and serve the food. The rest of the week, we eat at the bar, and it is each man for himself. Our poor kids haven't been taught super manners, but at least we try one day of the week. I told them yesterday that in the "old" days, three meals a day were served at the family table, and you always had to wait until everyone was seated to eat, and adults were served first....so they should be grateful.

Afterward, J. met with the kids individually, as he does every month, to check in with them and resolve any "issues." I made sure they wrote in their journals, and helped the three boys plan out their Christmas shopping for each other. They planned some awesome gifts. Fortunately, they are all very suggestible, and so it is easy for me to execute my agenda as to what I think they should be buying for each other. I make lots of calculated suggestions.

J. and I went to choir practice. They kids shot each other with nerf guns while we were gone, but they liked it so it was OK. We had a great time. It was so nice to get away together for a few minutes and sing Christmas songs.

The afternoon was spent very pleasantly. James road the rip-stick around the kitchen with A., and I made cookies with B. I played dolls with S., and P. and A. played pleasantly together.

In the evening, J. drove the family around the city to see several houses that had entered a city wide lighting competition. Nine houses competed for the best lighting display. This was lots of fun, and a great way to get out of the house after being cooped up much of the day. The first house we saw got our vote. It was one of those choreographed lights-to-music deals. We had to tune our radio in to hear the house's broadcast music, and then we sat out front, entranced, as we watched the patterns of the lights dance and shift in conjunction with the music. The kids were amazed. J. said it was as good as the Bellagio!

When we got home, we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on TV while eating rootbeer floats. By the time it was done, A. and S. were both asleep. The beautiful music and stories from the devotional, and the wonderful lights we had seen combined to really give us that warm Christmas feeling.