Partying with a Wise Man and a Saxophone

At the ward Christmas party tonight, we enjoyed dinner and some uplifting music.

There was a lovely flute number . . .

. . . a family vocal and brass ensemble . . .

. . . and a visit from a wise man, who shared his love for the Savior (and some chocolate "gold" for the kids).

A Fuzzy Little Birthday Gift

This is what my morning looked like:

Today is Joy's birthday, and all she wanted was a hamster (and hamster bedding, and hamster food, and a hamster cage with some assembly required).  Joy has been begging for a pet for years, but until a few months ago, we were renting homes that didn't allow animals.  After we moved into our house, Joy did a bunch of research on hamster care, then started pleading for a hamster for her birthday.  Her practical parents didn't love the idea of buying a stinky rodent that likes to escape every chance it gets, but we recognized that our daughter really, really wanted the chance to care for a pet, so we decided to grant the wish of her animal-loving heart.

Joy also asked for a birthday lunch at Subway, so I checked her out of school and took her to Westford for a nice cheesesteak with a side of Doritos.  The lettuce makes it healthy, right?

Joy made sure the enderman on the shelf got into the birthday spirit this morning too . . . 

. . . then I upgraded his birthday gift while she was at school.

When she got home, the other kids were playing at friends' houses, so Joy had some nice, quiet time to read library books (Gaston would approve of that one, but he'd pass on the Artemis Fowl series she is hooked on lately).

After Joy's birthday dinner, we sang our birthday medley, then I headed upstairs to get her present. Joy kind of guessed what it was, but she was still ecstatic when she saw the hamster cage and its furry little occupant.

He sure is a cute little escape artist, isn't he?

Happy birthday, Joy!  Thank you for being such a caring and helpful member of our family.  Your creative and inquiring mind makes our lives richer and more fun!

Enderman on the Shelf

On the first morning of December, I found this note at the bottom of our staircase.

Leave it to Joy to think outside the Christmas box.  Since then, we've been finding her plush enderman in a different spot around our house (almost) every day.  He might be . . .

. . . lounging by the window . . .

. . . napping atop our hutch . . . 

. . . or sitting on a wreath, watching to make sure we're all being good little girls, boys, and squishmallows.  It's fun to see the different hiding places Joy comes up with, and whether she remembers to move him each day (it's easy to forget that sort of thing).

Interfaith Christmas Concert 2019

This evening, our congregation hosted Littleton's annual interfaith Christmas concert.  Five churches in town gathered to perform Christmas music and share our love for Jesus Christ.

There was a huge turnout, and I'm told it gets bigger every year.  Choirs from several churches sang carols, the Congregationalists played hand bells, the Unitarians played ukuleles . . . 

. . . and a combined children's choir from multiple churches sang a version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."  Here they are in the lobby, waiting their turn to go up in front of hundreds of people.  They were a little nervous, but they all went on stage and did a great job.

It was sweet to see all four Hendrickson children up there, bravely performing a beautiful hymn to our Savior.

After the children's choir finished, all the choirs went up and performed songs together.  The ukulele and hand bell players even came back for the finale.  I'm sure Jesus appreciates the birthday gift of hundreds of people gathering to share their love for Him, and their desire to follow His example of love for their fellowmen.

Snow Day the Second

Last night . . . 

. . . we got MORE snow, so school was cancelled again.

The kids read books in their pajamas . . .

. . . I turned some mushy apples into applesauce (it still looked like this a few hours later, when I discovered that I forgot to turn the slow cooker on) . . .

. . . then the girls and I ventured out into this winter wonderland to go sledding.  I didn't get any pictures of our outing, because the light was pretty low by the time we got to the sledding hill.  And besides, a camera wouldn't capture the terrific yelp I let out when I went off that jump.

Shovels and a Hammock

The snow cancelled school, but Daddy still needed to get to work . . .

. . . so he and Joy shoveled our driveway this morning.  Snow isn't quite so pretty when you're heaving shovelfuls of it off the front walk.

After Daddy left, the kids played in the snow with our neighbors . . .

. . . then made a hammock in the girls' room.

Getting December off to a Snowy Start

This afternoon after church . . .

. . . Daddy and Joy pounded stakes along our driveway . . .

. . . and we bundled up Luna . . .

. . . to prepare for our first snowstorm of the season!  I wonder if snow will always seem magical to me, or if it just feels that way now because I'm from California, where snow was a mythical thing that happened in Other Places.  Time will tell.

By sundown, our driveway looked like this . . .

. . . and by bedtime, our patio looked like this!  That's a lotta snow!

At some point during the storm, I looked out and noticed these prints in the snow on our driveway.  I'm guessing they were either made by a rabbit hopping along, or a twelve-foot-tall neighbor taking a stroll across our yard. :)