Christmas Wonders

Christmas is such an interesting time of year. My family always does a nice job of focusing of the true symbols and purpose of the season, in action and in word-- and especially in song-- as we worship the Savior Jesus Christ. This Christmas the whole family was home-- and I mean the WHOLE family-- for an overlapping interval of 20 hours before someone had to visit another branch of the family, and that was so fantastic. It was my favorite part of this entire season. 

Anticipating and experiencing Christmas in a more secular way is an interesting phenomena to me. When you are a kid, it is the most magical time EVER, and it is hard to be disappointed except for the fact that you didn't ever get the Barbie Jeep (but you secretly knew that there was no way Santa could fit that down the fireplace anyway, so asking for it was just throwing a random wish out there). Then you get to that awkward stage where you still want to play with toys but are too cool for them; the tweens. This is where no matter the gifts, you still feel unsettled and feel awkward about having had expectations for Christmas. You aren't even sure what you wanted in the first place, so it's even harder to feel satisfaction about getting things. I feel like I was spared too much agony during this stage because getting new clothes was always a huge novelty, and so new clothes at Christmas= instant good gift. And new socks too. Hopefully that helped Santa out a bit. 

So, sorry to be giving a dissertation in didactic snippets-- I really am getting somewhere. As a kid, Christmas is magical, and you love what you get. As a tween, you are kind of disappointed with the whole thing, but are glad you got some things. As a teenager, everything is just confusing, but for me at least, this is where I started to really feel a lot of excitement about getting other people gifts. I just feel a bit sorry that my recipients were getting my part-time job budget shopping results ;0). 

I venture that it is now, in my young adult life, that Christmas is most magical to me. I love it. I LOVE IT. I suppose I still have expectations (I would like to get new shampoo in my stocking like we do every year, and again, new clothes = instant good gift), but I could get shampoo and a new sweater and feel pretty excellent about that. Throw in a chapstick and bam. Santa's set.  For the rest of the wrapping paper-strewn morning, I really enjoy seeing what other people get, and I love giving them a gift. Now, much like my teenage self, this year they are the recipients of a teacher's salary budget, but I hope they can at least use what I enjoyed choosing and giving, small though it was. 

All of those things said, I now have to show a most excellent treat that was next to my stocking. Imagine my surprise! Already put to use in the basement room where I sleep at home, is: fanfare--

THE VELVETEEN SNUGGIE

Then, coming in the mail, was this. I had put this on my Christmas list as the proverbial Barbie Jeep. By Ivan Aivazovsky, Between the Waves is a painting that has really struck me and I have been looking at it time and time over these last few months thinking that I would like to get a print of it. It came in the mail yesterday, and it is the first print of a painting I own that looks like it could have just been painted. The quality of the print is excellent. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

We saw this movie as a family, and I really loved the depth of the character's performances. It's a very personal musical version. Way to go, Russell Crowe.

I think the plan is to see this tonight. I cannae hardly wait.

My favorite gift to watch being opened this year was this one, to Melinda. Katy Cummings, the artist, painted this as part of her project to fund a year's tuition and send a girl to school (she met her goal, by the way! See the previous blog post). Giving this to Melinda has sentimental sister value, but I love it especially because this painting is so vibrant. You can see some of that through the picture online, but up close the fluidity of the colors and the deep gold makes this painting a rich portrait and a champion of a symbol for education and equality. Way to go, goose! and thanks to Katy for her incredible art. 

Family and History

This was possibly my favorite sign in the "Walking Tour of Leesburg." For those of you who might not be able to see the text, the first part reads, "Leesburg! Paradise of the youthful warrior! Land of excellent edibles and beautiful maidens!" Mom said it was still true....

Here are some other fun pictures of my vacation home.

Pirate Spencer...in fierce frilly garb. Courtesy of Captain Melinda in the background.

Their Pirate Ship: Watch our for these three!

Sarah and I did Textured Paper Collages in the style of Eric Carle

Taking the Tour of Leesburg (Heather and Sarah)


We went to this famous House, thanks to Aaron. We got a personal tour of the West Wing!

Michelle, Melinda, Jenny and I in the press room (thanks to Nathan and Michelle's friend, Russ, for taking our pictures)

The Artists I Know

Happy Day of Birth to Katy, whose birthday was yesterday. I have to say, I think that Katy is a lot of fun. Michelle and I got to spend some nice time with Aaron and Katy on the day of their move, and I relished in listening to Katy talk about some of the neat documentaries she's seen, including some about school and education. She's one of those widely-read, wide-knowledge-of the world kind of people who can carry on a great conversation with anyone I've met. I love having her in the family. Katy also brings a visual culture into our family; she studied illustration and graduated with her BFA from BYU, and she's done some great things with her work and in her spare time. Check out Katy's blog of some of her art here. One of my favorite posts she's done can be found here.

Delicious Mongolian Food!

Another artist in my family that I have been thinking about recently is my Uncle Geary. Michelle and I went to visit Carol and Geary last night and had a fantastic dinner of homemade Mongolian Barbeque. We got to pick our concoctions of ingredients and then mix our own sauce. It was so delicious. They were generous with their invitation, and we had a lot of fun with them. We made and ate food, composed the notes needed so that the Younce's could sing "Tacobel Canon"...and I can't believe it--I just found that link to it, when all night we sat at their computer plucking out the parts and putting them on a score. Well, that's irony for you. Anyways, at the Younces, Geary also showed me some of the drawings he's done. They are quite impressive, and surprisingly enough, he had done one of me based on a photo taken at their cabin in West Virginia. I wasn't expecting that one! Here's a link to some others of Geary's art on his blog. Much thanks to Carol for the maps and booklists, too--the classroom is coming up in just a few more weeks!

Old Loudoun

Yesterday Mom, Jenny, Isaac, Trina, Sarah and I went on a historic scavenger hunt of Loudoun County. We saw some wonderfully preserved historic homes, some of which date back to circa 1805 or earlier, and got to notice some really interesting details about just how involved Loudoun was in the Civil War. Apparently at the completion of the tour (we still have stops to make in Leesburg, Purcellville, and Bluemont) we will get free T-shirts proving our history-buffness. Jenny mentioned yesterday that the T-shirts probably pay for themselves in gas money, but we are sure having fun. It has reaffirmed to me how wonderful Virginia and its history really is. Anyone who comes to visit--beware. I might just take you out and have you experience some history.

The scavenging was really fun. We got to learn details of the name of a slave on one of the oldest gravestones in a cemetery (her name was Gemima) and we had fun finding clues on some other headstones. Here's a photo of Sarah reading our clue off a headstone in a primarily German cemetery. Can you read the words? Well, neither could we, hardly. Upon close perusal, we found that this person was born in 1750 and died in 1795. "In Memory Of" runs across the top--that was the clue we needed to derive from the stone for our sleuthing.
Here's Isaac thinking something historically profound. He's one smart baby:

It was neat to go around good old LC again. We have some beautiful vantage points of the foothills to the Blue Ridge Mountains. And going through the old towns, particularly Waterford, made me think of when we used to go around to historical sights as home school kids. I still remember when our assignment was to make up a song about going to the Waterford fair. As a seven-year-old, my verse was quite profound:

I went to the Waterford Fair
And guess what I saw there?
An old man that sneezed
And fell on his knees
I went to the Waterford Fair.

As I recall, my verse wasn't too far from Mom's sample verse. I hope that my creativity has gotten a little further now that I am through 16 years of education.

17, if you count Joy School.

Bright- eyed...

and only somewhat bleary-eyed. I think I am finally beginning to catch up on sleep!

Michelle and I took this right before going to the Northern Virginia YSA Regional Luau on Saturday night. Considering that this picture was taken right after helping move Aaron and Katy, I think we look pretty good. Thanks to the A. Cummings family for the use of the shower after moving--I forget how "moist" you can get in Virginia. I think the only shower I have enjoyed more was the one I took right after the 45-mile hike at Girls' Camp. It sure felt good to be clean.

Moving Aaron and Katy was actually quite fun; they have a nice apartment, and after the move they gave us a tour of downtown Alexandria. It reaffirmed to me how much I would like to return to the East to teach school. I do not believe that anything competes with the shores of the Potomac. The town was really nice as well; there were several beautiful and historic buildings on the main streets.

Sunday was beautiful here; Heather gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting about her experience going to Northern NY for Youth Conference. She bore a very firm testimony about answers to prayers; I am really proud of her and the woman she is becoming. You know you are in a good family when your younger siblings teach you by example. Melinda played a beautiful musical number for the meeting as well; I will try and get a video or audio clip of her playing "The Lord Is My Shepard." She is incredibly accomplished, but more than that--her playing invited the spirit into the meeting.

Last night, for Family Home Evening, Michelle gave the lesson and encouraged us all to follow the counsel of M. Russell Ballard. Accordingly, I will be adding some more links to my blog to tell a little more about myself and the foundations of my faith.

Dan Came Home!

Just FYI---now I'll get to see everyone in the fam... Dan had to come back to Northern VA for EMT training. He heads back down in a few hours, but it's fun to have him here!

Oh...and addendum to last blog: It's Alexandria, not Arlington. Sorry, Aaron and Katy. I get my A's mixed up, apparently.

"Never Were There Such Devoted

Sisters!"
(Trina, Me, and Sarah)

Today was a fun family day. Joel had a concert with his orchestra camp, and so Jenny, Isaac, Trina, Sarah, and I joined Mom, Dad, Michelle, and Mrs. Kellogg (cello teacher for Joel and I) at Franklin Intermediate School. They played four pieces, and I am really proud; it was a great performance. Joel is making leaps and bounds with his music--as are many of my younger siblings. Sarah seems to be walking right in Melinda's footsteps on piano...even playing Fur Elise every five minutes or so like Goose used to. We have such a great family!

(The cellists)

Trina has been a great helper today. I think part of that might have to do with the fact that she's dying to play WR1. If you want, you can get the free download here. Just don't tell Trina. Right now she thinks that my laptop is the only computer that has the famed game, and she pretty much bought the deal that I made with her; if she were a good helper and worked on cleaning up her toys and clothes, then I would let her play if Dad said it was okay. She has been the paragon of a sun-shiny helper. This comment shows a little bit of just how cheerful she was today: we were making Chocolate Elvises for dessert (thank you, Carrie!) and Trina offered to help. She said, "I want to help, because I am in a really pretty dress. I mean, because I want to be helpful."
Take a look at her pretty dress below:
These girls are so fun. Sarah is great at helping out with Isaac and asking me when we are going to do fun activities. She also showed me a bunch of her sketches today; I think she's following after our artist sister-in-law, Katy. Promising future there. Michelle is a hard worker, and it is fun to be around her again. She has a great attitude and is a great part of our family, really contributing to fun and helping out. Michelle and Dad saved up to three lives each today by giving blood. Way to go, Cummings!

Melinda and Heather are in Palmyra this week with Youth Conference, so I am excited for their return. That was a great year that I remember in the youth program. Dan is down at Buena Vista (SVU) being a counselor at EFY , but I don't know if I will be able to catch up with him. Tomorrow we'll join Aaron and Katy as we help them move to their new home in Arlington, Va. Marie and Adam (plus kids) come back from Rochester, NY on the 20th. I'm excited to see them.

Trina said two very amazing things today.
Thing 1:
When we came out of Joel's concert, Trina squinted in the sun and said, "Man. This sun sure makes my eyebrows hurt. Does that ever happen to you, Celeste?" I looked at her. "Eyebrows?" Trina paused. "Well, I guess I mean the skin right below my eyebrows. It hurts all the time."

Thing 2:
Trina was singing a made-up song in the car to baby Isaac, and here were some of her words: "...And then you won't cry again, because I am singing this song; and it makes you feel good inside...and when you don't cry, you aren't self-defeating anymore...." Jenny and I paused our conversation up front at this part of the song. Jenny asked, "Trina, do you really know what self-defeating means?" Trina replied, "Of course. It is when you do something that defeats yourself." We were amazed.

Favorite moment of the day for me? Baby Isaac fell asleep in my arms on our porch swing. I am trying to think of something that tops that.

I'm not gonna lie; It's nice to be home.

Home Sweet Home

I am Home! With a capital H! I woke up early on Wednesday morning (we left for the airport at 4am from Provo) and got a ride from my home teacher to SLC. At 2:15pm, I arrived in Virginia, the first colony and best state in America. Jenny, Isaac, and Trina picked me up, and it was so nice to see the old trees, familiar landmarks---and surprising new numbers of buildings--around Leesburg, my hometown. Things are growing rather quickly back home.

Houses are not the only things shooting up; everyone in my family seems taller. Baby Isaac, Joel, and Trina, especially seem to have grown overnight. When did I get so old that my siblings are becoming big kids now? Crazy.

I am loving talking, organizing things, and chilling with my family. It's been a busy two days, so I have on no account caught up on sleep, but I am excited.

Okay: two vignettes from today that I just can't help but relate.

I had a dentist appointment this morning. I got to drive the Prius today, as the other cars were already in use. At the light outside of my neighborhood, I stopped and smiled to myself as I thought of how gas-economical my vehicle was. I was thinking how nice it was that we had a hybrid when gas is so expensive, and then a car pulled up right behind me. It was--you guessed it. And H3. Hybrid and Hummer--now that's character foil. I laughed a long time about the odds of that one.

Also, we went to the Library today. Our public library has been condensed while they remodel the old building, so we went to "Rust Library" in the old building for Video Den. There were not too many books, cds, or dvds, but they had a moderate selection. I was in the dvd section, trying to guess how they had arranged their categories. I caught sight of one shelf: what do you think of this? There was a stack of dvds, and one of them said, "Bigfoot." Three DVDs later, there was one labled "Jesus." Next to that? "The Miracles of Jesus."

I don't really see those two categories going together...I must be missing something? Or maybe not....

Anyways, there were some good laughs today. It's great to be home. I promise, more stories and less chatter in future posts. I'll see if I can get some sweet pictures up, too.

"My Name is Richard Henry Lee...

Virginia is my home!"
This sentiment from the musical 1776 has, appropriately, been running through my head this entire last week. In 24 hours, I will be on an Eastbound plane. In 28 hours, I will be landing in good old Dulles Airport, and will get to go home.

The countdown has begun. Lookout family: here I come.