Christmas Toys and Christmas Joys

December has been a month of pure joy!!  The kids have their Christmas Lists written and mailed off to Santa :) and Hailey's Birthday came and she turned 10 years old!!

 Our cute little Elf, Herbie, left a pretty nightgown for Hailey!!  (she really never wore it though :(

 Spencer had a choir concert at South Valley Jr. High and he did an awesome job!  He loves to sing and has such personality when he performs!

 Here he is with his friend, Conner Prusse.

My mother flew in early to be with us which was so much fun!  We performed together at a Christmas Nativity Festival put on by another stake.  She and I did our organ/piano duet "Joy to the World" and it was so beautiful.  Tom sang some gorgeous songs and it was just an incredible way to start the holidays!

 Hailey had her choir concert and she too, did an amazing job!  Her choir is the Gilbert Youth Choir and we love her director, Rikki Wamsley.  She uses live accompaniment, violins, harpsichord, piano, etc. and her concerts are always first-rate!

 Here is Hailey with her friends Sydney Aker and Isobel Andersen.

 Suzi Everton asked Tom if he would dress up as Darth Vader for her Family Christmas Party.  His costume looked SO real!

 Oh no!  Our elf, Herbie, was naughty and got into the frosting!!!

 We also went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Theater---a family tradition now that we love!

 Grandma Marshall and Hailey love putting puzzles together.  They worked on this one for a while!

 We even got to hear Hailey's class presentation.  Doesn't my mom look pretty?  She just got her hair done and I think she looks so pretty!  Three generations all together . . . pretty cool!

 Hailey celebrated her birthday at Polar Ice this year!  We all went out and skated and it was so much fun!

It's Christmas Night and the kids are all playing with their toys (well, Kelsey is sleeping because she has to be at work by 7:45 a.m. tomorrow morning).  What a glorious day we had here in the Chamberlain home!  It all started with a peek and a run across the balcony to see what Santa brought followed by a short devotional about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  After our family gathered for prayer, Hailey said, "Well, there HAS to be Christmas music playing before we run downstairs, dad!"  So, Tom quickly ran and got the music playing for the grand entrance down the stairs!

Santa left some AMAZING toys and clothes for these kids!  The living room was filled to the brim with presents and we all felt so blessed to be together and live such a comfortable life.  Some of the big presents were Spencer getting a tennis ball machine, Hailey got a bike that was way too big for her, and Kelsey got a nice TV for her future college apartment.  The kids got presents for us and each other and that is always fun to watch when they get excited about giving.  I wrote the children and Tom a letter about what "I Love . . ." about each person.  They all read their letters aloud to each other and that was a really special moment in the day for them and me.  I gave them each a Gilbert Temple pin along with the letter to remember it by.

After breakfast we had more present opening.  We got done around noon and then enjoyed playing with all of our toys and reading some books we got.  Tom had fun putting together his drone, which I'm sure we will fly around tomorrow!  Hailey got a vespa scooter, Spencer his x-box one (finally!) along with Star Wars Battlefront, and Kelsey got a beautiful 14K heart necklace and Nikon lens which she really loved.  Gifts were in abundance and so were the smiles!!

Around 2:30 we ran over to the Peterson's home to say hello to Keaton on his mission in Peru.  He looked so happy and super shocked to hear Spencer's voice SO low!  Then at 3:00 we got an email that Kohler was on the computer ready to go so we got the computer all set up and were able to talk with him.  THAT has been the highlight of my Christmas both last year and this year.  He smiled with that infectious smile of his and was so much fun to talk to!  Yes, I cried once, telling him how proud I was of him and how much I loved him.  He told us that he appreciate our support and love and that it meant so much to him.  He said he felt the "Lord had his back" in all that he did and that he has seen people change in ways that he can't even describe.  We all could tell that he wanted to say more but had his companion right there along with a member of the church wandering in and out of the room so it wasn't as personal as other phone calls have been.  But, he did tell us that his release date is June 21 and he really wants us to come and pick him up in Argentina so we will definitely do that.  My mom and dad were in town for Christmas so they were able to come over from MaryKay's home to talk to him today.  His face lit up when he saw them come through the door!  It was really cute to watch!  I am so thankful that my father served a mission as well as my husband so that they could both give him advice and counsel from their experiences.  I loved talking with him and can't believe it will be another 5 more months until I can talk to him again.  He has been out 541 days and has 178 left.  Only for the Lord would I give up my precious child for that long.  It's a sacrifice that brings forth incredible blessings!

After the Skype call, we ate more holiday junk food and played more with games.  At night, we watched the new Cinderella movie which I slept through most of it because I am exhausted.  The family room is cluttered with presents and toys still and I actually love it that way.  Tomorrow we will clean it up but for now, it stays messy.  It's been a fabulous Christmas and I'm forever grateful for the blessings of health, my testimony, and my family.  Thank you 2015 for being such an inspirational year!