Two Christmas Carols

Last pictures from Christmas 2016--now that January 2017 is almost over. I found these forgotten gems and wanted to make sure the memories were recorded.

I took the kids to see "A Christmas Carol" at Hale Theatre for two reasons--1) I love it, and I love to listen to my kids as they understand the story (Micah had to memorize parts of it for English this year, so he actually quoted it as it went along; and 2) We knew a few of the actors in the show this year.

Eric and Micah have quickly become best buddies. It's crazy how alike these little guys are. They have many of the same classes together, they played on the same football team, and now they're playing rugby together. Can you tell from these pictures who is used to mugging for the camera after a performance and who isn't?

I tried to get Micah to smile, but he couldn't take it seriously.

Here's the crew we took--love these kids of mine.

Brad's sister Amy arranged for both of our extended families to sing at a nursing home a few days before Christmas. Here's Sam trying to get the littlest ones to stay on the sidewalk and avoid the parking lot. Micah was showing them how to stand.

The bigger guys were waiting their turns as well.

 I was surprised that our two families could present such a diverse program of instruments--Amy played the flute, her daughter-in-law, Alina, played the harp, Joe played jazz guitar, Micah played a piano solo, and I played for everyone else to sing a few carols. The biggest surprise of all was when Karli walked into the back of the room with Baby Eli strapped to her chest. He was four days old, and she sang, "O Holy Night" without any rehearsal and nailed every note. Her diaphragm must be shot after nine months of pregnancy and delivery, but she sounded incredible. I guess that's what a professional does.

The little ones did their best to stay still and sing. Nathan loved the snowy Christmas village display and even stifled his desire to touch it all.

These two didn't do a whole lot of singing, but the pocket full of Smarties that Sam brought did come in handy to keep them quiet while others were performing.

My favorite part of the whole afternoon was watching the little kids hand out cookies and oranges to the residents. One lady said that they rarely get to see little kids and that it was one of the best Christmas presents she could wish for.

I'm so glad Amy put that all together for us, and I hope it becomes a yearly tradition.