The Grinch

 OFD wanted to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was playing at the Washington Pavilion over Christmas. The two of us had tickets.

statue at the Pavilion, part of the outdoor art display

At first I thought the glass was reflecting the sunset, but it is colored glass. Still impressive. Also part of the art at the Pavilion.

no photos once the musical began

we both enjoyed a Don't Be Grinchy adult beverage

photo collage from OFD

Hubby joined us for pizza after the play

December Family Time

 We have a family tradition of going bowling when we all get together. This photo of KJs family was from our Thanksgiving bowling activity. The photo of the 7 of us was our Christmas card this year.

I volunteered to help the family make lefse this year. It is a tradition of the Hanson family and in the past, was a weekend event in Watertown. This year K & C planned to make it at their house.

Since I used to help make lefsa at LCOOR in Watertown, I offered to help this year. The kids had done a trial run earlier in the week. They had the family recipe and planned to make 50 lefse on that Saturday. One griddle. One roller. A fun afternoon with K & C and her parents. The Hansons enjoyed lefsa at their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gathering, and so did we.

photos from Christmas bowling

OFD & FDIL

Hubby

McBe

posting the score 'cause I broke 100!

Miss W

soup after bowling and presents at our house

a game of Clue after dinner

it was new to KJ & C, but is a favorite of the grands

and daughter

The grands stayed overnight. OFD and Miss W frosted and sprinkled pretzel sticks the next afternoon.

McBe and I made pretzel turtle treats

he also frosted and sprinkled pretzels

All the treats were shared amongst the 3 families, including the four kinds of cookies I had baked earlier in the month. 

McBe's December Concerts

 As I said, December was a busy month. The 8th-grade Band Concert was first.

he played the xylophone for the first song

(I think there were 4 xylophonists because there are lots of percussionists)

snare drum for the second number

no photo, but he played the tympani for the third song

the 8th grade band

The Edison Middle School Chorus concert was next. McBe was one of three eighth graders to play percussion accompanying one sixth-grade song.

The seventh and eighth graders sang six songs for the gym-filled audience.

he knew I was taking a picture of him

having a little fun with one of the songs

the seventh and eighth grade chorus

90 seventh graders and 70 eighth graders

Miss W's December Concerts

 Miss W had two chorus concerts in December, the first, a Tea over the noon hour on December 10th. 

I do not remember if she was a member of the third or fourth ensemble to perform for the small audience of parents and grandparents. Each group was dressed in their black performance clothes. Each chorus group of women has a different black dress. The guys...Not; just black suits.

Each choir group sang four songs. The Lincoln Chorus Ensemble Tea was held in the high school chorus room. The students provided cookies and other sweet treats, along with coffee or apple cider for the audience members.

Her second December chorus concert was on December 15th in the newly renovated Lincoln High School theater.

Miss W and the Cadet Choir members (both male and female singers)

sopranos on the left, bass and tenor in the center, altos on the right

They sang four songs, different than any of the songs performed at the Tea

full choir chorus (2 more songs) 

The last song performed is "Hallelujah" from Messiah. It is a tradition of the Christmas concert. Former students are invited on stage to join the choir. That is why you see some song sheets in the photo and some people not in the concert red robes.

I have been keeping track. Miss Willa sang in 4 chorus/choir performances from October 24-December 15 for a total of 19 songs performed in less than two months. I know they have started on their music for spring contests and concerts. Impressive!

The World Traveler Tree

 The blog posts of last week were activities from November. The next six posts cover the busy month of December.

I enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year. I was able to display all the Christmas ornaments I have been collecting on our travels. The first step was finding all of them as they often were placed in locations other than the tub labeled Christmas ornaments. It was also fun to remember the location or trip where each ornament was purchased.

the Dala horse from Sweden

below it is the moose from Alaska

ornament from Oslo, Norway bottom right

yellow lemon from Naples, Italy also tucked in there

beer stein from a Kathe Wohlfahrt store in Stillwater MN

representing our visit to Munich, Germany in 2017

ornament from Hawaii

(OFD and I did shop at the original Kathe Wohlfahrt store in Rothenburg, Germany in 2017 but I did not buy any ornaments at that time.)

amber ornament from Tallinn, Estonia

beaded ornament from Guatemala

ornament from Klaipeda, Lithuania

cathedral ornament from Barcelona

kiwi Santa bird from New Zealand

Remember Everyone Deployed from Hubby's Midwest Honor Flight

colorful houses and cruise ship from Curacao

 better view of the Klaipeda turret

Norwegian cruise ship ornament

Eiffel Tower as the tree topper

This is just a fraction of the ornaments collected from our travels. I have an ornament of Mount Rushmore that I gave to my dad in 1999. I have handcrafted ornaments from Mexico that we purchased on our first family visit in 2001. Lots of fun memories to hang on the Christmas tree.

These Christmas trees used to be displayed in the park model. They had to be a certain size to fit the height of the space above the refrigerator cabinet. I have been collecting the trees for years. They found a home on the dining area sideboard. I was able to display the painted Christmas tree rock we found when geocaching. 

The skinny decorated tree in its place next to the sideboard with trees. 

the Willow Tree Nativity set

I purchased this set over several years, YEARS ago, like more than 25.  I waited until the local department store (Herbergers) had a coupon to help justify the cost of the expensive Christmas decor. This year I thought about adding the stable. OMG! One of the two choices (my preferred one) is priced at $186.99. The Holy Family will continue to be displayed without the creche.

Some of my followers may wonder how we are adjusting to being home (in SD) full-time. We have adjusted quite easily. Hubby has all the high school and college athletics he wants to attend and I have found community classes and culture options that interest me. Life is good!