I think it did. Which is why I needed three days to recover before writing about it. I can't remember a weekend so packed full of activity, all good stuff, but so much all at once.
Eli and Amanda drove down from Rexburg Thursday evening. Friday, I got up and went to school for a few hours, then hurried home to get ready to take Seth to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple at 2:30. Several of us were able to attend with him: Shulamith and Mathew, Eli and Amanda, and (of course) Gerald and I. It was a glorious afternoon:
Saturday, Eli and Amanda went to the last ever Vans Warped Tour. I went with them last year; you can read about that here if you like. This year, though, I needed the day to prepare for the second reason (other than taking Seth to the temple) that Eli and Amanda were here: The Erichsen-Webster family's second annual "Halfway Christmas"!
I love traditions.They bind families and, ultimately, generations. As children grow, they feel safe in events that repeat; they feel connected to both the past and the future. Our family has established numerous traditions through the years, many surrounding holidays, others just because we like them. I also love starting new traditions, and last year in June, we did just that. It was our first ever "Halfway Christmas."
You can check out the details in the post linked above, but briefly, Halfway Christmas was such a super success that we definitely decided it would be a yearly event, sometime in June, and this past Sunday was the day.
When we got back from church, we changed into last year's Christmas pajamas, put on Christmas music, and the celebrating began. Some of us are dieting, so we couldn't do our regular egg casserole, chocolate fondue meal. Instead, we had roast chicken, baked potatoes, light Caesar salad, and rolls.
With the frenzy of graduation and mission prep, we hadn't had the opportunity to celebrate Seth's 18th birthday, so Shulamith brought angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream, and we lit a candle and sang to him. I think he was pleased.
After dinner, it was time to open presents. We had drawn one name each, with a limit of $15. Yep, just $15. And yep, that's not easy. You have to be a little creative. Here are a few pics of people opening gifts:
Did this really all happen in just one weekend? Yes, it did, and one other cool thing thrown in that I almost forgot to mention. Saturday evening, our bishop texted me and asked if I could meet with the bishopric Sunday morning before our block. You might remember back in February when I wrote this, regarding my seemingly lifelong calling to teach Gospel Essentials. I guess I can now testify that patience pays off because, yes, I am finally released!
Even better, just try to guess where my new calling is. Just try.
YOUNG WOMEN!!! Oh yes it is. My absolute favorite place to serve in a ward. I cannot even tell you how excited I am. Thrilled, really. Exactly what I needed.
What perfect icing on the cake of our already wonderful temple/Halfway Christmas weekend.
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