As we decorated our Christmas tree, we listened to Kurt Bestor's arrangements of Angels We Have Heard on High, and Prayer of the Children, among others. His music is some of our favorite.
Another day we invited the family over for dinner. Afterward, we bundled up and walked to some of our neighbor's homes to sing Christmas carols and leave a box of cookies. It was touching to see the expression of appreciation in the faces of friends I have grown to love over the years.Then, two days before Christmas, we sang with the ward choir. I like to think we might have been part of the heavenly choir that sang to the Shepherds on the night of the Savior's birth. And like the Shepherd's humble gift, we gave from our hearts.
Christmas Eve, I requested that Bill and our youngest son play the marimba Bill's mother gave him. The marimba is a beautiful instrument that produces mellow sounds like a harp. Afterward we continued singing Christmas carols and hymns around the piano.
Christmas morning has traditionally been a time when our children find clever ways of waking Bill and I up before opening presents. For instance, one year Bill and I spotted the blinds on our window suddenly begin to wave. Then our TV turned on unexpectedly, with no one else in the room. Finally our adult children burst into the room to pounce on us and get us up. We found out, the night before, they had meticulously hidden a string in the carpet that connected the window blinds to the hallway outside our door, and they confiscated our TV control so they could operate it through the window, ... such an elaborate prank and one we remember every year. Other years they succeeded to get me bolting from the bed to the sound of wrapping paper being torn. Preset cell phone alarms, trumpet trios, singing off key or other presentations have been equally memorable. This year, with most of the children celebrating Christmas morning in their own homes, and with guests in our home, it was our turn to wake everyone in the house. Bill and our son chose to play a trumpet duet for the missionaries and my father, intentionally off key. It's guaranteed to wake every mouse in the house!A few days before Christmas, I overheard the missionaries (from Vermont and Georgia) practicing a song for a missionary devotional. So, after opening our presents Christmas morning, I requested they sing "Oh Come Emanuel" as a gift to us.
