December 25, 2012

 We had arranged with Elizabeth that we would Skype with her on our Christmas morning which was her Christmas Eve.  She was going to give us her Christmas present then.  Well…what a great gift she gave…she told us she would be receiving her endowments at the temple and….she was putting in her papers to serve a mission!!!!!  WOW…what a great gift….yeah…I cried.  We are so proud of her and the decision she made.  She knew when she heard President Monson talk about missions in the last general conference that that was what she was to do.  The rest of the day was like being on cloud 9.  

We had to go to the grocery store because there were a few more people coming to dinner than originally planned and we needed to get more meat…so we got a couple of already cooked chickens and a couple of other things.  We then started the preparations for dinner…cheesy potatoes, stuffing, a pasta salad…etc.  We took a little nap, finished dinner prep and went to the township to pick a couple of members who have no family here in Port Alfred to spend Christmas with.   Our Elders also picked up a couple of people, however, not everyone we planned on could come.  We had a nice meal, talked, took pictures, had dessert, put together food for our guest to take with them and then took everyone home. 

 

 The Elders were able to Skype with their families and we also were able to Skype with all of the kids at one time, except Eric because they don’t have an internet connection.  It was interesting to listen to and watch as they were all trying to get connected.  Rick and I had fun just listening to everyone else kibbitz back and forth.  Josh was on for their family, as Sarah, unfortunately, was sick with the flu…not nice on Christmas day!  We were on for a couple of hours and then signed off since it was about 10 pm our time.  We were, however, able to talk to Eric and Heather for a while when he called after they were done opening gifts.  It was nice to hear from everyone.