The Countdown is On....

The Christmas tree is up, the stockings are hung, the dining table is set, and now....THE COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS IS ON!

Yes, the Countdown to Christmas is on, and we can't wait! Our holiday plans include a nice warm relaxing holiday in Guam with our cousins, Jeff and LaNita Copeland, and their twin 12-year old boys. Jeff is a medic at the hospital and is stationed on the army base. Jeff and LaNita have told us how great the scuba diving is in Guam, so we have decided to try it out over the holidays. Since Guam is a US territory, we look forward to English speaking people, American food, movie theatres with popcorn, and drinks with ICE! Until then, we have enjoyed celebrating, and feeling the Christmas spirit at various activities. Here are a few Christmas activities we have already enjoyed:

The Shanghai American School Annual Holiday concert is always entertaining as there are always a few students who "stand out" from the crowd. Not to say that Tyson wasn't one of them, but pay attention to the boy standing next to Tyson in the video. If THAT much enthusiasm doesn't bring cheer to someone, than WHAT does???

Have we mentioned how much we LOVE our branch family? There is not one family in the entire church group that we don't just think is top notch. One of the family's (The Embley family) Christmas tradition is to have friends celebrate an early traditional Christmas dinner at their home, followed by making graham cracker gingerbread houses, and guessing how many Christmas candies are in various containers around the house. What a blast everyone had since there was a table set aside for small, medium and TEENS. Everyone at every age loved this party, and the good "candy estimaters" won some great prizes.

"The TEEN Table"

Bracken putting in a great effort....


Parker and Tyson worked diligently on their houses--we were sure their homes would be masterpieces.

Speaking of masterpieces---Aaron Christensen proudly displays his Chinese "Jin Mao Tower", while Whitney Bang displays her rendition of the new tallest building in Shanghai "World Financial Center." (Unfortunately, seconds after this picture was taken the tower fell on Bracken's head!)

Bravo Tyson----Well done!

And finally, Parker's masterpiece......well, no comment!

Of course, one gingerbread house was not enough for our "Party Master Tyson." Tyson continues to keep our family in the holiday spirit with his various art work displayed around our home.
Our next celebration was our branch Christmas party in Jin Qiao. It was also a perfect party to catch some holiday spirit.



Several families in the branch (including ours) were asked to decorate a table with an example of one of their own family's Christmas traditions. Here is one of our's explaining our Christmas Eve sugar cookies for Santa.

And what party is not complete without a visit from St. Nick?

Parker has enjoyed playing in the band for the first time this year. We enjoyed the evening of music at the Shanghai American School's Middle School holiday band concert, as much as we enjoyed watching him play the tenor sax which is as big as he is!

Of course we enjoyed all the various activities associated with Christmas, however, we truly hope our children will know the most important reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Jesus's birth. Our church Christmas service on Sunday was perfect for turning our thoughts toward Christ. It was by far the best program we have attended!! It was so special as many of our members are from all over the world, and various musical selections for the program were sung by these families in their native tongues from Argentina, Japan, Korea, and together as a branch in Chinese. We were also amazed at the talent we enjoyed from a youth strings quartet, and several vocal numbers--it truly was fabulous! Our family was inspired by the message we received, and we wanted to carry this same spirit throughout the rest of the holiday season.

Our Family Home Evenings the month of December focused on our love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. We spent one evening delivering plates of our favorite Christmas treats (thanks to Anna), and spreading Christmas cheer to all our wonderful neighbors. Another evening we sang Christmas carols together and Dad read us one of his favorite Christmas stories "The Three Trees." And another activity, (thanks boys for being good sports!!) we dressed in our "nativity wear" and read the Christmas story from the Bible.

We are so grateful for this holiday season to reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ. We are thankful for our family, our friends, our membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and most importantly our belief and gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas to All!