A New Christmas Tradition

You would be hard-pressed to find something that could get you more in the Christmas spirit than spending an hour fully enveloped by all the grace and goodness of your grandma who has lived for 100 years, followed by viewing a live re-enactment of the Christmas nativity. Yes - most definitely hard-pressed. Our little Saturday-afternoon and evening trip to St. George to visit with Grandma Jo has been a true highlight in all of our holiday festivities. In fact, on our ride home, we decided that this little trip needed to become a new tradition that we do every year, and one that I really wish we would have started a long time ago.

Grandma wanted to see the picture in the camera right after I took it. Then she declared that she looked pretty good for 100! Absolutely - she looks great!

Visiting with grandma was an absolute delight. She shared stories of her childhood with the kids, and we talked about what she did on her 100th birthday. She was surprised by her son, Doug, with a long drive to Alamo, Nevada to visit the places of her youth. That little town is apparently steeped in tradition and history because she said it was still the same in many ways. I've never been to Alamo so I'll take her word for it. We also heard about what grandma does each day. She was very proud that she still washes her own hair, & she's not too excited by food anymore, so she drinks a nutritional shake a few times each day. The highlight of her day is when Doug comes to her room to get her in the evening so they can watch a movie together. Grandma also showed us a couple of the hand-crocheted bandages that she works on everyday to donate to our church humanitarian effort. I can't help but wonder if that little bit of service she does each day is part of the secret to her longevity - that and the rootbeer floats she and Doug go get twice a week. I was curious if she went to the dr. to at least check her blood pressure or her heart - the answer is "No." She's just a little tiny miracle, quietly living each day being the very best 100-year-old that she can be.

I talked to grandma about how we have been reading some of her life story as a family and that we liked the part about how, as a child, she was always singing. She immediately started to sing some of the songs she remembered from her childhood. I told her that Madi was just like her and was always singing. So, of course, grandma wanted the girls to sing her a song. They were shy and didn't want to oblige, but we finally begged long enough and they eventually succumbed. Madi and Katie sang a beautiful song then we all sang a couple of Christmas carols. It was sweet. Ben was shy, but decided it was OK to be close to grandma if he sat on his dad's lap.

It was a joy to spend a little time with Grandma Jo, and I mean that sincerely, it was pure joy to be around her. I could feel of the goodness and righteousness of grandma's spirit and I felt blessed to be in her presence. She is such an example of enduring to the end!


After our visit with grandma we went to the Tuacahn outdoor theater (which incidentally was founded by Brad's uncle Doug) to see a live re-enactment of the nativity. We walked in and sat on the front row. It was simple and short, but just perfect for helping find that Christmas spirit in this ever-crazy and distracting world.

Ben and dad keeping warm in the outdoor theater.

The girls tried to keep warm by putting Lacey on their lap. Poor Katie, who wore flip flops for the trip and brought socks to change into, couldn't find her socks - so her feet were freezing! She wrapped Lacey's scarf around her feet in an attempt to warm them, but it didn't work too terrifically. You would think, by the look on Madi's face, that she was the one with cold feet - but no - it was Katie - who kindly smiled through her pain :)

The highlight of the nativity was the live camel - check him out on the far right.

One more shot of the camel - leaving the stage at the end of the presentation.

Of course there were beautiful lights outside the theater.

While in St. George we also drove by the temple to see the grounds all decorated with lights for Christmas. Next year we will make it point to get out and walk around there too. The lights were fabulous - almost a little mini Temple Square going on there.

We made a quick stop at Harmon's grocery store to buy some cinnamon bears and gummi raspberries as well as a gift card for my dad for Christmas. These are little indulgences for himself and all the grandkids. He brings the candies to church every Sunday and passes them out to my kids (I manage to score a few myself, as well) and the grandkids all ask for them when they come to his house. Every time he goes to the cabin he stops by Harmon's to get his candy stash, so - I figure he will definitely use a gift card from there. It was a relief to check that gift off my list since my dad is one tough guy to buy for! My dad says Harmon's cinnamon bears are the best. I believe him.

Our final stop before heading home was to eat dinner at The Brick Oven. I was very excited to find out that my favorite restaurant from my BYU days in Provo was now in St. George - only 2 hours away, rather than 6! Yay!

It felt so good to drive home that night, knowing that we had spent a memorable time together as a family. Everyone was in good spirits and the kids all actually got along for the 2-hour drive home. Christmas spirit was in plentiful supply that night! Joy to the World!!