And then the snow came down...

My favorite present today arrived at a little after 8am--that's when the phone rang. Ikey! Yeah, the holidays are crazy (so is working on Christmas Eve, dear golly!), but it all turns out to be worth it when you watch your little brother and sister rip open present after present on Christmas morning. The bonus was talking to Elder Livingston on the phone for a while and hearing about Hamilton, Ohio. Yay for missionaries! Ellie sure was eager to get her hands on some goods, though. Mom and dad had to tell her more than once to slow down or she'd be out of presents soon, and we all know what that means. Her reaction: "But I don't wanna be done! I'm not done! I have more presents! I want more!" By that time her "tower of greed" was leaning a bit... I don't remember being quite like that but I know that I have learned to slow things down on Christmas morning so I can soak it all in. It's been snowing all day and since it's Christmas I'm trying to think about how pretty it is and not how I'm going to have to dig my car out of it tomorrow. :-) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lessons Learned at a Nursing Home

• The first man we went to visit this past Sunday's name was Del. He was pretty talkative and liked telling us stories about his mission. After we sang him a few Christmas hymns, he pointed a trembling finger at me and said, "You remind me of my mother. She was a tiny lady." Then, as I shook his hand and said goodbye, he held onto it and said, "If I call you Mama, don't be alarmed." HA!
• Next we visited a woman named Helen who was thoroughly engrossed in an NFL game when we entered her room. She muted it and immediately started asking us each where we were from and what our names were. She knew where everyone's hometown was except for me... figures. Then we asked her which song she wanted us to sing and she said, "Oh, any song, any song! I have two loves in life: milk and music." (Courtney prodded me in the back when she said that and mouthed, "That's you!") Then she warned us not to sing "Silent Night" because every time she hears that one she cries. Let me just say that I got more laughs from this woman in fifteen minutes than I can get out of a whole day with...ahem...myself.
  
• Last we visited a woman whose husband was visiting her. She was in a hospital bed and he was standing very close by, watching over her. A girl in our group told him that he had a very beautiful wife, to which he replied with a smile, "Oh, I know that." Then his wife said, "She doesn't feel very beautiful right now," so he reached over and grabbed her hand. We sang "Joy to the World" to them, which we were told "would make the wife happy." I just love old couples...they really are golden!