Dear friend,
We kicked off the month as we joined Santa and others from town in purchasing things at the giving machine in here in Darien.
We enjoyed a few brisk family walks through Great Island, Cherry Lawn and other parks.
Summer did a beautiful job at her choir performances.
Smith was fantastic on his trumpet at his band concert and on the piano at his jazz band performance.
The four older kids also played beautifully at their holiday piano recital.
We had a wonderful time at the ward Christmas party.
Our neighbors from England invited us over for a traditional raclette meal.
It was a ton of fun and absolutely delicious!
I enjoyed gift wrapping with friends and making holiday treats with the kids. We continued our Christmas program this year where the kids could do different acts of service or write essays about scriptures to earn money to buy gifts for their siblings.
Each Christmas season I take the kids into the city for a day to enjoy the holiday festivities. This year was a blast! We started off in Time Square and then checked out Elias' office when we picked him up from work. We then walked through Central Park and enjoyed the Natural History Museum. They had an incredible origami Christmas tree. We then enjoyed a lovely dinner with Anne and her family at their home. From there, we grabbed the subway to make it back to Time Square where we saw "Elf" on Broadway. Our friend Corinne was performing in it and it was so fun to watch her on stage.
We had a lot of fun at our annual Christmas recital and sing-along.
One weekend Elias took the older four up to New Hampshire for a snow hike. Though the stored the water in their tent for warmth, they woke up to discover that all of the water had completely frozen solid. It was 0 degrees at the base of the mountain and was expected to be around -30 at the summit. After two hours of trying to warm everyone up and thaw the water, Elias had to admit defeat. He cancelled the hike and started on the four-hour drive home. The kids handed the news "really well" especially when they all went out for a delicious breakfast on the way home.
Meanwhile, Rose and I enjoyed the warmth a girls' night at home and a day at the aquarium with friends.
On the morning of Christmas Eve we drove over to Maryland and the party started. Chelsea's family was there and Corie pulled out all the stops. We enjoyed all the Christensen Christmas traditions including a Jerusalem dinner, nativity, singing Christmas morning, lining up by age, and taking turns opening presents.
That evening we headed over to the temple visitor's center to serve dinner to the missionaries, enjoy the creche exhibit and see all the lights.
The next few days were packed with cousin fun! There were lots of games and long talks. We played songs on the bells and played White Elephant. Elias and I got to take the older girls to do baptisms at the temple while my parents were working. My mom gave them their welcome devotional and it was really special to see. There was an incredible French Impressionist exhibit at the Portrait Gallery. Corie kept the littles at home while Elias, Chelsea, Taylor and I took the big kids. We gave them a little background first and it was fun to see how much they enjoyed it. We then had a wonderful time ice skating in the sculpture garden.
It was sad to say goodbye but the fun didn't stop there. The Christmas gift that the kids got from me and Elias was a special day before they returned to school. Elias took Boyd and Smith go-kart racing and they had a blast. Then I took Summer and Joy into the city for a girls day. We loved our time walking through the Christmas markets and window shopping. We then got to see Jane in The Nutcracker and meet up with cousins. Lastly, Rose loved her one-on-one date with Elias to the Build-A-Bear Factory where she got to create her own stuffed animal.
December 2024 was packed with love, laughter, gratitude and a whole lot of fun.
Love you all,
Brittany et al.
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