Parties! Parties! Parties!

We’ve been able to spend some fun time with family and friends the past couple of weeks. On Thursday, December 27, we had our annual Jensen family Christmas party. For the first 38+ years of its occurrence, it was held on Christmas night. Last year, we were on our trip until the 27th, so we changed the date so our family could attend. We drove straight home to the party. Literally! We all looked so lovely (thus the absence of photos). This year, we decided to keep it on the 27th. Up until about ten years ago, it was at Grandpa & Grandma Jensen’s home. After they passed away, it has primarily been held at the Strands’.

The timeless traditions of the party include dinner (and the “kids table”), the chocolate fountain, piñata, “Must Be Santa,” and pictures with George the Giraffe. (Thanks, Stephen and Susan for the picture of Mike, Sandy, Randy, Dott, Jean, and Ted.)This year, the most hysterical thing was the piñata. Here are pictures of Aidan, Josh, Abby, and Ryan doing their best to decimate Sponge Bob.

“Must Be Santa” is either loved or hated by family members. I think it was Misty's idea to get it going again with the new generation. Our newest addition to the family, Susan (Stephen's wife), was a great sport.
My "proud mom" moment was when Ryan performed his first piano concert - a duet with Rara. They played "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas."

Six family members were very conspicuously missing. We missed them, and hope they’re able to join us next year.

New Year’s Eve this year was a lot of fun. Ryan attended the Temple Square/Joseph Smith Building First Night activities with Rara & Papa, and then had a sleepover at their house. I went out to dinner with a date (whom I will not name, since I’m not sure if he’s willing to be publicly identified). ;) After dinner, we also went in to the Temple Square/Joseph Smith Building First Night activities. We enjoyed the variety of music, walking around in sub-zero temperatures to view the Temple Square and Main Street Plaza lights, and running into Ryan, Rara & Papa. Ryan thought that was especially cool. After the festivities ended, as we drove into my driveway and got out of the car, about five neighbors started shooting off fireworks (the REALLY cool kind), so we stood out in the driveway and watched them. It was a great evening.

On New Year’s Day, we made our annual trip to Orem for Frances’ dad’s birthday party. His birthday is January 1, so the Andersons always have a New Year’s Day party in his honor. Marc & Frances met us in Sugarhouse and rode to Orem with us.

It was fun getting their trip report. Among other New York touristy things, they went to the top of the Empire State Building (Ryan wondered if they had gone to the VERY top. When Marc said yes, Ryan asked them how they climbed up the pole!) The highlight was Frances’ grandparents’ 50th anniversary party. It sounds like they had a great turnout, and were able to see many friends that they hadn’t seen for a long time

Every time we travel to Utah County, Ryan points out all of the features of Mt. Timpanogos that we’ve taught him over the years, and then asks us to tell him about our climbs to the top. He said he wants to climb to the top. I told him that maybe we could start with the hike to the caves and see how he does. I guess if he can do Diamond Head in April, he could do the Timp caves!

Frances’ dad’s party was pretty fun. The food was great, and it’s always fun to visit with Frances’ extended family. They are the group we went on the cruise with, and we haven’t seen many of them since then. The Andersons also have a Wii, (theirs is on a huge plasma TV). Janell got “Rock Star” for Christmas – there are actually plastic guitars that you hold, and it tells you what notes to play. You choose your character (a variety of rock-ish hoodlums) and rock on! About 10 of us went downstairs and did that. Just a note – be careful how much you flip your hair around when you’re OLD! Neck kinks reminiscent of the hair-flipping shampoo commercial may occur!

After the party, we went to University Mall for a while. I ran into one of my roommates from my senior year at BYU. We have stayed in touch through Christmas letters, but the last time I saw her in person was at my wedding reception! We saw each other across the store and pointed at each other, then ended up talking for quite a while. It was great fun. I met her six kids in person, and we got caught up a little bit more than just in our Christmas letters. That was a really fun coincidence running into her. If you’re reading this, HI DEBBIE!