Our Christmas 2024 was so fabulous! I am still basking in the loveliness of it. Even though it’s the end of January. I believe in Keeping Christmas in January. I love this podcast here by a Catholic couple, Phil and Leila Lawler, about that. In light of their thoughts, I’ve asked myself, “How does one come off the Christmas high in dreary January?” To quote La Leche League International, an organization that promotes breastfeeding, when the Leaders talk about weaning, one does it “gradually and with love.” (That’s the LLLI title of the weaning book.) So, although my tree is down, thanks to one of my adult sons putting it away with all the decorations, I still have my Christmas picture books out as well as my Nativity set on the piano. I’ll keep those out until after Candlemas, February 2. I’m weaning off of Christmas 2024.

So, part of the weaning off of Christmas 2024 is taking most of January 2025 to blog about it! Here’s my debrief of it. First off, I give what I’m glad that I did, then some delightful surprises, then what I wish had been different/what I want to do next year. Forgive the lateness of it, as I’ve had other pressing commitments that have precluded me from getting this done sooner.

Without further ado, here we go…

What I’m Glad I Did for Christmas 2024:

–read aloud often the stories from the above book, Our Family Christmas, by Christie Gardiner. I found this book when thrifting over a year ago and absolutely love it! This is one of my greatest thrifting treasures ever! Only $3 at the Springville D.I.! What a goldmine of resources! I don’t do most of the stuff in it as I just don’t have the energy and my children aren’t little. In other words, I don’t do the crafts or recipes. Maybe I will do them more as the grandchildren get older. I mostly just use it to read aloud the stories at dinnertime and ask the discussion questions. It is an Advent book specifically for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also has some sheet music, which I’m thrilled about, for tunes like the lesser known “Silver Bells,” and “Mary Did you Know?” My hope is to coordinate the stories with the names of Christ from my Immanuel Wreath, meaning label each story with the name of Christ from the wreath that best matches up with the story. That way I will read the stories according to the name next in line on the wreath, not in the order given in the book. We’ll see how long this takes…maybe a decade?

–watched the new movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. See my review here. It’s so good! The perfect Christmas movie for the whole family! I love that I got to attend it with four generations of my family.

–used my Immanuel Advent Wreath of Candles. Each night starting Dec. 1, we lit one candle and talked about the name of Christ under that candle’s hole in the wooden wreath. Then on Christmas Eve we talked about what name is our favorite. I couldn’t find my huge pretty glass platter to put under the wreath, having moved last spring. I don’t remember where I put the platter. I made the dumb decision to just let the wax melt on the tablecloth, even after asking myself if I was willing to deal with the mess. So now I’ve got to research how to get wax stains out of my table runner and poinsettia tablecloth. So yeah, that fits into what I wish I had done, under the category at the end of this post.

–started listening to The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener, in everand.com. It’s so, so, soo good and so fascinating! It is the perfect book to understand how Christ, the center of Christmas, is also the center of Western civilization. I then finished it this month of January 2025. More on it later!

–attended Christmas Around the World. This is an annual concert put on by the BYU Folkdancers. My third son, a BYU student, is on one of the “feeder” teams that is under the top performing team. He did such a great job! He performed a Czech dance, and then an American dance, the Charleston. So energetic and fun!

I remember attending this for a field trip when I was in grade school. I am so thrilled I have a child performing in it now. The energy when you walk into the Marriott Center to attend this superb world class event is just so electric! I love it so much! People are performing in the hall that circles the entrances to the inside arena, like the mariachi band below. If you are ever in Provo the first weekend of December, make it a point to attend this! You will not regret it!

It is just so fun, festive, glorious, and thought-provoking as I watch the different nations and cultures portrayed! I felt so blessed that all seven of my children were able to attend this, because my two sons who live in TX were in town that same week for Brandon Sanderson’s convention, Dragonsteel, along with one daughter-in-law. So providential! We had a great time! As long as I live in Utah, this will be part of my Christmas family traditions. It is so amazing! As you can see below, despite its eye-popping, ear-splitting, amazingness, the two grandsons fell asleep before it was over.

My only problem with the whole thing is that it starts so late, at 7:30, and ends after 9:30, which was after their bedtime. There wasn’t really time afterwards to gather everyone at my home for hot cocoa and cookies before the adults’ bedtime. We didn’t do the matinee performance earlier that day because of some of the family members (5 of them) being at Dragonsteel.

Regardless of the late performance time, this whole event was so fabulous! The dancing, the athletics, the beauty, the spirit of Christmas is all so grand! I wish you all could see it in YouTube. My favorite dance was probably the Indian number with Bollywood type music and costumes. So energetic! Below is the Charleston by the Folkdance team performed in Charleston, South Carolina. The choreography was similar at Christmas Around the World.

–watched a one-man performance of A Christmas Carol. We attended this at the Provo City Library. The performer was so amazing, he got an almost standing ovation. A few people were sticks in the mud who wouldn’t stand up. He gave so much emotion into the performance. I also loved the carolers dressed up in Victorian/Dickensian garb who did the pre-show in the hallway as we entered the venue. I want to join them in one of those fun hats and dresses! So delightful! I love that the performer, Bryan Johnson, asked that we donate money to the Utah Food Bank via Venmo in lieu of paying for the performance.

–found and used my Pioneer Woman Christmas mugs. These are just sooooo adorable! One of my sons gave these to me for my birthday last year. It was no small feat to find them, after moving last spring. I could have sworn I had them with all my Christmas stuff, all together, in two stacks in the basement kitchen. I looked and looked, and couldn’t find them, and then my 15-year-old found them by accident when he was looking for something else.

They just make so happy! I have them still out as they aren’t just for Christmas, I’ve realized. The aesthetic is so hygge (go here to learn about hygge if you don’t know what it means) that they are perfect for all of winter. The red in them makes them also fit with my Valentine decorations that are out now, so I have them lined up in my hutch in my dining room/library.

–read aloud Christmas picture books, to my son for Morning Basket time (last one in my homeschooling nest) and to my grandsons

–read or listened to Christmas stories to myself. I started the one above in Everand and was thrilled to hear Sarah Mackenzie promote it in her podcast below. I haven’t finished it, so I’ll save it to finish December 2025.

–three gifts plus stocking stuffers. I did my traditional plan I’ve done for years of 3 gifts per child, at least for the four ones who aren’t married. The married children and grandchildren each got one gift. See more over here about the 3 gifts tradition.

This book above is what I gave for the incense/”gift of meaning” to 3 out of 4 of the unmarried children. I’ve been listening to the Audible format this month of January. It’s such a great book to kick off the new year.

The fourth child is about to go on a mission to teach people about Jesus in April so his book was Preach My Gospel, pocket-sized, shown above. I’ve already seen him studying in it so that makes this mama’s heart so happy!

–have children 12 and up help play Santa by stuffing stockings. I love doing this! My married daughter and son-in-law and their two little boys joined us for Christmas Eve and morning, spending the night, so they helped with this. I asked each person 12 and up, so not the grandboys, nor the married children who weren’t here, to get one edible and one non-edible item for each other person’s stocking. I emphasized that these didn’t have to be expensive, but I’d like them to be useful things and not just junky trinkets. This just makes Christmas a lot more fun for me as I get to have more surprises! Here’s what I got in my stocking in the photo above. We are not all at the same level of nutrition standards, as you can see, with the Charleston Chew. Because of its high fructose corn syrup content, I gave it back to the person who gave it, with appreciation of the intention with which it was given :-). In my younger days I loved eating these, but I just can’t handle the high sugar spike and then crash, in my middle age days, without wanting to consume more and more sugar.

The photo above is missing the hacky sack from one of my sons. Plus the homeopathy sleep aid that I added to my own stocking. The little swords shown in the photo are actually pens in disguise that I found on amazon. Everyone got 2-4. I was so thrilled to get the snowflake necklace and matching earrings. I’m pretty sure those are from my married daughter. We share the same aesthetic for clothes and jewelry, which is so fun.

See how wonderful it looks with one of my sweaters above! I love it!

I was so happy that I found perfect non edible gifts stocking stuffers for each person: a little cookbook of lunch recipes for my son-in-law, since he fixes my grandsons’ meals, the Christ-centered Christmas book above for my married daughter, detailed here (both books I found thrifting, looked brand new, and are pocket-sized so can fit in a stocking), a fidget spinner ring for one son, a Needoh fidget toy for my other daughter, a card game for one son, and a puzzle cube for the other son.

This is what a NeeDoh looks like, at least the NeeDoh teardrop. My teen daughter has enjoyed hers.

I also got homemade lip balm for everybody and hair clips for one daughter. (The other daughter has short hair and doesn’t want clips.) For my husband’s stocking, I got him some electrolyte powder, stevia chocolate, and some fun colorful socks. Everybody got nuts, tangerines, a big candy cane, and some chocolate, from Mrs. Claus (me) plus goodies from the others.

-only committed to one dinner on Christmas Day. We had the fun problem of getting invited to two family dinners on Christmas Day. One for my side, one for my husband’s. In pre-covid days, pre-moving to AZ days, we used to alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with each side. Then we’d go to the other side for a brief evening visit of dessert before heading home for bedtime. Moving to AZ and back, covid, and my husband’s parents’ deaths have changed all that up. Since moving back to UT from AZ we’ve spent all holiday dinners with my side. Then my sister-in-law (my husband’s sister), who is more like a sister to me than an in-law, moved close by, and she was the first to invite us for dinner. Then a week later my brother’s wife invited us for dinner. These two sisters-in-law happen to live five minutes apart, completely by sheer coincidence. The first dinner was open as to the time. I almost suggested 2 PM with plans to hit the second dinner at 5 but after further reflection I decided that was unwise, as we’d feel rushed and too full of food. So, I just agreed to the one dinner at the first sister-in-law’s and regretfully and graciously declined the other invitation, just saying we’d come for dessert around 7. It all worked out perfectly. I was thrilled to arrive at my brother’s home after our dinner at my sister-in-law’s to find a bunch of my adult nieces and nephews playing Camel Up, a board game I introduced to one of the nephews and his wife last Thanksgiving, when we played it together. They loved it so much they went out and bought it the next day and brought it to play on Christmas.

–we had a simple Christmas Day dinner, of ham, broccoli, mac and cheese, and pie at my husband’s sister’s home. It was so yummy and easy. I brought the broccoli and pies and she provided the ham and mac and cheese. I made sugar-free, keto pumpkin cheesecake for the low-carbers and bought pie for the rest. So easy!

–not have to leave for extended family stuff until after 3 on Christmas Day. In previous years, like when all the 7 children lived at home, we’ve left for extended family stuff around noon. I always felt so rushed with that, but resigned to it so the children could have maximum cousin time. This past year, my brother-in-law had invited us to go shooting around 2. Shooting practice with guns for him is like thrifting is for me, something he wants to do anytime he has free time or a holiday. Such a dopamine hit in the respective ways for each of us. Except I don’t go thrifting on holidays. (OK, maybe the day after, which I did recently, on Jan. 2.) Anyway, I kept feeling nervous about this as we approached the day because of the aforementioned rush. I was glad that I got the text saying they felt slightly under the weather and didn’t want to brave the drizzly rain to go shooting but they’d still host us for dinner. It was nice this past Christmas that after opening the gifts in the AM and a brunch, I got a luxurious hot soak in the bathtub and my husband got a nap before round 2 of festivities in the evening.

–Jolabokkaflod. See here. It’s a Christmas book flood, originating in Iceland. I started this two years ago. For this year, I gathered up some used books that I’ve found thrifting, put them in gift bags, and after Sunday dinner with my married daughter and her family, we took turns picking a gift, pulling the book out, and then “stole”/traded the books up to 3 times. I was hoping to spend more time reading the books afterwards and sharing what we learned while eating chocolate. I’ll make it better next year by doing that, by setting the expectation/announcing it, plus asking everyone to bring a book that they look for throughout the year that they think will be exciting to at least two people in the family who will want to fight over it. All the books this year were what I or my married daughter picked out. We need more preferences represented :-).

–Joseph Smith Birthday Party. We had clam chowder, made by foodie son-in-law, his DIY root beer in his cool green bottles, and gingerbread ice cream. The root beer and ginger flavor are because Joseph’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, sold root beer and gingerbread to augment the family income. The gingerbread ice cream I did because I ran out of time to bake gingerbread, so I went with BYU Creamery’s newest ice cream flavor, Ginger Bell Rock. It was a big hit!

–Bethlehem Supper with my parents on Christmas Eve. We have middle eastern food that Jesus might have eaten when he lived in the Holy Land: fish, flat bread, olives, cheese, and figs. We’ve had this tradition ever since our two oldest children tots. I heard about it from parenting experts, Linda and Richard Eyre, who have done it with their family for decades.

–used Christmas conversation starters on Christmas Eve. I use these from Jennifer Flanders over here. I put them in a little basket and passed them around during our Bethlehem Supper. It keeps the conversation focused on Christmas and reveals insights into each of us we wouldn’t otherwise see. It was fun to hear my dad talk about Christmases when he was a boy and being able to ride in a sleigh.

–asked my daughter and son-in-law to help with Christmas Day brunch. I’m so blessed that I have a son-in-law who loves to bake and cook! I’m taking advantage of this whenever I can! He brought ingredients to make waffles and a waffle iron. I resisted eating those and just had my crustless quiche with sausages but others enjoyed the carbs.

–stayed within Christmas budget and out of debt. I used Qube, with a Christmas Qube, to make this easy.

–didn’t buy any new Christmas decorations. I have plenty.

–attended Christmas church party for women. This was so much fun! I wasn’t going to go at first, as I have such a long “to-do” list, but then decided that I always feel better when I make time for social things. So off I went. I ended up having fun conversations and connections with some sisters I never talk to, since I play the piano for the children’s singing at church and don’t get to socialize much. We played a fun game where one of the women read some facts about a woman in the ward and the rest of us had to guess who it was. Because my husband’s cousin’s daughter moved into our ward, coincidentally, over a year after we did, and I knew that she was born in Wisconsin, I was able to guess her correctly when that particular clue about being born in Wisconsin was read. For a prize, I got to pick out a gift from under the tree, pictured above, and unwrap it. I was so pleased to find a brand new plushy blanket, with a Costco label. So I knew it was high-quality. I had just been wishing that past week that I had a blanket for each couch in the home to get through the winter and here my wish was granted for the upstairs couch!

–attended church party for the whole family, and wrote to missionaries who are serving from our ward/congregation. One of the activities at the party, which was a breakfast, was to write letters to the missionaries. I love that the organizers had pretty stationery to use and colorful pens. I enjoyed writing to four missionaries, telling them the same story about a man who was blessed by a visitor when he was lonely on Christmas Eve.

–organized a birthday dinner/party for my mom. Her birthday is exactly two weeks before Christmas.

–got big candy canes for the stockings early on. I got high quality, thick, organic sugar canes at the health food store early in the month before they were picked through leaving only the broken ones. I noticed that’s all that was left right before Christmas. A totally trivial thing but it’s still satisfying and a total victory. Mom life is made up of so many little victories that don’t get any praise :-).

–remembered that my younger daughter hates pistachios and gave her mixed nuts in the stockings.

–started the Nativity Tradition countdown one week before Christmas Day, from the companion books above and below, that I detail here. I love that these traditions can be so universally done because they are simple and adaptable for almost any living situation. By giving a copy of the little red book to my daughter I hope she starts the tradition in her little family.

–listened to the audiobook Kisses From Katie. This is such a life changing, inspiring, book. Best of all, it’s a true story! The book actually connects with Christmas as the whole story starts when the author, Katie Davis Majors, goes to Uganda for three weeks over her Christmas break her senior year of high school. It’s such a beautiful book to help anyone keep perspective over what really matters, centered in Christ, which is especially important to do at Christmas time. I started it in early December and finished it this past week. It’s sooooo grand! I love that she quotes the Bible so much and has such a beautifully, generous, Christian outlook. I started it in December and finished in January. I just found a copy of this book while thrifting this morning so now I have my own copy and can mark it up! (I listened to it in everand and read the public library’s copy.)

–watched a few Christmas romance movies. I watched Penny Serenade, an old Cary Grant classic, and this one over here with Candace Cameron Bure, then another one with her daughter, called Christmas Through the Ages. Not complete brain candy, maybe brain ice cream as it does have some nourishing elements, like ice cream does. It lacks a real plot though. Totally enjoyable if you want to just wrap presents or do something crafty and need something unthinky to watch/listen to.

–watched a few family Christmas movies. We watched Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street. Some of my children watched A Muppet Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life (while I was taking my hot bath on Christmas Day). I wanted to watch a lot more, from my list over here, but just didn’t have the time.

–donated money from our Christmas Jar, a tradition we started years ago after reading the book with that phrase as the title

–played board games on Boxing Day and served leftovers. We played the games above and below. This is a tradition we’ve done for years that I love. I purposely make too much food for Bethlehem Supper so that we have leftovers for this day so I can have a break from cooking and baking for a day.

Wish I Had/Want to Do Next Year:

–give a copy of the #LighttheWorld list to everyone in family, encourage them to see how many they can do, and share during dinner conversation and Sparkle Box time. I will text a copy to the out-of-towners.

–line up stories from Our Christmas Family book with the names of Christ of Immanuel Wreath. which I’ve already mentioned.

–label the stockings. I got a little mixed up when I stuffed the stockings and had to sort things out in the morning after people emptied them out, LOL. I had to be super quiet, stuff them in the dark, and not turn on lights as my grandsons were asleep in the room where the stockings were hanging. They were hung so close together and are so huge, it was hard to where the openings to the stockings were. They were hung in order from oldest to youngest family member but that wasn’t good enough for me apparently.

–start shopping earlier. I say this every year! I am determined that this year 2025 I’ll start in September!

–have shopping done and wrapping done before Dec. 18 so I can go sledding or skating on 12/24. We usually go sledding or skating as a family. Sometimes I skip out on this if I’m feeling too stressed with other Christmas prep. Such was the case this year.

–send Christmas cards with a newsletter. I really want to do this too even though it’s not a minimalist thing.

–have a singing party of little-known Christmas songs that I have collected into a binder, from my family devotionals ebook, the December section

–encourage more giving to the Christmas Jar through the year so we can donate more at the end

–give each family member a bag of thrifted treasures that I gather all year, like in the fun video below. This looks so fun! The funniest line in the video is when the YouTuber, Lori, says, in response to her mother, “I haven’t weighed 126 lbs since I was 12!” I can so relate!

–do the Sparkle Box conversation every night

–improve my Jolabokkaflod party, maybe have Dickens theme and dress up

–get better bigger gift for my parents that involves recording their life story

–encourage my children, nieces, and nephews to get little useful things to stuff big stockings for my parents and leave them anonymously on their doorstep

–find my evergreen and poinsettia garlands to decorate more. This new-to-me home that we moved into last spring has pillars on the porch. I was so excited to festoon them with my garlands but didn’t find the time to go looking for said garlands in the shed, after my teen said he could not find them. So the pillars went bare! Boo-hoo! Next year!

–get holders for my electric candles and put them in windows

–finally sew my two pieces of poinsettia fabric so it’s not annoying to set up as a tablecloth

–put out old Christmas cards on door and talk about family friends who sent them, a few each night at dinner. I love this idea too, over here, to pray over the people as a family, even after Christmas.

-encourage more and talk earlier about preparing for family Christmas Eve talent show. My husband grew up with this tradition. They did this after the Nativity pageant. I mentioned to my younger set of children about doing it the day before Christmas Eve and they acted like they never heard of it before. I think it’s because they were younger when we did it with my husband’s family, so they don’t remember it. I did have a few good sports who were willing to share, including my daughter, reading aloud our family’s traditional poem, from my husband’s childhood, of Grandfather Monkey, from Richard Scarry’s The Animals’ Christmas. My other daughter shared some art and my grandson and son–in-law did some singing and dancing.

–light candles on Christmas Eve, lighting one for each missing family member and then sing I’ll Be Home for Christmas

–decide once and for all where I will put my envelope of everyone’s “gifts to Jesus” that are written on slips of paper. I have lost these over the years, and just recently found one from Christmas 2000! I’ve decided to keep them with our porcelain nativity set.

–read aloud at least one book about gifts before I ask people to write their gifts to Jesus. The Giver of Holy Gifts or The Gifts of Christmas, maybe just one depending on grandchildren’s attention span.

Little Christmas Joys, Surprises and Miracles (Other Things that Made Me Smile!)

–my married daughter’s smile when she opened the parasol her brother gave her

–son’s thrill when he opened his weightlifting belt

–husband’s smile when he opened his karaoke machine. We haven’t played with it yet, hopefully on his birthday and at our next family reunion.

–my two daughters connecting over Japanese Lola styles. I had no idea that my tomboy daughter admires the art of this style. She likes the intricacies of it but doesn’t want to wear it, whereas her sister who is ten years older would be OK wearing it all.

–the new fuzzy blanket that I mentioned above, after I had started wishing for one, plus the fuzzy one my daughter and son-in-law.

-I found a new Nativity puzzle and a winter puzzle for our New Year’s Eve gathering while thrifting just two days before Christmas, after starting wishing for them

–finding the Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas book for my daughter’s stocking, as I mentioned above. I gave it away then found my own copy when I went thrifting after New Year’s.

–one of my sons made a stocking board of his own initiative so we could hang our stockings above the fireplace in our new-to-us home. He remembered we had one of these when we lived in Layton for our fireplace there, which my husband made. Neither my husband nor I even thought of this, he just went and did it. Such a beautiful surprise! This time around it’s sturdy enough that we can actually leave the stockings hanging from it all night into Christmas Day morning. In the photo above, it’s the thin board above the mantel with nails sticking out.

–another son brought two pies he made to Christmas dinner of his own initiative. He’s a BYU student (the folkdancer) and is full of surprises!

–I found this pair of bright cranberry red gloves on sale at the BYU Store after Christmas. The pair perfectly matches the pretty scarf my son and daughter-in-law gave me for Christmas. They make my new thrifted fuzzy coat really pop!

–my son, my friend, and her son got to attend a Civil War ball to celebrate that they finished their requirements for the Sword of Freedom class that I mentored. My friend and I dressed up in these fun ball gowns that we rented. They are actually used for the play Little Women for the SCERA theater. The first time that I’ve worn a hoop skirt! It was so fun!

-speaking of Little Women, my son and his wife gave me tickets to see Little Women performed at the Hale Center Theater in March for my Christmas present from them! I’m so jazzed!

–got jewelry in my stocking as I mentioned above

–had the best stocking ever see mention above

–found a new Christmas-y top when thrifting, it’s perfect for wearing in fall too, with a decorative pumpkin silk-screened onto it.

–one of our relatives announced a pregnancy. Yay! Here’s hoping it’s a girl as boys dominate the Shumway family for two generations so far. We could use a lot more estrogen around here.

–my son got his mission call in December, a few weeks before Christmas. An early Christmas present!

-my brother just older than I am is into woodworking. This past year he helped my other brother resurrect and finish an abandoned table from his high school wood shop years. It was so fun to see 2024’s last project, which is that he carved a bowl for each one of his children and a Harry Potter wand for each of his grandchildren as Christmas gifts. I love this!

Maybe Do Next Year:

–like my mom, decorate tree with just family and friend photos. What a fun idea! She’s done this for a few years now. It certainly makes decorating (and undecorating) a tree super easy.

–or maybe have just a family history Christmas tree with ancestors’ photos.

–participate in shoebox giving with Christmas Jar money where my children and grandchildren pick out the stuff and stuff the box

OR

–participate in angel tree giving with Christmas Jar money. I don’t think I could handle both of those ideas, I’ll just start with one.

–get lights up outside with sons’ doing it. I love driving in the dark and seeing lights oh homes to represent the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Maybe next year I’ll show that I love this idea enough to actually make it happen.

–maybe stuff stockings for old people at a retirement home with Christmas Jar money

–make one keepsake ornament with my grandchildren in November. My mom did this for a few years with her grandchildren over a decade ago. Now they each have a set or ornaments that match their siblings and cousins. Each child’s ornaments go in a decorated box, with each child’s name, all assembled and decorated by my mom. So now my children have their own ornaments from childhood to use with their own family. That’s something for me to do for next year, is finally give these boxes to my married children so I’m no longer storing theirs.

That’s it! Another Christmas for the books! Looking back, I realize how much I experienced, no wonder I want to sleep in every morning. I’m ready for a long winter’s nap! Even though some really hard, depressing things happened during this Christmas season that are too personal to blog about, I felt so cheered by all the things above. Please share anything that made you smile in the comments below. I’d love to hear them!

–