Christmas Is Coming

(Oh, my! For some reason my screen is red! I can't seem to make it white again. And typing on red is hard on my eyes. But I will try anyway.)
Today is Tuesday, December 20, 2011. It has been sunny most of the day. We are preparing for more Christmas festivities. Last night we had a caroling party. As a family we have gone Christmas caroling since we had very young children. We would walk from our house to the neighbors and sing carols. As the children got older they began to learn parts and by the time our youngest daughter was able to sing all the words, our carols were in four parts. The neighbors loved it.
About 4 years ago we decided to change our caroling plan. We had changed from walking to our neighbors to climbing in and out of cars as we traveled to close friends who were members of our Church. The climbing in and out was getting harder and harder. Some of us were getting older and some were babies who had to be in and out of car seats. Consulting with those friends who loved to have us come, we hit upon a new plan.
The new plan was that on Family Home Evening the Monday before Christmas we would issue a general invitation to anyone who wanted to come to our Family Home Evening. (Every Monday night we have family home evening where all the family gathers for a special time - prayer, songs, a lesson, and treats.) All our guests love it. We begin with a prayer and then we pass out the song sheets. And everybody sings. Having the words for everyone helps with the enthusiasm. The family has 3 or 4 special songs we love to harmonize on and we just say "Okay, pretend we just knocked on your door and we will now sing to you. You get to listen." And we perform. (Maybe next year we should stand but we usually just sit and sing. Interesting stereo effect.)
The family has changed over the years. The last 4 years we have had pretty much the same singers - three daughters, one son and his family - now 5 children - and the two of us. Last night our oldest son was here. He has a few days of work in our town and sang with us. A special time for all.
We always have treats, too, and last night I think that was the most popular part. Well, maybe that was second to playing the bells. A number of years ago my husband made lovely sounding bells from electrical conduit pipe. We got the directions from a friend. They had to be a certain length with a hole drilled at a certain spot for the hanging string to go through. It was a very precise length and drilling and then filing to get each pitch exactly right. They make a lovely Christmas sound and people like to try their skill at playing the music. Last night was no exception. Old and young enjoyed the experience.
I think I am about to end. And this has truly been a "babbling." I had a hard time getting the correct page to come up and I feel a bit frustrated. Anyway, that is all for the day. Last night was a joyous Christmas event.