Because I'm the "Primary Chorister" in our ward, I was asked to have the kids sing a couple songs for a short little Christmas program after dinner. We had been practicing for weeks & I was sure they'd do AMAZING, but I hadn't realized until we got there that night that our church doesn't have a stage & there were wall-to-wall tables, so there really wasn't anywhere for the kids to sing without being spread out in a thin layer all along the wall. And then they changed the order of the program on us last minute, so all of the sudden they told us it was the Primary's turn to sing, so we were scrambling to get ready. And then we had no piano in there, so we did the first song without the piano, then decided we REALLY needed the help of a piano, so paused everything while we pushed down a piano from another room, which was kind-of tacky, but it really helped the next song go a lot better. And then for our final song we did "Jingle Bells" with CHIMES! I was really excited about this song because I thought the parent's would be SO impressed with how well their kids did on the chimes, but this meant that we had another pause between songs while we passed out the chimes to the kids, so it just didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped for. All-in-all, the kids did pretty good, but if I'm still the "Primary Chorister" next year, there's a few things I've learned from this experience that we'll have to do differently next time. But what a fun chance to use my musical skills to direct my own little children's choir!
I have to say that our Santa this year was pretty unique! I can't say that I've ever seen Santa play a guitar before, but it was a fun twist! :) The only problem with our Santa was that the guy they got to dress up like him lives 2 houses down from us (Brother Smith), so when he first got up & started playing Christmas songs on his guitar, I could see Skyler's eyes narrowing as he skeptically studied him. Finally he concluded, with a shock of dismay, "I think that guy's just pretending to be Santa... I think that's Brother Smith!" Laron & I tried to act shocked at his conclusion, and neither confirmed nor denied his statement. Kimberly on the other hand was just thrilled to be in Santa' s presence! We were sitting close to where Santa came in, so she practically walked right up to his feet & starred up at him, just hoping to be noticed. When we finally got to sit on Santa's lap, Skyler asked for what he wanted for Christmas, but Kimberly just grinned from ear to ear, soaking up every glorious moment in his presence. As we walked out into the parking lot, surrounded by newly fallen snow, Skyler exclaimed, "Wow! Maybe Santa made it snow while he was here!" and "Maybe I've just never heard Santa TALK before... Maybe his voice just sounds a lot like Brother Smith & I just never knew it." 5-years-old is FAR too young to stop believing in the magic of Christmas, so we readily agreed with him. And although we know that Christmas really isn't supposed to be all about Santa & the presents, it IS about the magic & wonder of a power higher than ours that can make all our dreams come true. What a magical night it was for us all!
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