Baby Blessing, Christmas, and the Demise of 2023

We celebrated Christmas a week ago and now we are about to celebrate a new year. Where did the time go?

Cheryl's family once again came to Utah to celebrate Christmas with us and the Stronk's.  On December 23rd, baby Lainey was given a name and a blessing by her father, Parker, in our home. The Bishop of our ward, Bishop Von Porter presided. 

This picture of the priesthood members who participated in the circle was taken shortly after the blessing ended. (Parker Stronk, Ryan Stronk (behind Parker & Lainey), Bishop Porter, Alan, and Lainey's great-grandfather Richard Larsen. Bruce Stronk is out of the picture.)

Parker gave a beautiful blessing, just as he's done for all three of their children. Lainey was so cute in her little white dress.

Bishop Porter was asked to take a group picture of everyone in attendance, which he was happy to do. The only problem was that Alan and I were cut out of the picture, so a picture of us with Lainey was taken the next day.

I was sick the day of the blessing and stayed in my room prior to the blessing and afterwards during the luncheon. I had a stomach bug and couldn't eat much for a few days. I wore a mask during the blessing so as not to pass my illness on to anyone else.

We decided to have our main Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and we invited Alan's brother, Galen, to join us and Ryan was there as well. Eric's family held their own dinner that night, but came over for a little visit later that evening. We had a nice dinner with ham, scalloped potatoes, fruit salad, rolls, and string beans,  with pumpkin squares and chocolate pie for dessert.

The next day, obviously, was Christmas day. Having little children around helps make Christmas seem a little bit more magical. Kessler excitedly left out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve. He was excited on Christmas morning to see that they were gone from the plate.

This year, Wesley was big enough to open and enjoy playing with gifts. I can't believe she will be two years old in less than three weeks. She is at such a cute age.

 Here are some pictures from Christmas morning. Sadly, I didn't take many pictures on Christmas day.

 Ryan spent the night on Christmas Eve so he was here for Christmas morning. Jared almost joined us, but instead went to Colombia to spend the holiday with his girlfriend, Catherine. Kyle and his kids were in Arizona. Eric's family came over later in the day.

I'm really hoping that 2024 turns out to be a better year than 2023 has been. For me, 2023 was a painful year due to two knee surgeries that have been very difficult to recover from. I want 2024 to be a surgery-free year! I guess that's my hope and my resolution for the new year. NO MORE SURGERIES!

We will be spending New Years Eve at the Airds, along with the Bleaks. It should be a fun evening with dinner then games. I doubt, however, that we will stay up until midnight to usher in the new year, but we will see.