Eyrealm: Home to a Party House!

It was great to get home on the 30th and find our house full of people we love! Noah and Kristi and their darling kids came from California partly for a big alumni basketball tournament at East High which his team won. They also had a chance to see lots of old friends and to be with family. Saren and Jared were here (and they had been at their house in Ogden as well) and their little tribe and cute Charity who had spent Christmas with them was in residence to keep the spark in the whole celebration.

It was Jared’s birthday on the 31st so Saren provided a beautiful birthday breakfast and then we all went bowling (Jared’s birthday tradition).

The crowd thinned a little on New Year’s Eve but we had so much fun New Year’s Eve with Charity as well as Noah and Kristi and McKay. After the little kids went to bed and McKay was allowed to stay up until midnight for the first time, we made had some time to make our lists of the biggest blessings of 2011 and look forward to some resolutions for 2012. McKay was particularly delightful as he read his “list” to us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Then January 1st, I taught my last Gospel Doctrine lesson at church. Dad and I are going to be teaching a class for all the new young couples who have moved into our ward which is about 14 couples with young kids. We’re so happy to have these new families!

Then to bring in the New Year Charity had a grand reunion for about half of the people that she knew and loved in Jerusalem. She left for Jerusalem exactly five years ago and it was SO great to meet so many stellar people that she studied with. Some are married, some have children and many are still single. Noah and I helped her make Falafel until we could see them when we closed our eyes. Great event!

Dani prepared a wonderful slide show of their time that they spent together.

I think the guy on the right really personifies how they all felt about being back together again!

THEN on January 2nd, which was the actual day off work for the New Year since New Year’s Day was on Sunday, we had our annual Eyre/Carver party. That means that my only darling sister comes with as many of her seven kids and their kids as she can gather and we celebrate together.

Last year we had a fun sleigh riding party since our house had an avalanche of snow. This year….just a skiff! Luckily we have an awesome tubing place near our home and the adventuresome ones headed for the groomed tubing slopes.

Lenna is also an amazing accompanist, as was our dear mother. Grandma Hazel would be so proud! We had a chance to play some music together (she on the piano and I on the violin) which doesn’t happen very often these days. We got people singing too and it was a rare privilege!

The really awful camera work below is mine (Eli taught me how to do better since then), the good ones were taken by Lenna). Better something than nothing right?

Noah and Kristi were set to drive all the way home to CA early in the morning that day but they decided to wait a few hours so they could be there for the party. We were so happy but I don’t know how happy they were when they arrived home in San Diego at 1 a.m. with a car full of sleeping kids.