Pre-Christmas Activities in Utah

After tending for Craig and Cassie for a week in Dallas, I flew to Utah and met George there who had gone home to Washington to catch up on some work there.  We arrived to some very cold temperatures, but not too much snow.

One of the main reasons we went to Utah was to go to my dad's yearly Christmas party that he holds. 

This year, we had about 120 family members.  In addition to having a wonderful Christmas lunch, which consisted of roast beef, potatoes, veggies, salads, rolls, and desserts that Beverly's family prepared this year. . .

Larry and my dad enjoying the wonderful dinner.

 Our family loved the Rigby Family Cookbook so much when we did it back in 2003, we put together another one this year.  Everyone in the family has a chance to submit their favorite recipes, and we have added a few more people in the family since we last did one, so that brought new ideas and new recipes.

 We, also, play Bingo that everyone in the family loves to do!

 Upon winning, each family member gets to go into a very large room with all kinds of gifts that they may choose from.

 My dad works so hard the entire year picking up items from the store, along with the help of two of my sisters, for the Bingo party.  This year, I believe everyone got to go into the room three or four times to pick presents.

 Traditionally, my dad and our son, Kevin, are the Bingo callers and we all have such fun!  My dad, although 93 years of age, has carried on this Christmas party tradition that started many years ago when our kids were young.  My dad wanted to continue with this huge Christmas party even though our mother passed away over 13 years ago.  He has wanted it to be something that brings all of the family together at least once a year--which it has!  Thanks, Dad, for working so hard to make it so special!

 This is our newest grandma in our family.  My youngest sister, Natalie, and her first little grandchild, Nixon.

 You can't tell that she likes him much, right?!  

 The proud new parents.

Our grand daughter, Hannah, and her cousin, Brian.

 Four siblings in my family had babies within seven months of each other.  We have always had fun taking pictures of them together.  We were only missing our son, Kent, who was unable to be there.

 Here are some of the cousins that were there.  

 My dad standing with 22 of his grand children.  There are actually 37 grandchildren in all and 85 great grandchildren!   Sadly, none of my own kids were in this picture.  

 The grand daughters wanted a picture with their Grandpa Rigby.

My sister, Joyce, was fortunate to have all seven of her children in attendance--six girls and only one boy!

After the wonderful party, George and I took my dad to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake.  This is an absolute must at Christmas time!

There are lights everywhere with beautiful Tabernacle Choir Music playing and nativity scenes throughout the grounds.

After touring Temple Square, we went over to the Church History Museum where actually my sister, Joyce, is a docent on Friday mornings.  There we were able to go briefly through the main floor that has artifacts and items about Joseph Smith, the Prophet who the Lord chose to restore the church back on the earth.  Behind my dad, you can see the death mask of Joseph Smith, with his brother Hyrum's, also there behind it.  They both gave their lives as martyrs for the truthfulness of the gospel.  My dad and George are both looking at the actual clothing Hyrum wore at his martyrdom.  You can see the bullet holes through his clothing.  It is really sobering to see.

The picture above shows what happened the day of the martyrdom:  "Shortly after 5:00 p.m. on June 27, 1844, a mob of approximately 150–200 men, with faces painted to hide their identities, surrounded the jail. The guards provided little resistance as several members of the mob rushed up the stairs to the room where the Prophet and his friends were located.

Joseph and the others pushed against the door to prevent the mob from forcing it open. Someone in the mob fired a shot through the upper panel of the door, striking Hyrum on the left side of his nose. He fell backwards, exclaiming, “I am a dead man!” (in History of the Church, 6:617). John Taylor said, “I shall never forget the deep feeling of sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, ‘Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!’”  Joseph then went to the window where he was shot by people coming in the door, as well as a mob down below.  He then fell out of the window to the ground below, exclaiming, "Oh, Lord, my God."

After touring the museum as long as we could since it closed at 5:00 p.m., we went over to the tabernacle that was beautifully decorated inside.  This building is explained a little by a former Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley:

 “I absolutely marvel at President Young’s boldness in going forward with this project. Way out here in this then-remote wilderness, without steel, with their bare hands, very little in the way of resources, they determined to construct a building to accommodate their needs for assembly and to dream of such a building as this—unique and different from anything that I’ve seen anywhere in this world.” 

Note:  The Tabernacle spans 150 feet (46m) with no supports, it consists of a latticework of timbers and plaster strengthened by horse and cow hair and occupies 10 feet (3m) of space between the ceiling and roof covering. 

The Tabernacle Choir has had its home in the Tabernacle for more than 130 years. The building housed general conferences for nearly 140 years. In its lifespan, the Tabernacle has seen funerals of Church leaders, missionary calls, pageants, programs, concerts, and civic meetings.

From the Tabernacle, we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which is a place for meetings, banquets, and receptions.  It always has the most beautiful Christmas tree in the foyer.

And the final place of the night (which my dad absolutely said we must arrive early to)--The Church Conference Center.  Yes, we got there two hours early.  It was a very frigid evening and George and I and my dad had a chance to visit while waiting for the Christmas Concert to begin, so actually the time went pretty quickly.

Six artists, including Broadway star Laura Osnes, British stage and screen actor Martin Jarvis who did a narration, and four singers from the Metropolitan Opera sang along with the Tabernacle Choir, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square, including doing portions of Handel's Messiah.  There were, also, professional dancers in part of the performance.  It truly was a wonderful evening!

The next day, we met my brother, Jerry, and sister-in-law, Shelly, and three of their children, for "Music and the Spoken Word" in the Conference Center featuring some of the same artists that we had seen the night before, but doing different numbers.  The choir was formed in 1847,  but began broadcasting on radio in 1929.  It is now carried on over 2,000 radio and television stations and is the world' longest continuing network broadcast.  We absolutely loved being there again!

 Afterwards, we went to Little America for their brunch which was definitely worth the hour and a half we had to stand in line! 

One of the things I love to do is to go Christmas shopping with my grandchildren, so that's what I got to do with some of them before Christmas in Utah.  Here are Jenna and Brady.

I could not believe that I had two jackets, plus several layers underneath, and Lauren had no coat at all!  I truly have become a wimp!  Anyway, we really had a fun time shopping and seeing all the lights at this time of year.

 Another fun thing we did as a family was attend the Norman Rockwell Special Exhibit on the BYU Campus.  Here George and I are with the grandkids who went.  I have always loved his paintings (he actually did some 4,000 paintings!) and was given a plate collection by my dad of many of the paintings on them.

Inside the museum, I, also had to stop a take a picture of the LOVE sculpture there because it reminded me of our grandson who is serving a Mormon mission in Philadelphia--the City of Brotherly Love.

After I sent that picture to our grandson, Elder Wilde, he sent back a picture with the sculpture actually in Philadelphia.  It was so fun to see him with it there!

Before we came to Utah, the entire Wasatch Front had been dumped on with so much snow--some places up to 22 inches!  Before it came again, Angie and the family were trying to get some of it off the roof.

This is something we definitely did not have to do in Florida.  This really looks dangerous, doesn't it?!

 And yes, it truly is a beautiful site when you're on the inside!  

Kevin snapped this beautiful picture right off his own porch.

Just in time for Christmas, the snow started falling again!  The kids were so good to work and get it all cleaned off the drive-way.  Here are Kade and Lauren.

And believe it or not, Kevin is out in shorts--I believe he was giving instructions here, but he had been shoveling, too!

And even Grandpa George went out to help Lauren and Hannah--without a coat, of course.  He still does not like coats!

The beautiful view from Kevin and Angie's living room.  This is where I like to be!  Sorry I wasn't much help outside!

And everyone was all snuggled down in their beds--ready for Christmas Eve the next day!