December 2025

We begin our December post with some pictures of Christmas projects that were done in November but couldn't be posted until now without the "surprise" being spoiled.

Linda began working on this Waite Family Christmas gift project in early November. She got the idea of personalizing the store-bought Guess Who? Game from an old friend a few years ago and decided to give it a try this year.

She purchased the games from Amazon then got to work searching for pictures. It took hours and hours to gather them all. Then she had to create all the "cards" to go in the gameboard framework. She had to figure out what size to make them then edit each picture... several times. Once she was satisfied with them, she printed them and laminated them with Con-tact paper, both front and back. Next, they all had to be cut out and fit into their own little frame. The bigger cards were much easier, but still took some time to finish. We hope everyone will have fun playing this familiar game with all the "new" faces !!

Another "project" Linda had been working on in November was the traditional 

"Waite Family Calendar"

Linda has been creating a family Calendar for at least 20 years. This year, she will discontinue that tradition and begin a new, much less time intensive tradition of a, one-page, Waite "Special Days" calendar. 

She learned, on the internet from google , that Excel has a calendar feature - who knew? She jumped in and figured out how it works, then got busy and created the New & Improved "Special Days" calendar. After finishing the "create" portion of the calendar, she printed it out on card stock, laminated each copy, and punched a hole in the top for hanging it up . . . voila ....  Calendar Done !! What usually takes several weeks to create took only a couple of days this year . . . Y-E-S !!

Here are just a few of the Calendars we've done. Linda did a different theme EVERY YEAR - it was getting hard to think of something new, lol.

On Monday, 11/17, we finished all our Christmas shopping.

Each family gets a "Guess Who?" game, "Goodie" jar, and Calendar. Each person will receive an Amazon gift card and a bag of Cracker Jacks. Each year we give our grandkids an ornament, this year they will receive a little gingerbread house ornament. We will send the Lansford's box via UPS, hand deliver, at Thanksgiving, a bag to Kevin's family in Bountiful and one to Debbi in Salt Lake. We will save Matt's things until later in December since he is right here in Boise.

Thursday 11/27
Thanksgiving Day

This evening, we had CHRISTMAS in Utah

Bottom Picture: Sydney 11, Connor 16, Shea 8, and Crew 15 with their gift cards
Sydney & Shea getting ready to play the very 1st game of the Waite Family Guess Who? Game.

There was excitement everywhere. Amazon gift cards are always a big hit but this year the "Guess Who?" game was especially fun. The girls didn't waste any time playing the 1st game with each other. Debbi brought gifts too and loved opening the gifts for her three little kittens.

Monday 12/1

December marks the end of our fall decorations and the beginning of the winter decor. 

All the fall/autumn decor go back into their tote and spend the next 11 months in the garage on a shelf. The winter/Christmas decorations gradually begin to appear, inside and out. These little winter blocks of wood have found a place above our TV room doors and look very cute!

Thursday 12/4

We are taking our time, but beginning to get a few decorations up

Today, Linda set up our traditional village in the TV room this year and Steve just couldn't resist putting up some extra (in addition to our permanent lights) Christmas lights . . . and they look GREAT !!

Friday 12/5

Tonight we have a brand new Christmas Tree !

This afternoon, we went to Home Depot and purchased a new Pre-lit Christmas tree. We have been talking about getting one for several years but today... we did it! It was on special for $99. We got it all set up and it is nice and full looking. It has the option of either white or multi-colored lights.

On Saturday, Linda put garland and ornaments on the tree. She tried something new - she strung the garland up and down. She's not crazy about it and will no doubt be going back to the good ole traditional way next year!

With a new tree in the living room, we listed our 30-year old, artificial Christmas tree, on facebook Marketplace for $25. We included some lights, ornaments, and our rotating stand that won't work with the new tree ... we loved it and will miss seeing our tree go round & round.

It was a beautiful tree but very time intensive to set up. We sold it to a family that wasn't going to have a tree this year. They were thrilled to get it with all the extras. It only took a half an hour to sell and was gone within the hour.

Tuesday 12/9

For the last couple of days we have been working on getting all our Christmas Decorations up. We will detail each collage so we don't forget!

We begin with the "Welcome" and the decorations by the front door and in the entryway.

* "Season's Greetings" from Linda's brother, Jim, many years ago.

* Lantern from Nauvoo, cardinal bird, and snowman board Linda made just last year.

* Wreath was given to us by Steve's brother, Dave, a couple of years ago.

*Hand carved, tri-fold, nativity from a Mennonite shop, in Kalona, Iowa.

*Sleigh bells and Amish nativity from our Nauvoo days

*Christmas Card drum basket we made several years ago. We did it as a little Christmas "project" with Dave & Gayle. We each made one.

*Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland singing Santa & Mrs Clause... a long-time tradition!

*Santa on the corner of the mirror is an inheritance piece from Linda's mom.

We have several "just for fun" decorations that we like to put out for others to see.

*A small snowman collection on top of the piano

* The kitty "Snowball" in santa's hat sits by our piano. Steve's mom made it and we were lucky enough to inheirit it from her.

* Advent Calendar we have had FOREVER. Linda made it.

*Poinsettia Sleigh sits on top of our currio cabinet. Made by Steve's sister, Lila many years ago.

* Santa plate made by Linda's sister, Karen, in 1989,

* Piano Mice. This belonged to Linda's Grandma Hoggan. It is a music box too and plays Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

* Grandma's Deers came from Trudi (I think) and bears the names of all our grandkids.

* Poinsettia plant and little girl with tree figurine.

*Christmas Stockings for Steve & Linda

*Santa with kitten and Reindeer made by Linda's mom

* Christmas basket centerpiece

* Santa Sleigh and Reindeer. This also came from Linda's mom. It came to us in a flat box with detailed instructions on how to put it together. We have been putting it together and taking it apart for many years.

Now for Linda's Nativity Collection

This year we put most of our nativities out, but still, not all of them... there just isn't room for them all.

*Linda setting up the nativity her mom made and we inherited from her in 2020

* top - Our special hand made ceramic nativity we bought from the "Iron & Lace" shop in Bentensport, Iowa. Betty is the owner of the shop and is the lady that made it, plus, she is also a weaver and taught the Nauvoo missionaries how to use the weaving looms.

* bottom - Linda's mom's Nativity

* Linda setting things up on the fireplace mantle & underneath is a picture of the finished product

* Dining area where the above Nativities are set up. Also, the lighted Christmas Tree picture was made by Linda's mom for our very first Christmas together.

* Angel, made by Steve's sister, Lila, many years ago... probably in Relief Society.

*Linda's childhood Nativity. Inherited in 2020 and beautifully refurbished by our friend Blu Graviet.

Here are a few more that we put out this year.

* Olive Wood Nativity, from Deseret Book after moving to Idaho

* Latino Nativity, purchased while in Nauvoo in 2016

* Wonder of the Season Nativity. One of Linda's favorites due to its fine detail

* A cute nativity that we can't remember why, when, or where it came from.

* Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. One of the first ones we bought after moving to Star.

* Eskimo nativity, purchased while in Nauvoo in 2016

* Small teardrop nativity gifted from a friend & wooden Nativity tree added last year.

* 6-piece hand painted Nativity. These are special because Linda bought this little set for her mom to paint with her. They did this together just the year before Linda's mom passed away. 

* Precious Moments nativity ... just cute and also purchased in Nauvoo.

While Linda was busy making collages and up dating our blog . . .

Steve was outside with a tech from Perfect Plumbing getting our furnace tuned-up... 

All is well.

Wednesday 12/10

The squirrels visit our backyard feeder, in our maple tree, regularly

Steve continues to work on getting them to feed out of his hand . . . getting close!

Tonight, we had some fun visitors !!

The doorbell rang and a loud knock on the door brought us to our feet. We quickly opened the front door and found a trailer full of energetic youth and their leaders singing Jingle Bells. They also sang - Angels We Have Heard On High and Deck The Halls. We wished them a Merry Christmas as they drove off down the street.

Saturday 12/13

Tonight was our Star 1st Ward Christmas Party

Our table, a nice crowd, food, cupcakes, ornament, nativity, santa

We had a wonderful evening with our ward family. We met at the Stake Center instead of our smaller ward building so there was plenty of room for the 20 tables filled with over 100 friends. We started with dinner - Ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, corn salad, and cupcakes for dessert. After dinner, we had a beautiful presentation of the Nativity, done in a silhouette format, as a recording of the song, Christmas Hallelujah, played in the background . . . it was awesome! The bishop shared a short thought then everyone sang Joy to the World and Angels we have Heard on High. 

To finish the evening, we all sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town until that Jolly old Saint Nicholas showed up. The kids followed him to the primary room where he greeted each one and gave them each a candy cane. His chair was surrounded by piles and piles of brightly wrapped boxes. Each family was able to have an ornament, off one of the Christmas trees, to take home. 

Monday 12/15

Today, Linda spent the day making Christmas cookies and candy.

First things first . . . put on some Christmas music !!

Next, gather all the supplies

Then - BEGIN

She started with making these Brownie Crinkle Cookies. It is a new recipe Linda saw on the internet - They turned out well - unlike the new fudge recipe that didn't turn out AT ALL. It tasted good, but didn't set up and was just a pile of goo . . . Oh well.

Next, she turned to candy . . .

She did, peanut butter balls, pretzels, Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and Ritz crackers. Some dipped in milk chocolate and some in dark chocolate. Some with sea salt or mini M & M's and some without. We ended up with twelve plates for our ministering families and neighbors and one box for a family of six. There are some leftovers we'll be able to put out on Christmas Eve when Matt's family is here.

Saturday 12/20

We had a fun surprise tonight . . . 

Someone ran up and knocked on our door then ran off . . . On our doorstep we found a neatly, tied with a red ribbon, bag with a Christmas greeting from the Calvary Chapel here in Star and the story of the Candy Cane inside. Out in the street there were carolers . . . LOTS of carolers. There was a "parade" of trailers coming right down our street.  There were maybe eight floats that were all decorated with colored lights and filled with happy people. The last one, instead of carrying Santa, carried a simple, but beautiful, live nativity.

Sunday 12/21

Today, we attended the Ogden's Ward Sacrament Meeting.

Steve, Matt, Jen, Malani, Kyler, Heather, Kate

Linda, Nathan, Cortlyn

Note: Kyler & Kate are being married in the spring!

We went to our own ward, then went down the highway a short distance, to Middleton, and attended Heather & Nathan Ogden's Sacrament Meeting. They have an amazing choir so they invited us to come and listen to it with them. It was fun to spend some time, afterward, visiting. Matt's girls, Jetta & Sienna also came, but left before we had a chance to snap this picture.

Monday 12/22

Back in September, we bought a new refregerator. The front panel of the freezer drawer had a pretty significant dent so we ordered a new panel under the warranty. It has been on back order, but today A-1 Appliance was able to install a new one. We are happy to finally get it replace and it looks great! 

The technician removed the bins inside the freezer, took off the damaged door, pulled the rubber casket off the old door and put it on the new door, installed the new door, replaced the bins, and pulled the protective film off the new door. As an added bonus, he actually checked out our ice maker and said we also needed a new one of those.  He ordered one for us, also under the warranty. It should be here next week.

Wednesday 12/24
Christmas Eve

It's christmas Eve and time for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner

Linda set a very festive table. She likes to fold the napkins a different way every year. This year they were folded into fancy bows. For dinner we had ham, funeral potatoes (by Jen), mashed sweet potatoes, cinnamon apples, green beans, green salad, deviled eggs-olives-dill pickles, homemade rolls (by Jetta), Christmas cookies (by Sienna), and Razzleberry pie & ice cream for dessert. Just for fun, we gave each person a Santa Scratch-off card - Matt got the winning card and his prize was a bedside lamp.

After dinner we played a fun game and opened Christmas gifts.

L-side: Playing the game, Sienna handing out the gifts
R-side: Jen with the "Goodie Jar", Jetta with her ornament, and Sienna & Jetta with the Waite Family Guess Who? game.

Linda got the idea for "Dice Gift Exchange" on the internet. She tweeked it a bit, created a game card, and purchased some REALLY inexpensive things (on Amazon's Dollar days) to use for the gifts. When we finished the game, We gave Matt's family their Christmas presents.

After gifts, we played some Pictionary, which, this year, has become a three-year Christmas Eve tradition

Here are some of the things we drew . . . . 

Matt - Turkey meat, Jen - Deviled eggs, Steve - Fruit cake, Sienna - M & M's, Jetta - Sparkling cider, Linda - Dinner rolls, Jerry (friend) Homemade candy

At the end of the evening . . . 

We had Razzleberry pie, Vanilla Ice Cream, and fresh baked... warm... Chocolate chip cookies.

We had a nice evening with everyone. We missed Camryn tonight, but we have a Christmas bag just for her and will give it to her when we see her next week. 

Thursday 12/25

  

It's Christmas morning and

 we are having fun checking out our Christmas stockings and . . . 

opening gifts from Santa, Frosty, and all our kids and grandkids !!

And . . . We are enjoying some fresh-baked cinnamon rolls !!

But first . . . We took some time to snap a couple of pictures by our new Christmas Tree

With this one, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas !!

Tuesday 12/30

Steve spent the morning taking down the strings of Christmas lights he put up just a few weeks ago. We loved how they made our house look so festive !!

Now that the colorful "extra" lights are gone, we can also change our permanent lights from "multi-color" to "soft tones"... a gold and white combination that looks nice.

Today, we finished up and mailed our 2026 Happy New Year letter.

Linda spent a day or two creating it. Once that was done, she was able to send it to 57 of our neices and nephews via e-mail. Next we printed 37 copies to mail via USPS. These will go to our children, siblings, and a few long-time friends. 

Wednesday 12/31

Today, in the Tabernacle, was the funeral service for President Jeffrey R. Holland

The service was conducted by Elder Quentin L. Cook who served as a missionary companion, in England, with President Holland 65 years ago. President Holland's three children, David, Mary, & Matthew, shared some thoughts about their father, President Dallin H. Oaks also spoke and the Tabernacle Choir sang the special musical numbers. President Holland often spoke of his eternal sweetheart, Pat, and how he has missed her since her passing in 2023. Now they are together again and, according to Heavenly Father's plan, are enjoying a wonderfully happy reunion.

Tonight, we just stayed home, but we did watch the Idaho Potato Drop and fireworks show then wished each other a Happy New Year.

This is the 13th year for the event. There were thousands of people that attended, "in person", including the Idaho Comission's mascot, Spuddy Buddy. 

Another year is "in the books". Good, bad, or otherwise, it is now in the past and we are looking forward and ready to begin anew. Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year of making wonderful memories with friends and family.