Happy Christmas

I think Sylvia's going to enjoy herself tomorrow.

Philip and Kelly picked up something for Sylvia while they were on their honeymoon and I wrapped it--twice--because Sylvia just needed to tear the paper off something and I figured their present, since it was still inside nondescript, opaque packaging (thanks to FedEx) that would be the best option.

My mom sang with Sotto Voce at the Methodist Centenary church for Christmas Eve services there, which we attended. I quite like going to Christmas Eve services anymore--it's a great reminder of the season and exactly what it is being celebrated--not just the return of light, not just the presents and the gathering of families and friends--also the return of hope, and the promise of an atonement for the evils of this world. It's such a lovely, comforting service, reading passages of such familiar scripture interspersed (frequently!) with familiar, beautiful music.

Most of the program at Centenary was music (which I really liked) and involved much audience participation (which I really REALLY liked). I haven't had many opportunities to sing Christmas music in the past few years, and I miss it. The last time I felt like I really dug into Christmas music was before I started grad school when I participated in the ward choir in my ward in Midvale. That choir was so great--and so inclusive--and we put on a program that had much of the same feeling as the services at Centenary.

After the program there was a small reception, including refreshments. I took cinnamon rolls to share with the other members of Sotto Voce. This morning Sotto Voce was on the Doug Wright show (and was definitely the highlight, I might add--the Santa they have was borderline inappropriate, and NOT funny) and I sent a pan of cinnamon rolls with my mom to share. She offered one to Doug Wright and he took the whole pan! In a way I'm glad though; my first batch turned into a bit of a "test run" figuring out how to bake them. The recipe says to bake them at 400, but then says 375 works better, but neglected to mention you have to bake them longer at 375, so I tried baking them cooler but for the same amount of time and ended up with somewhat underdone (though still tasty) cinnamon rolls in the first iteration (which includes the rolls I sent with my mom). So if you make those rolls, I do think 375 works better (they were a little dark baked at 400) but it takes longer and I'd bump it up to 400 for the last few minutes to get them nice and golden brown on top.

Since my Grandma Whitaker was also in attendance we took a picture with four generations from my grandma to my daughter. At some point when I can upload pictures again I'll have to put it up here to share.