The Kenison Holiday Party was on Dec. 31, 2016
MaryLynn shared some facts about the Kenison line.
Some of it was recently discovered.
Grandma Anna showed up at the end of the party.
Her entrance was a lot like Santa's. The excitement
was similar, but the feeling much more reverent.
The great-grandchildren gathered at her feet and
sang "Families Can Be Together Forever,"
and "I Am a Child of God."
Then the children stood in line to give Grandma a hug.
Haylie gives Grandma a hug.
Gabe and Grandpa get a turn to visit.
Katie has the Smiths and Shirleys,
gathered in Florida, for a facetime "Hi!"
Jake and his family got in on a facetime "Hi", too.
Grandma with two of Marie's girls.
Andrea, Grandma and Bethany (SJ and Wil were with their dad)
Evan and Lucy's family with Grandma
A drawing of the Papa Via, Captain David's boat, with
a portrait drawing by Lois Rayl was on display.
Lois depicts when Captain David was swept over board
and drowned. His boys were able to bring him back.
This experience was what allowed him to accept the
gospel when he heard it. The missionaries said something
that helped him understand his memories of that day.
He recalled being above the ship watching his crew
retrieve his body from the sea, roll him over a barrel
and then of his spirit re-entering his body.
This the the record of his baptism.
SNAP SHOTS OF THE COUSINS VISITING.
Marie, Beth and Andrea
Haylie and Leia
William (Samoan Cousin), MaryLynn and Darrel
Angie, David and Grandma
(The child is Angie's granddaughter.)
Josh and his oldest daughter. He must be camera shy!
This wreath was made for Grandma Anna from the
supplies left over after making the "Charlie Tree."
Brenda and Kara
NEW YEAR'S EVE: Darrel, Andrea and I went on to temple Square to ring in the
New Year. Where only three of us would
be celebrating together, it was the perfect year for us to go. It turned out to be so wonderful. It filled my heart and my Spirit in the way
only exquisite music can do. First we
saw the only new Meet the Mormons we had not seen. It was the Artist. Then we joined the Broadway sing-along in the
Assembly Hall. We enjoyed Brandon Clayton on the Tabernacle
organ, the One Voice children’s choir; Jenny Oaks Baker and her four children
(Elder Oaks and his wife were there. J
); The 4 Hims barbershop quartet; (They reminded me of the 3 D’s in some
ways. It was so delightful.); Ultimi a
tenor trio, Octappella, and Bless4, the Japanese family featured in one of the
most recent Meet the Mormon episodes. It
is called, the Performers. I loved every minute of the whole night and hope
another year may find us there again. We arrived
home at 1:15 a.m. and are hoping our
wonderful Christmas Season and fun New Year’s Eve fore-shadow much good for
2017.
LEVAN HOMESTEAD NEWS: DECEMBER 2016
Dad: Dec.
brought a lot of parties and activities that were very enjoyable and up
lifting. We started out the month by
going to the Festival of the Trees with Andrea, Beth, Sarah and Wil. It is fun
to go and see what people have created and how well it is put together. We saw many
things that took a lot of time to put together. We found the “Charlie Tree” Aunt KK and her
family put together. We also found the
three edible creations by the ladies at the prison. We had an extra Stake
Conference with a G.A. It was one of the
best Conferences we have had. All the
talks were very good and helped us out with new insights on the challenges we
are facing. On the 16th
Andrea and I moved Ben out of his apartment and drove him to SLC to the
airport. We had plenty of time so we went to the SLC Temple. It was Ben’s first time going to a live
session. It was good to see once again
what the pioneers sacrificed so much to build. Christmas came in with a big
snow storm. There was more snow in the
drive way than we could get through to go to church, so I had to get the 4
wheeler out and do some plowing. Our BIG
snow day after Christmas was great. I had a good time with the Potters and the
Mitchells playing in the snow and visiting--- and did I mention the family
parties. I think there was a good time had
by all at the Kenison Holiday Party. Grandma Anna made it for about an hour and
got to see many children and grand and great grand-children.
Mom: I think this was one of the most beautiful
Christmas seasons ever in some ways. We
took the 25 ways in 25 days challenge to share the light. We had some sweet experiences and gained some
insights as well. My ten favorite
sharing experiences included:
1) Taking Grandma
Anna out to see the lights. That was a
Christmas miracle to us.
2) A visit with Verla
Spring at the Victorian House.
3) Taking food and visiting
with Brent Aagard and Doug Anderson, who each lost their wife recently.
4) Taking Marilyn
Sundbloom out to lunch and visiting for a while.
5) Taking a small
gift to the Tory C. Anderson family and having a sweet encounter with Barbara.
6) Having Dan Lee down for lunch and visiting
for a while.
7) Hosting a brother
and sister party in honor of Grandpa Marvin’s 85th birthday.
8) Being part of a really lovely choir
performance in our Ward Christmas sacrament meeting.
9) Taking the hand
crafted gifts Maggie sent for each of her nieces and nephews to her sister’s
home. 10) Visiting Maggie at the prison
the day before Christmas. I sent her a
Christmas story each day in December prior to Christmas and she was so
grateful. Best of all she had shared the stories so they brought light to
several who live in a rather stiff, dark place.
Andrea moved into her
new apartment on Dec. 19th.
That was a great and dreadful day for me. We have all been thrilled to have her back in
her old ward and working at her old job at Studio 1030. I am also excited for her to have a BYU
experience. My experience there was a
challenging but wonderful time in my
life. The hard apart was losing the
daily presence of her “light.” Her Monday emails while serving her mission
were a spot of sunshine in every week, and when she came home it was like the
sun finally broke through the clouds for good.
I never imagined she would be home for two months, but I will ever be
grateful for that time.
Christmas Eve was
small but wonderful. Colton and Malea
arrived to be a part of that. We
spent part of Christmas Day at Ty and Katie’s house. Santa had delivered SJ and Wil’s gifts there
at their request and we were able to see the kids open their gifts from
him. The Mellors joined us for a nice
Christmas dinner that evening and then we sang around the piano a while before
heading home. The Last Davis Christmas party was on the 27th. I was so thrilled to have the Potters and
Mitchells here with our Utah family for that occasion. The Davis’s will now meet sometime in June
for a cousin picnic, but there will never be another Davis Christmas
party. That tugged at my heart strings a
little because I have a life-time of wonderful memories of that gathering.
Seeing Ben head for
the MTC seemed almost surreal. He grew
up too fast for me, but it was clear that he is worthy, ready and able to serve
valiantly and that makes grandparents awfully pleased. Our BIG snow day the following day couldn’t
have been better. We had so much fun
pulling tubes, riding in the one horse open sleigh, building a igloo that
turned into a monument in honor of Ben’s mission, and target practicing. We were sad that the Mellor’s decided they
couldn’t come. The year ended with Dad, Andrea and I on Temple Square. The entertainment was superb, the night was
crisp and lovely, and I would suggest everyone have that experience at least
once in their life. We will never forget
it! It was a beautiful night filled with
light of every kind as a finale’ to a year that has had some dark, cloudy
times. We plan on a GREAT NEW YEAR!
