A December to Remember

December 2008 has been a very busy month for our Family.

That is probably the reason I have only 3 blog entries in December.
Just so I can remember what happened this month
I thought I might post about some of those events.

MUSIC
Gwen sang with the Longview Larks
(Second Row, Fifth from the right)
Gwen did a great job on her Solo!
Blake was part of the Beginning Band in the Christmas Concert
This was Blake's first Concert -- He is part of the Percussion Section
Brad played with the Concert Band
This is his third year playing Trumpet
Brandon is part of the Murray High Jazz Band
This is his 6th year playing the Trombone

DANCE
Gwen had her Dance Program
Her Dance was "Five More Days 'Til Christmas"
It was a fast moving Jazz Dance and
most my pictures were blurs like this!

WRESTLING
Brad started Wrestling at the High School as a Freshman.
He started wrestling J.V. at 152 lbs.
The other 152 lbs. wrestler got injured,
so Brad has been wrestling Varsity.
He has had some challenging matches and
although he works very hard, has not had too many victories.
This is Brad pinning the Varsity Senior from Alta!
The entire gym erupted in cheers when Brad won this match!!!

A BAD HEADACHE! ~ This is how I felt sometimes
trying to get everything done
and get to all these events.
Like I said ~ A December to Remember!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good-Night!

This has been a wonderful Christmas. It has been so nice to have all of our children at home together as we celebrate the Birth of our Savior.
We enjoyed Christmas Eve at our home with everyone after Ben, Bryan and Brandon finished at work. I was scheduled to work 8 hours, but got called off. (That meant our house got cleaned for Christmas Day.)
We had a lovely dinner and our traditional program of acting out the Nativity.
Santa had lots of helpers this year and was not up too late, but the younger children were up at 6 a.m. They didn't come for the parents until nearly 7:30 a.m., then it took nearly an hour to get the sleeping young adults out of bed!
Santa found each child and everyone was happy with their gifts. And there are only a few things that have to be returned.

We enjoyed the afternoon with my extended family. We were glad that my mom felt well enough to have the party at her home. For the first time in my life we used paper plates! The clean up with 27 for dinner was a breeze with disposables, which I think will become our new Christmas tradition.
Our evening was spent playing new games and watching one of our new videos. Now I am just waiting up for the travelers who have braved the storm to get home for work.
I hope that Christmas was full of joy and happiness to all. It was for the Brockbanks.

Our 2008 Christmas Poem

One of my biggest traditions for Christmas is to send out cards to our many friends and family. It is always fun to connect with those we love that we don't get to see very often any more. These include friends from BYU, Seattle and other neighborhoods we have lived in.
When I was expecting Brandon, we started to include a poem with our Christmas Card each year. About Thanksgiving time I usually start working on "The Poem" which Harold edits and corrects. This year we wanted a family picture with Bryan, so I was late ordering the cards and kept putting off writing the poem. Finally last week we got our cards put in the mail. I thought I would include "The 2008 Poem" for everyone to enjoy:

Tis the holiday season
Of two thousand and eight
And life at the Brockbank’s
Is really quite great!

For the very first time
In over 3½ years,
Our family was all together–
Mom on the verge of tears.

It didn’t last long–
School and work got in the way.
We did get a family picture
To celebrate the day!

So along with the picture
Comes our annual rhyme.
We hope it’s not too sappy,
Like it is most of the time.

Ben is still at BYU
And turning 23.
He has a job in the Chemistry Lab
And still works at the MTC.

Between school and work
Ben has a busy life.
And we are all surprised
That he hasn’t found a wife!

Bryan finished up his mission
To Hungary, Budapest
Teaching and baptizing
Were the things that he loved best.

Bryan plans to go to the “Y”
For the first time at 21!
He’s uncertain what to study,
But plans on having fun.

Brandon is a senior
At good old Murray High
(Yes, he’s a friend of David Archuleta–
The one who makes girls sigh!)

Brandon’s training as a pharmacy tech
Is 17, if you please.
Until his gets his tech license,
He makes pizzas with extra cheese.

Fourteen year old Bradley
Is now in the 9th Grade.
Continues to play piano and trumpet,
Wrestling and football teams he made.

In Scouts Brad earned his Eagle,
Was a pirate in the school play.
For football, he got a mohawk–
Mom was NOT happy that day!

Blake is 12 years old.
In Scouts he’s already a Star.
A 7th Grader in Jr. High,
Soccer and basketball, his favorites by far.

Blake is a very good student,
Getting A’s is his norm.
At the Utah Shakespearean Festival
This summer he did perform.

Gwen turned 10 in October,
She’s growing up way too fast.
She likes to help around the house,
We hope that this will last.

Gwen spends time with the Gunter Kids–
Winni, Grady and Trae
She’s also in the choir and dance
And the piano she loves to play.

A cruise to Baja Mexico
Was our vacation this year–
Included were stops at different ports,
Lots of food was always near!

The highlight for Harold and Lori–
Was when to Hungary we did fly.
Eastern Europe was amazing,
But the best was being with Bry.

Now if this holiday poem,
Did not bring enough Brockbank news,
At www.brockbankfff.blogspot.com
There are stories and pictures to amuse.

This year our card was not early.
We hope that did not cause you stress.
It comes now full of greetings
And wishes that 2009 is the best!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love, The Brockbank Family

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Our Annual Brockbank Family Picture with Santa Claus

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I think the reason that I like it is that it is full of traditions. Traditions stay the same and I have a hard time with change. Here are some of the traditions I love at Christmas:
1. I love to send and RECEIVE Christmas Cards. I usually send my cards with our annual poem on December 1st. This year the poem is only half written and the cards have not arrived from the photographer yet. Because of Bryan returning home we waited to order our cards until we could get our family picture. I hope the cards are out some time this week.
2. I always have 2 Christmas trees. One tree is for Santa to leave his gifts under. The ornaments are ones that I made while Harold was in school and I have lots of time on my hands. (I thought I was busy then, but I didn't know what busy was.) The other tree has ornaments from around the world that my mom or I have brought back as we have traveled. There are also a few sentimental ornaments on this tree. I love both trees because they are full of memories.
3. I love to go to the Creche Display in Midway each year. Gwen and I went last night and took Winni with us. It was wonderful to see the Nativity depicted in so many different ways. Each one was unique and beautiful, but the main focus is our Savior.
4. I put up lots of nativities around my house. Each one is special to me in a different way. I am looking for a new one to get this year to add to my collection.
5. I always bake for Christmas. Usually the main things are poppy seed bread and decorated sugar cookies.
6. Every Christmas Eve we have our annual nativity where we dress up and act out the first Christmas. It has become one of our most treasured activities.
7. I watch lots of Christmas movies at this time of the year. My favorites are "How the Grinch Stole Christmas (already watched that one), "Miracle on 34th Street," "Charlie Brown's Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life."
8. We have several Advent Calendars that help our family count down to Christmas. One I got from Current before Ben was born and we use it each year. I think it is everyone's favorite.
9. We started a new tradition last year by doing Christmas Around the World. We enjoyed it so much that we are doing it again this year. It is lots of fun and we love learning new things and tasting new foods.
10. Since Ben was a baby I have taken my children to get their picture taken with Santa Claus. Last year there were only four children in the picture, but this year there were all six! (It will probably be the last time that happens.)

These our some of the things I love about Christmas, but most of all I love my Savior and the chance to focus on him and doing things like he did. Merry Christmas.Two Little Angels at the Creche Display