Christmas Song-a-Day Countdown {2024 Edition}

Testing, testing . . . is this thing on? Hoo boy! It's been a minute for this ol' blog. I guess I just got tired. Not necessarily tired of the blog, but tired of posting. I must say it has been really nice this year to open up that pocket of time that used to be filled with posting and grumbling about the technology. But I do miss this space and the memory keeper it is for me. And now that it's December, I definitely want to keep up my Christmas Song Countdown. So here I am. No apologies and no promises. But it's good to be back. Merry Christmas month!

Also! This is my 15th countdown! Since Gregg is into collecting anniversary logos, I asked him to make me one for this tradition. Yesterday (12/3) he asked ChatGPT to help him out, and these are the beauties that came out:

{Insert laughing crying emogis} Which one is your favorite?! Ha!

Gregg did a bit more editing with ChatGPT and came up with three more logos on 12/4. They're getting closer, but still just make me giggle:

Here's another update from 12/16 on Gregg's continuing anniversary logo via AI quest: He first tried Twitter's AI (Grok) (which I had never even heard of before!) and came up with these monstrosities:

 

Definitely the worst of the bunch! Yikes! Then, he went meta and asked Claude to write a prompt for ChatGPT to make the logo. First, I'll share the prompt that it came up with:

"You are a professional graphic designer specializing in creating festive and memorable event logos. Design a logo for "Kim's 15th Annual Christmas Song Countdown" that captures the spirit of holiday music and celebration.

Design Requirements:

• Incorporate the number 15 in a creative and prominent way
• Use a color palette that evokes Christmas (reds, greens, golds, silvers)
• Include musical elements that suggest a song countdown
• Create a design that works well in both color and black-and-white formats
• Ensure the logo is versatile for use on various media (digital, print, merchandise)

Specific Design Elements to Consider:

 1. Potential Musical Symbols:

• Musical notes
• Microphone
• Sound waves
• Musical instruments (optional)

2. Christmas Motifs:

• Subtle holiday references
• Snowflakes
• Christmas ornament shapes
• Festive ribbon or banner

3. Typography:

• Font should be festive but readable
• Mix of playful and elegant typography
• Ensure "15th Annual" is clearly visible
• Highlight "Christmas Song Countdown"

Provide 2 distinct logo concepts with brief explanations of the design inspiration and symbolism behind each. Include variations showing how the logo would look in different sizes and applications."

Whew! Very thorough! And after very explicit instruction via Claude, here's what popped out of ChatGPT:

Getting better!! Thanks for following along on this saga!

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1 December: Hmm . . . this is not how I expected to start the month: I got blanked trying to find the song I had in mind for today. It doesn't seem to exist in the form that I remembered? I will keep searching and hopefully be able to share it later in December, so you'll just have to hang tight. Here's my 2nd choice (I mean, it's not really a second choice . . . I had it in my list for further down in the month, so it's still definitely a wanted song, but it's just so weird that the one I was planning doesn't have an easily found youtube recording!): One December, Bright and Clear by the Tabernacle Choir. It's peppy and sparkly and aptly describes how our month is starting (9 degrees this morning!). Here we go!

This was technically yesterday, but is what I envision
when I hear the words "one December, bright and clear".

2 December: Today's song is in honor of our backyard skating rink made by Gregg. He made some big upgrades from last year's (bought a giant tarp, made it bigger, changed the location) and thanks to our recent cold snap and inversion, the ice is hard and the kids have been having a blast! 

I don't plan on including pics with every song, but I 
just had to show off this beauty!

3 December: As part of our first week of Christmas School, yesterday we learned about the song Carol of the Bells (did you know it is a Ukrainian song and the original words were about a swallow bringing good news of a bountiful year to a family?). We also watched a delightful covid-era 4-H demonstration by an 11-year-old girl explaining the ins and outs of handbell ringing. (I'm linking to that because she did such a good job and we learned so much and maybe you are interested, too?) Today's version of Carol of the Bells is from Voice Male, who don't use a single bell in their music, but are most impressive musicians anyway. ;)

4 December: Children Go Where I Send Thee is one of those songs that I know well, but only because we sang it in our elementary school lunch room caroling every December. I have never heard it in a Christmas song playlist or on the radio. Have you? But when I found Peter, Paul and Mary (love them!) had a version, I knew I would include it someday. Well, today is that day.

5 December: Cal requested Silver Bells, and after playing her a couple of options, she picked this one by the Lower Lights. I love the Lower Lights. They have been an every year addition to my countdown since 2012! 

6 December: Late, but not forgotten . . . today's song is from the one and only Whitney Houston. I don't think I've ever included her on a countdown, but I'm specifically doing it this year because Gregg has been on a big Whitney Houston kick as of late. I don't know why. But I'm going with it. Also, not coincidentally, tonight Cal and I are going to an interfaith gospel choir concert that a handful of my ward friends are in. This version of Joy to the World has both Whitney AND a gospel choir, so it's just the perfect combo! PLUS, just yesterday in (one of) the Advent devotionals (you can get a free copy here) I've been reading daily this season, it talked about the history of Joy to the World, and I learned a lot! Like this fun tidbit: "A beloved Christmas carol, “Joy to the World” bases its lyrics on [...] psalm [98]. Isaac Watts wrote this poem in 1719 as an answer to a challenge. He had been complaining to his father that singing the psalms in church didn’t reflect the joy of what Christians knew about Jesus, so his father challenged his son to do something about it. And he did." Joy to the World, indeed!!

7 December: Today is our fun outing with Grandma and Grandpa Blanchard to see the Nutcracker in Ogden. This year our friend, Claire, who we've seen in this production for years now, is dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy! So, in honor of all that, I bring you Duke Ellington's reimagined Sugar Rum Cherry. Can you imagine if the whole Nutcracker were jazzy? Hmmm....

8 December: My favorite Christmas song has long been Angels We Have Heard on High, but very close behind that number one spot is Go Tell It on the Mountain. Here's a Tabernacle Choir version, which I'm really happy I waited till today to share because just yesterday they finally posted a video of this song (I thought I might have to share a link from the middle of a Music and the Spoken Word). I have to admit, this isn't my all-time favorite version of Go Tell It, but it is hard not to smile when you hear the Tab Cats singing.

9 December: Okay this is totally random; my notes say it came from the Now I Know Newsletter, which I've long been subscribed to. But I honestly don't remember it. But I'm glad I had it saved because it's funny and fun and something totally different than the usual.

10 December: Here's a blast from late high school - college past: Peter Breinholt! I don't actually remember listening to any Christmas tunes by him, but this one popped up on the church music stream at some point when I was listening to it and I made a note and here it is showing up in my countdown this year!

11 December: Almost every time I ask the kids to choose a Christmas song to sing at the start of our "together time" for school, Sam picks Good King Wenceslas. The version I found for today is good ol' Bing Crosby (the same version we had on our Reader's Digest records when I was growing up), but this youtube version also has some bonuses: We Three Kings and Angels We Have Heard on High (I'm not counting those two in all my crazy spreadsheet rules - ha!)

12 December: In all my 15 years of countdowns, I've never once included Kenny G! It's high time we fix that, so today I'm sharing his version of Winter Wonderland. Classic! Reminds me of my Sax Winterlude CD, which wasn't actually Kenny G, but was lots of soprano and other great saxophone-iness. I need to break that one out again!

13 December: How about some contemporary Christian Christmas today? This one was on a playlist for Read Aloud Revival's Christmas School and it just gets stuck in my head (in a good way).

14 December: Squeaking this one in just before bed. Oops! Today's song is full of nerdy fun for me because you can follow along on the score as it plays! I still remember my saxophone part from when we played this in band. On Monday I went to the Chordettes (the local ladies choir) concert and this year they had a good-sized orchestra accompanying the singing. They played this song (but it seemed like a slightly different version - maybe easier? or maybe the orchestra version?) as one of their orchestra-only numbers and I was definitely singing along in my head as they played. Once a band geek, always a band geek, I guess. ;)

15 December: I thought for sure since the new hymn book has He is Born the Divine Christ Child now, that the Tabernacle Choir would perform it in one of their Sunday Music and the Spoken Word programs or for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. But they haven't! Yet. But also, I'm tired of waiting, and I have other plans for next Sunday, so this organ version by a Tabernacle organist (released just a few days ago, so I was right that it was coming in some form!) will just have to do. It's such a cheery tune. I'm excited to have it added to our repertoire, even if the Tabernacle Choir hasn't performed it. Yet.

16 December: Mitch Miller and the Gang singing Jingle Bells? Yep, it sounds like Christmas from my childhood now!

17 December: Ooops! I didn't actually forget to post for the 17th, but I just never really had a chance to get to it. It was a full, fun day. Callie had her school choir performances, which were delightful. She requested this song for today in honor of one of the many, many songs they sang as part of A Christmas Portrait medley (with many speaking/acting parts! It was quite the production and they did great!).

18 December: Today I wanted something from Michael Buble, and while Blue Christmas is not my favorite ever song by him (or anyone) it is one that I haven't included yet in my countdown and, really, you can't go that wrong when he's singing! And the trumpet in the middle - wowza! That's some jazzy trumpet if I've ever heard it!

19 December: There's no youtube version of my pick for today, unfortunately, but I am just tired of waiting for it to appear! There is a free version on bandcamp, which will just have to do. I think I first heard this arrangement on the church music stream years ago and it's been patiently waiting in my spreadsheet to be shared. But like I said, it's not on youtube. And I'm finally just sharing it anyway. I love his interpretation - I feel like I'm on a camel in the desert, right there with the wise men!

20 December: This week for Christmas School we've been learning about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells poem, which I'm sure you've heard in song form as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. I had known some of the backstory of how this poem came about (his wife was burned badly and died, he was burned but lived, the civil war was raging, his son was injured in the war) but I hadn't read/heard a couple of the stanzas in the middle describing the lowest of the lows. This is why I love homeschool - it's an education for me more than anything, I think!

21 December: Today's song just sounds like Christmas to me. Good ol' Kurt Bestor. I really love the Pat-a-Pan part of this medley.

22 December: Whoops! I forgot to share my song for Sunday! We had our Christmas choir program and one of the songs we sang was this Pachelbel's First Noel mash up. This was probably the one that was stuck in my head most often during the months of practice leading up to our performance. Our version had a harp instead of bells, and we started out faster than we had ever practiced, so it was a little rushed and rocky, but we made it through.

23 December: Can't have a countdown without the Carpenters! (Well, I guess I can because I did it. Once. In 2015. What was I thinking?!) This version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town sounds so seventies and delightful. I'll be so sad when I run out of Carpenters songs to include in my countdowns. But we're a few years away from that, so it will be okay for a while yet.

24 December: One more sleep till Christmas! Today's pick is Once in Royal David's City, a song I remember singing with the Thornleys at our Nativity Nights back in the day. I discovered this version on a spotify playlist last year and I like the sound - it's a little bit like The Lower Lights, which you know I love.

25 December: Merry Christmas! My traditional Christmas Day song is Angels We Have Heard on High because it's long been my favorite Christmas song. And today we have a fun version from Mannheim Steamroller. I used to have this album on cassette tape and listened to it over and over and over all Christmas season. Sam just said, "I like this, mom!" Me too!

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If you just can't wait for more, you could check out my previous countdowns here:  (I make no guarantees that the old links will still be working on these posts, but don't forget that Sarah has made playlists for all of them on youtube! And hopefully she'll do the same for this year, too? {Insert praying hands emoji})

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2012 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2011 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2010 (I did a countdown on facebook, but didn't post it on the ol' blog my first year, but thanks to Sarah, she's resurrected it on youtube!)

Midwinter Trip: Dillon, Colorado and Goblin Valley

Oh, hello! Long time, no blog. I have a huge backlog of drafts loaded up, but I just feel no motivation to post about pre-Thanksgiving things right now, so I'm starting at our most recent happenings and will fill in backwards (and forwards) as I get back in a groove (I hope).

So here we are: last week! (aka Tuesday, 16 Jan 2024 through Saturday, 20 Jan 2024)

We left home on Tuesday around lunchtime, stopped for a few minutes in Salt Lake for Gregg to check out a potential conference space for a potential conference he'd be organizing, and then continued onward toward the east. We stayed in the Comfort Inn (we have become Choice Hotels people and are loving getting perks for booking directly with them rather than through hotels.com like we had been doing for years and years and years) in Fruita, CO. We enjoyed some pool and hot tub time before sleeping.

On Wednesday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast and then hit the road. It started snowing pretty quickly after starting our drive, and within an hour, right around Silt, CO, we hit snowpacked lanes on the freeway. Needless to say, our drive was slower than normal, but thankfully we made it to our next stop without any incident. 

And where was that next stop? At the top of Tennessee Pass at Ski Cooper! This is the only resort I've skied at in Colorado, and I happen to love it and it has been probably 12 years since I skied there (before I was pregnant with Cal!). The kids were excited to ski in a new state, and Gregg was excited to ski some fresh powder. Our original forecast showed some snow starting up in the afternoon, and our plan was to be heading to the hotel by the time the snow started. But obviously we had been driving in snow for hours and it was still dumping when we got to the resort and it just never stopped. Which is great for most people, but not super great for me. I just can't see when it's snowing and I'm skiing. I can't see the difference between deep powder (which I hate) and more manageable terrain. I can't see because my glasses are fogging up and my eyes are getting pelted with snowflakes. And my sweet new goggles don't help because they make my glasses fog up. It's not great. And Cal was having a similar issue, plus she was just really cold. So we did two runs, one off each lift, and then we hung out in the lodge and looked at things without foggy glasses while we got warm. Gregg and Sam got a few more runs in the sweet snow, and then we all ate our lunch and then we hit the road again.

We made our way back down the mountain on the other side over Fremont Pass, and since we were a little early for check-in at the hotel (Comfort Suites - sweet! two beds and a couch that turns into a bed!), we drove directly to Keystone, where Gregg changed his clothes, shaved, and fixed his hair in the parking lot and then headed into his conference. (Yep, this was a work trip that we got to tag along on!) The kids and I made our way to the hotel in Dillon, about 6 miles down the road, and luckily by then we were able to check in. We got settled and then headed down to the pool, which was closed! Boo! So we went back up to our room and ate some dinner (leftover soup that we had brought and warmed up in the microwave) and hung out and tried to find the Food Network on the TV (it wasn't on the channel that the channel guide said it should be on and it was quite frustrating!). 

When Gregg was done at the conference, I went solo to pick him up (big kid perks! they can stay alone watching youtube while I go get Dad!). The roads were nasty and gnarly and I went super slow and we made it back just fine. Then we all enjoyed some hot tub time in the outside hot tub . . . in the dumping snow! We all did some polar bear plunging (my first time!), which was quite invigorating! Then, back up to bed.

Arrived and ready to roll!

On the lift and all smiles to start.

We were snowmen by the time we made it to the
to top of this very, very long lift.

I love the logo and the name - we gotta get
nephew Cooper up here someday to ski.

Happy to be warming up in the dry lodge.

Boys are refueling. (We made a whole mess of crispy
chicken wraps and crispy beef and bean wraps (basically
just leftover taco meat cooked the same way as the
chicken wraps) and we ate them
warm and we ate them cold our whole trip!)

On Thursday morning, it was still snowing. (Insane!) I didn't feel like driving on the nasty roads, so Gregg took the car to Keystone for the morning sessions. The kids and I played in the hot tub (again), watched Food Network (found it! channel 78 instead of 55!), played games, ate lunch. Then Gregg had a break mid-day and the snow was lessening and the roads were not quite so sketchy, so he came back and we took him back and we headed to Frisco to find a tubing hill.

The tubing was a blast! The sun came out for a quick second and the view was gorgeous! When we were worn out and wet, we warmed up and rested at the library (of course!) until Gregg was done. We wanted pizza for dinner and drove around to a few different places, which were either full or basically bars, which wasn't exactly the vibe we were going for. We ended up getting dominos and taking it back to the hotel to eat it (while watching Food Network (ha!). More hot tubbing, and then bed.

Before Gregg left in the morning, he spied on us in the hot
tub from our window.

Sam had my phone and snapped this of me warming
up lunch. But it gives you a tiny glimpse of the living
area of our room.

The Christmas tubes get used at last! They were epic!
Big and fast and awesome.

Turns out hiking back up the tubing hill
at 10,500 feet is pretty exhausting.

Pooped!

They were kind enough to share.
(And luckily Gregg didn't need his snow pants
at the time, and luckily they were still in the car,
because mine had been left in the hotel.)

Ahh! I love that blue sky!

We were trying to get up the little rise
to that tree. This was our furthest run, so
not quite, but pretty good run!

Library lovers.

When he got bored with his minecraft books, 
Sam started climbing on and driving these little
stools around.

They had a fun puzzle set out on a table, so
Cal and I worked on that for a while.
(And Sam snapped a pic.)

On Friday, the sun was out and the roads were clear and we were headed back west. While I packed up the car, the kids tried out the pool that was finally open. Turns out it was ice cold (they said it was colder than the snow!), so they enjoyed the hot tub one last time. I drove and Gregg worked and we finished listening to our audiobook (The Very, Very Far North = excellent!), and somehow we made it 5 hours to Goblin Valley just like that!

We checked into our yurt (yes, you read that right - a yurt!) in the campground and then hustled over to the Valley of Goblins to stretch, run, climb and explore. We love this place. It never gets old (this was Gregg and my 4th visit together, 3rd with the kids). In fact, I think it gets better every time. The kids are bigger and can climb higher and walk further and this year we went up to the top of the mesa that looks out over the valley . . . twice!

When we were tired, we went back to the yurt, grilled up some hot dogs, and had ourselves a little feast. (Note to self: if you're gonna bring rootbeer (leftover from pizza night the night before), then it's a good idea to have cups to drink it from! but if you don't have cups, then bowls are a passable alternative.) Sam, Gregg and I went out again for a quick few holes of  disc golf. We played games at the table and got a little loopy and giggly. And then it was time for bed. Sam won the coin flip and chose the top bunk, Gregg and I were on the bottom (very noisy mattress), and Cal got the futon. No one slept very well, but it was still a fun time.

Love that blue sky and clear, wet roads view from our
hotel room.

I thought this was adorable and cleverly written. It’s the tale of (gently) adventurous Duane the Polar Bear who meets lots of new friends and learns how to handle different personalities. Cal liked how the narrator broke the 4th wall by talking directly to us readers. It has been compared to Winnie the Pooh in tone, and I would agree. Just a sweet story of friendship full of lots of arctic characters. We started with the physical book and finished it on audio on our road trip. Both are excellent (the narrator is so good and the book has a few cute pictures sprinkled throughout). I think you might like this for a quick, comforting read aloud.

The kids just took off running as soon as we got to the
bottom of the steps at the valley floor.

On top of the white dome.

Our views from the dome.

And down the dome we go.

I just loved the texture of this mud.

Cal found her couch!

And here's Sam's turtle!

(Here's a quick little flashback to 2022, when we were last here:

And 2020, the first time visiting for the kids:

And now we're back to present:

Oh, how I love that blue sky!

On top of the mesa looking out toward a whole lotta nothing
on the other side.

From the top looking down into the valley of goblins.

It's otherworldly here, for sure.

This was the trickiest section going back down.

But we all made it, even me!

A cool bridge formation we found.

We followed this water path out of this canyon
area. It was just so cool.

The white half-dome.

We had a blast playing hide and seek as we
worked our way back to the car. Talk about tough!

Cookin' up some grub at our cute little home sweet home.

It's amazingly spacious inside!

Decked out with a futon couch, table + four chairs, 
bunk bed, gas fireplace and even a swamp cooler
(which we obviously didn't need with our highs in the 40s
and lows in the 20s).

Looking out from the other side toward the door.

Fan and light and skylight.

Kept us nice and toasty!

Slurping rootbeer . . . as you do when you
only have bowls to drink out of.

Disc golf on the moon?

Is it me or does this prickly pear have
a purplish hue?

Isn't that just so picturesque?

On Saturday morning we were treated to the most glorious desert sunrise I've maybe ever seen! It was spectacular. I walked down the road past our yurt, past the amphitheater, where it dead ends, just soaking it it and taking way too many pics. Gregg got some great shots back at the yurt with the kids. We had breakfast (have you ever toasted bread and pop tarts on a grill?!). We played some more card games. And then we went out to explore and play in the hoodoos again.

We were surprised to see lots of vans with cameras and equipment in the parking lot and a tent and generator and film crews and even an actor set up on the valley floor, right at the base of the stairs, right where hundreds of visitors walk to get to the goblins. Alrighty then. We explored in a new area that we've never been in before, and then made the same loop up to the top and back down through the same canyon. By then, we were hustling to get back so we could eat a quick lunch and pack up and check out of our yurt.

By the time we had finished lunch and loading the car, we were ready to make our way home. The kids got their junior ranger badges, and then we hit the road. We made one stop in Price to visit the Prehistoric Museum at USU Eastern, which we had free passes for in our PBS Kids passports. That was a fun and educational pit stop. By the time we reached I-15, it was raining (ick! I hate rain in January, but it was better than our snow drive earlier in the week). We came home to 5 heavy, soggy, sloshy inches of snow on our driveway and decks, but luckily our new snowblower arrived while we were gone and saved Gregg's back from having to shovel the wet cement!

Just look at that bright orange rock in the back! Wow!

Breakfast set up: our little camp stove heated
up water for oatmeal and hot chocolate (which, yes, 
had to be slurped from a bowl), plus grill for toasting
bread and pop tarts and warming up beans (left over from
hot dogs, but good for breakfast on toast!).

This was a cool one - with a hole in the middle.

Skies were grayer this morning, so it felt
cooler than yesterday's glorious sunshine.

I spy sky through that rock window.

Atop another white dome in the new area.

So many trails and paths visible over here.

Isn't this giant broken boulder kinda cool?

This cave when back pretty far and pretty
deep.

Popping up out the top.

Back on the top of the world.

The craziest thing I learned at the Prehistoric
Musuem is that many dinosaur tracks were
found on the ceilings of coal tunnels since 
the coal formed from the peat that the dinosaurs
had walked through.

Mastodon in the Prehistoric Museum.