A Few More Christmas Pics

 

  

  

More Christmas fun!

I love going to the concerts on Temple Square, and the bell choirs are my favorite! We didn't get to as many concerts this year as I would have liked, but at least I got to see the one I wanted most. The kids were pretty good too-- with a steady supply of smarties. We also walked around Temple Square a little bit to see the nativities. 

We had our ward party, which I missed because I was sick, but the kids and Kevin said it turned out well. I also went to the Stake Night of Music. It was wonderful! The stake choir sang some of my favorite Christ mas songs. Our ward choir also sang a really beautiful song. I actually was the one who found it. The piano part is unique and challenging, so it was great to be able to play it twice after all that work! I haven't played something that challenging in years. I didn't do very well at it, but thankfully, when the choir sang for Sacrament meeting the Sunday before Christmas, I played it (and the other two songs) nearly perfectly. That's a much better feeling than after flubbing! 

I love this decorative tree we have in our entryway. The kids love looking at the birds and the nests. A few years ago I got some little gold sequined balls to be the eggs in the nest. I guess Evelyn really liked them! Pretty soon, no birds had any eggs! (I think Luke helped.) We didn't find the hidden eggs until a few weeks after Christmas. Pretty funny kids! 

 We continued our family tradition of drawing the nativity for a family night in December. So cute! 

I took no pictures, but Jen snapped this cute one of Evelyn and Layla at the Ellis Christmas party. It was so fun! We had yummy food, visited, and did an ornament exchange. And we all missed Zeann. Monique did a wonderful job organizing it all.

 

We had a big day on the 23rd. It was the kids' first day of Christmas Break, and we had a lot of fun to fit in! Of course it helps to wake up to cute faces like this one! 

 The kids worked hard at decorating their gingerbread men.

 Even Evelyn got to join in on the fun, but not all her candy ended up on her gingerbread man! 

 The finished products!

 

 

We went to Gardner Village to see the Christmas Elves. It ended up being too much for one day, so we weren't able to stay and get a treat as I would have liked, but that's how it works out sometimes I guess. Hopefully it's a good lesson for the kids!  

 Because we are spending Christmas Eve with Kissie and Pata, the kids each got to open one present on Christmas Eve Eve. They were begging to, and it helped us not to have to take two of the huge toys with us. (Our van was packed the the brim as it was, with food for Christmas Eve dinner, nativity costumes, presents, and overnight stuff-- the car top carrier won't fit in the underground parking, so we were limited.)

 

 

 It was a very Merry Christmas Eve Eve! 

Snow Day!

We were so lucky to have a big snow day on a Saturday! Then snow can be fun instead of a pain-- playtime instead of problems with errands and walking to school. Evelyn tagged along with the big kids to play too! She made a few snow angels, and the big kids pulled her along in the sled. 

 

Luke's doing a great job shoveling! 

 

 Snow angels and snowballs!

 

 Extra lucky for us was that our wonderful neighbors were home for the day and playing outside too. 

 In other news, Violet pulled out tooth #7! She's now the tooth queen of her kindergarten class. She can start singing "All I Want for Christmas is my FOUR Front Teeth!". She loves to pull her teeth out!

 

 Cora, Violet, and I went to a local studio's production of The Nutcracker. The girls really liked it! I might have to spring for a fancy production next year! It was a little late for Violet, but it was good to try out. The live orchestra was really fun too. 

We trekked to Lindon to try out a Christmas Train a family does there. The kids loved the train ride, seeing Santa, and the nativity pictures on the ride back. It was fun! I think we will go back again next year.  

 Another cute exclamation mark pony by Evelyn.  

 I've been hunting for new stockings for a couple of years now, I only bought 5 when I got our last ones years ago! I was excited to find something cute online. I guess I need to take some lessons from Santa (checking it twice)-- one of these things is not like the other! Oh well. 

 The kids love opening ornaments from GG every Christmas. She gets them for all her grandkids and great-grandkids when she travels. 

 Luke's cute picture of Grandma and Grandpa. 

I guess we should have taken more pictures! We've also visited the Festival of Trees, drove the Thanksgiving Point lights, and visited the live nativity in Draper as part of our Christmas activities advent so far. And more adventures to come-- Christmas season is full and fun! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Thanksgiving morning Kevin got to play football with some guys in the ward. The rest of us relaxed and got ready. Then we were off to Grand America for a special Thanksgiving dinner, thanks to Kissie and Pata! The kids loved getting dressed up and were excited for the fancy dinner. Cora and Violet remembered it from last year, so they were especially excited to see the buffet offerings on the kids and adult tables. Being able to pick out whatever you want to eat if half the fun! It was all delicious, and we had such a fun time. It's always fun to see all the beautiful Christmas decorations, and the ice sculptures and live band by the food. 

 This was the first time we've taken advantage of the free pictures they offer there. I don't know why we haven't done it sooner! They gave us a nice copy and emailed the pictures to us too. 

We even got a big one of all of us together after dinner. 

The antsy kids had fun playing in the hallway while Pata kindly waited for the check inside.

 After dinner it was off to Kissie and Pata's house for games, crafts, and snacks (much later!). It was a wonderful Thanksgiving, and so fun to be able to spend it with family! 

We decorated our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. The kids were so anxious to do it and loved helping! 

 The night we headed down to Temple Square to see the first night of the Christmas lights. Kissie got us permission to see the lights turn on from one of the top floors of their tall building. It was fun to have a great view and see all the lights turn on for the first time this year.