Countdown continued . . .

6. Gingerbread Train. We built a gingerbread train. Those kits from the store are certainly not delicious, but they are so easy! Loved it. Ava, on the other hand, really did think it was delicious. She, of course, had more in her mouth than on the actual train. A frosting free for all. Brielle later bought animal cookies to put in the back of the train.7. Sending Christmas Cards. I didn't send a letter, I just put a cute picture on a Costco Christmas card and sent them out. I wish I could have been more personal, but I just didn't have the time to do it. This was easy and I am glad that our Christmas cards are out to wish everyone a merry Christmas. It's always nice to get that list of addresses out and think about so many friends from the past.

8. The Nutcracker. We got dressed up and I took Brielle to see a local production of The Nutcracker. She was captivated, just like I thought she would be. We were third row, right in the middle and she sat mesmerized the whole time. She asked, with a lot of excitement, about each character and what they were doing. Afterward we got to go to "Clara's Caper" and met Clara and the others. She thought it was AMAZING!9. Getting a Christmas Tree. Scott and the girls picked a lovely Christmas tree to bring home. We all love a real tree. We love the smell and the feel of a real tree, but the pine needles are everywhere and Scott had quite a wrestling match with the thing trying to cut the bottom. It's up now and lookin' good though. 10. Decorating the Christmas Tree.

Christmas Countdown

We are officially on the countdown to Christmas around here. As a way to enjoy the season and have fun looking forward to Christmas, we do something Christmasy every day.

1. Decorate the house. We got all the Christmas decorations up around the house. We are covered in green, red, ribbon, pine boughs, lights, etc. And our stockings are hung (we still need to embroider Zach's.)2. Live Nativity. It was INCREDIBLE! There were live animals everywhere including camels, cows, chickens, etc. It was set up exactly like you had walked into the city of Bethlehem and all the people were in costume and character. The girls were excited to finally come upon Mary, Joseph and a real live baby Jesus laying in a manger. Beautiful. (I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but here is the camel that freaked Ava out.)3. Festival of Trees. I like to take the kids here every year. The trees are spectacular and there are SO MANY. We saw all of the trees, but spent most of our time at the stage watching the little dancers on Brielle's request. Ava was happy eating her scone covered in cinnamon sugar! Each person got to chose their favorite tree and take a picture by it.

Zach and the Red Sox tree.Brielle and the Fancy Nancy tree. She liked any tree covered in pink.
Ava and the baby doll tree.
The Utah tree we chose for Scott.
I liked the Grinch tree.
4. Polar Express Primary Christmas Party. Our ward is having an adults only Christmas party, so I was asked to have a party for the Primary kids. We did a Polar Express party. It turned out great. So fun. We came in our pajamas, showed a few clips from the Polar Express movie, served pancakes and hot chocolate aboard our "train", did a craft and had Santa come.

The kids were given Polar Express tickets as their invitations. The Bishop dressed as the conductor and punched their tickets when they arrived. He even had a pocket watch and train whistle.
Here we are serving hot chocolate, whipped cream and marshmallows after we watched "The Hot Chocolate song" projected on a big white sheet.
Making pine cone bird feeders.We showed when the boy in Polar Express met Santa and received the bell. Then turned on the lights, turned off the movie and in came Santa ho ho hoing.
No picture of Ava. She was kicking, screaming and terrified if we even went near the guy.

The kids received a candy cane and a bell from Santa. Then the elf stamped their tickets with "BELIEVE".

5. Gloria by Lex De Azevedo. Scott and I went out with our friends to an amazing Thai restaurant downtown for dinner. Then we saw Gloria at a beautiful Methodist church. It was a very nice night - good food, great friends, snow falling, pretty church and wonderful music of Christ's birth.

Today's Thanksgiving Day and We'll Have a Treat . . .

It has been a very long time (maybe even 13 years) since I have been at my parent's house for Thanksgiving. We loaded the kids in the car and drove down to California for Thanksgiving this year. It was good to be back.

We drove straight to Los Angeles and met mom, dad, Bryce, Evan, Krista, (Tawna was with us), Laura, Brian and Skinner kids at the temple. It was their temple night, so Scott and I joined them. We have not been back to this temple since we were married there. I love the L.A. Temple. Scott was so excited to be back that he went searching for the man (Donald E. Baxter) who married us. No luck. It was still nice to be back, now with three kids, and especially nice to be with my family. We all stayed in the apartments there and went to the beach the next day. Santa Monica pier and beach looked and felt so good to those of us who had just left the cold in Utah. Loved it!

Of course Brie went right to letting loose and dancing to the street performers there. She could make us good money if we lived on the 3rd Street Promenade. Look what the girl dragged in from the ocean. Could we take it home please?Thanksgiving Day came and although is was a beautiful 70 degrees outside we never saw the outside of the kitchen. We cooked, we ate, we cleaned and it was marvelous. The dinner was so good. What made it such a great day was being with 6 of my 8 siblings, cooking with my mom, watching the cousins running crazy, and of course Scott singing "Today's Thanksgiving day and we'll have a treat . . . ". So fun.Kid Table.
Laura even crafted with the kids. They made turkeys of Oreos, rolos and candy corn and then immediately gobbled them up. I just went straight for the Oreos.Happy Thanksgiving!

Utah Football

Scott finished yet another season as a season ticket holder for University of Utah football. He got to go to some good games and there was not one that he was sitting in sideways blowing sleet and snow! And best of all, he took Brie or Ava or both to most of the games. They really do LOVE going to the games. Ava was left behind one time because she was napping. She woke up and cried for two hours about how she wanted to be at the football game with Di Di and Daddy. They play with other friends who bring their kids and eat lots of treats! A good time is had by all . . . . and in the end, my children are singing the Utah fight song, yelling "Go Utes!" and totally brainwashed by their father. I'm thinking I need BYU season tickets next year. Brie needed to take a picture of La La just like we took one of Zach.