Christmas Lights at Thanksgiving Point

The Monday after Christmas SM's side of the family decided to change their tradition of seeing lights at Temple Square, to seeing lights at Thanksgiving Point. The main reason for the location change wasn't about the lights but the way they are viewed. They wanted to see lights from the comfort of their vehicles. No more kids whining about how much further they have to walk or how cold they were.

And it worked! No more whining kids and a great way to see lights. We were in four separate vehicles...and I believe we were all in vans...and we paid our eight dollars and drove threw the lights. There was music playing outside and the lights were delightful.

We led the pack and stopped often to take pictures of the lights. Some pictures turned out great and others were full of streaks of color. Both represent the beauty of Christmas lights.

And after the lights had ended, there was beautiful murals representing Jesus's birth which led the way up to the main building at Thanksgiving Point.

We all got out of our vehicles at the main building. We were told they had live reindeer which we all wanted to see. What we didn't realize is really how cold it was outside. SO COLD!

When I told SM and his Mom to smile, they both tried and failed. It was simply too cold for smiles.

But the little ones were bundled and smiling. They loved visiting the reindeer. A few of them even had a chance to feed the reindeer a few reindeer pellets. I was amazed at how the older nieces and nephews were afraid of getting bitten while a few of the youngest kiddos had no fear.

This reindeer was so gentle and sweet. Along the bars of the enclosure for the reindeer were plaques telling facts about reindeer. They are really resilient animals and can live in all sorts of difficult climates and land. I guess that's why they are in the tundra, they can live there without any problems.

We gathered around a small flame trying to warm ourselves but found that we were still very cold. Eventually everyone gathered into one of the shops at Thanksgiving Point, where we were able to warm up and get ready to leave into the night.

We gathered for hot chocolate and donuts at Grandma and Grandpa's house after the light viewing. As you can see from the smiles above, we had a wonderful time! I love family traditions, even the new ones.

Christmas Eve 2009

For Christmas Eve, SM's family always has a wonderful get-together. This year we decided to hold it at the church. It starts with the early arrivers playing games until everyone has arrived for Christmas dinner.

And then we eat a delicious Christmas dinner. The adults eat too much and the kiddos don't hardly eat. Since we have a few teenagers in the family, I looked at their proportion sizes and it looks like the teenagers in my family eat enough to feed a small rodent.

But over all, the dinner is a success, the cousins are so excited to be together and to talk about tomorrow being Christmas. One of my nephews asked me if Santa ever brought me anything "expensive" for Christmas. I had to tell him that "no" I don't think Santa ever did. He was very sad at the response but still held out hope for himself and what the next day would bring.

Doesn't this smile just tell all? I think she's very excited to be there and to have all her family around her. (all but one family and one missionary).

We also had the sister missionaries come to dinner. One of the sisters had only been in Utah for a couple of weeks. She was from Tonga and was freezing! She was also trying to get used to American food. I noticed she ate very little but was still very gracious.

After dinner and after the clean-up, we went to hold our annual Christmas program. We always have stories and hymns but this year added a family talent portion. Each family sang a song. (Well, each family with kiddos...SM and I got out of the performance portion of the program.

SM's older brother's family sang "Little Drummer Boy." The kids were so nervous that they giggled half of the time rather than sing, but it was wonderful.

SM's older sister's family also sang, but they were feeling very comfortable. They have such sweet voices.SM's younger brother's family all sang. I can't wait to hear from them year after year. I also loved that the two oldest children held each others' hands during the whole song.

And finally the night ended with the story of Christ's birth being read from the Bible. What a wonderful Christmas Eve.

I'm back

I am grateful to family and friends who follow my blog. I'm sorry it's been over a month since I've posted. This last month has been full of lots of "stuff" and plenty of it great and wonderful "stuff."

I will be posting some of the Christmas fun in future posts with pictures. I had a great holiday and mixed it up with packing up our belongings that were at the house. Luckily, 75 percent of our stuff was already packed and sitting in our storage unit. I had stress filled moments but survived.

We've made the move to Ohio! We drove in separate cars...and I was entertained by listening to a couple books on CD while SM listened to talk radio and some Pod Casts from a group of economists from George Mason. I found I like to drive in the daylight hours but as soon as it got dark, my driving confidence left. The roads were okay...and most of the time dry. I led the traveling wagons using the GPS and found that you can't always follow where the GPS leads. Needless to say, SM would have liked it better if I used my own logic a few times instead of making our trip go a little longer because we had to turn around few times.

Now I sit in a wonderful rented home. It is actually bigger than we were led to believe. We have four rooms and three and a half baths. That is so huge to me and I'm so excited to live here. I will later post pictures when everything is organized and unpacked.

The ward is great and really have welcomed us with open arms. We have had dinner at the Bishop's house and the Relief Society President and her secretary came by for a visit this morning. The future is looking hopeful and bright.

Tis the Season

The Christmas season is approaching and I just wanted to tell everyone how grateful I am for wonderful family and friends. I look at my life and believe I have been very blessed to know each of you. Life is so wonderful. There are trying moments and joyous moments and each moment gives us opportunities to serve and love or to be served and loved. Thanks for the love! Thanks for the wonderous moments!

Baby Shower for my Cousin

The above photo is of my cousin and her daughter. The last shower I went to was her's and now she helped throw this shower for her little sister. (I just have to add here that I love getting together with my aunts and cousins. There is something very awesome about family and being part of a large family).

My cousin in the red and black shirt is the reason for this celebration!

And this time I did get a photo of myself...and Mom!

There's Grandma and my cousin and her daughter...and the same baby as from above. I know that most you of you don't care about who is in the pictures...and that's okay. I do want to add that I have very talented cousins. The cousin in the gray shirt has an amazing house and one of her many talents is quilting. She makes the coolest quilts and quilts them herself.

This was a gift given by the sisters of the celebrated cousin. Luckily they let others help tie the quilt and be a part of that. I remember spending hours helping tie different quilts in the family. I loved the time listening to everyone talk and share. It's amazing the bonds and memories that are formed while tying quilts.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving we went to my parents house. It was a small gathering and lots of fun. It's been six years since I had Thanksgiving with my family. SM decided he wanted to cook the turkey. I just had to take this picture of SM and the turkey...this is before the oil was hot enough to deep fry the turkey. Somehow I missed the moment when the turkey was cooked and brought back into the house.

I just love this table decoration. I am not a very decorative person but love to see what others do for decorations. I guess that is why I felt compelled to take pictures of the decorations but you'll notice I didn't get a single photo of myself...or really any adults. Only the two youngsters!

There is something about fresh, hot rolls from the oven!

And more decorations!

We had a great meal. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, rolls, froy-eye salad, green beans with mushroom sauce, fresh cranberry salsa, fresh veggie tray, apple crisp and pumpkin pie! Thanks for all the great food and time together! What a great Thanksgiving!

(I love how my SIL does my niece's hair. She always looks so cute!)

Girls Luncheon

Last Friday my sister set up a "girls family lunch." It was so fun to see my cousin (in the picture with me) and to have lunch with my sister and two of my sister-in-laws.

I have such an awesome sister...Thanks cute girl for getting us all together. I think we all enjoyed an opportunity to dress up, get out of the house and enjoy each other. I can't wait until next month when we do this again.