Holiday Festivities...
The Festival of Trees... I was so glad we could make it there this year since we missed it in 2011. It was a quick excursion because we had to get back for afternoon kindergarten and preschool, but as always, I was glad that we went!
I love the Christmas spirit that this festival represents. I love seeing all the beautiful, creative trees that have lovingly & thoughtfully been crafted in honor of lost loved ones & that they stand as a tribute to an amazing person or child. I love that the proceeds for the auctioned off trees go to Primary Childrens Hospital.
What's not to love about this awesome Festival?
Visit with Old St. Nick....
Not sure it gets any more corny than this....
The kids were pretty excited to make gingerbread houses this year!
So maybe they're not the prettiest houses in Gingerbread Land, but we ran out of candy fast, and they were pretty proud of their creations, so we called it a success.
The most important holiday festivity of all to me was getting to Temple Square to see the lights. Chris has Mondays off, so the first Monday that we were healthy in December, we jumped at the chance of going. It was a really, really fun night!
And we lucked out, because it was pretty "warm" too!
The Festival of Trees... I was so glad we could make it there this year since we missed it in 2011. It was a quick excursion because we had to get back for afternoon kindergarten and preschool, but as always, I was glad that we went!
I love the Christmas spirit that this festival represents. I love seeing all the beautiful, creative trees that have lovingly & thoughtfully been crafted in honor of lost loved ones & that they stand as a tribute to an amazing person or child. I love that the proceeds for the auctioned off trees go to Primary Childrens Hospital.
What's not to love about this awesome Festival?
Visit with Old St. Nick....
None of our kids have ever cried visiting Santa.
Ever!
And we've been to visit every single year of their lives.
Pretty impressive, ay? Okay maybe not so impressive that they willingly sit on some stranger's lap... Lexi was CLOSE to breaking down but she recovered quickly, keeping up our no-cry record.
Not sure it gets any more corny than this....
They charged us a whopping $30 to get our pics taken with Santa at the Mall.
I know I'm kind of a frugal girl, but THiRTY BUCKS!?
That was the minimum package, and they won't let you take one with your own camera, so basically you're conned into paying up, if you want any recollection of this moment someday. So of course I had to milk it for all it was worth, and had them take a family pic, in addtion to the kiddo one. Somehow it made me feel a little better for our thirty dollar minute-and-a-half visit with Kris Kringle!
Oh well, sometimes it's just worth sucking it up and paying. :)
Emmie asked for a Baby Alive Doll, and Parker asked for another "Surprise" this year.
I love that kid.
So maybe they're not the prettiest houses in Gingerbread Land, but we ran out of candy fast, and they were pretty proud of their creations, so we called it a success.
The most important holiday festivity of all to me was getting to Temple Square to see the lights. Chris has Mondays off, so the first Monday that we were healthy in December, we jumped at the chance of going. It was a really, really fun night!
And we lucked out, because it was pretty "warm" too!
I just love the special feeling there is at Temple Square.
Combine that with the Christmas season, the amazing Christmas lights, the nativity, and the statue of the Savior in the Visitors Center, and it makes for a pretty incredible evening.
And to top it off, we walked over to City Creek to find a huge crowd surrounding the fountains that were done by my uncle there, cheering and applauding to the dancing water choreographed to beautiful Christmas music, like is done at the Bellagio. I had not yet seen these fountains at night, and I have to say, they were pretty spectacular! I wished my Grandma were there to see the crowds (or my Uncle - who lives in LA) cheering for her son's amazing water show. SO fun to see that! Even if my uncle weren't the creator, the show was undeniably awesome - confirmed by the applause of the crowd! I loved it!
O Christmas Tree...
It's tradition that every vacation we go on, we try to buy a Christmas ornament for our tree. We started this on our honeymoon in San Diego, where we got a Santa starfish. This year we bought a little sparkly cupcake representing the celebration of Lexi's first birthday in San Francisco, and we also bought a trolley car ornament, hanging there between the girls. We've collected lots of Disney ornaments over the years. Maybe someday we can visit somewhere other than Cali (not that I mind visiting Cali - love it there!) and add a palm tree (from the Caribbean preferably), the White House, Kensington Palace, and a Statue of Liberty...Just a few stops on my bucket list.
Someday, right?!;)
We basically let the kids decorate both trees this year. In the past I would have "fixed" it or tried to perfect them a bit, but I just didn't care this year. It's funny how much more relaxed I am than when we had just one or even two kids. Or maybe it's just that I'm too tired. Either way, some things just don't matter- a lesson I'm always learning. I think they did a pretty good job though! (and not to say Chris and I didn't help at all...)
Combine that with the Christmas season, the amazing Christmas lights, the nativity, and the statue of the Savior in the Visitors Center, and it makes for a pretty incredible evening.
And to top it off, we walked over to City Creek to find a huge crowd surrounding the fountains that were done by my uncle there, cheering and applauding to the dancing water choreographed to beautiful Christmas music, like is done at the Bellagio. I had not yet seen these fountains at night, and I have to say, they were pretty spectacular! I wished my Grandma were there to see the crowds (or my Uncle - who lives in LA) cheering for her son's amazing water show. SO fun to see that! Even if my uncle weren't the creator, the show was undeniably awesome - confirmed by the applause of the crowd! I loved it!
O Christmas Tree...
It's tradition that every vacation we go on, we try to buy a Christmas ornament for our tree. We started this on our honeymoon in San Diego, where we got a Santa starfish. This year we bought a little sparkly cupcake representing the celebration of Lexi's first birthday in San Francisco, and we also bought a trolley car ornament, hanging there between the girls. We've collected lots of Disney ornaments over the years. Maybe someday we can visit somewhere other than Cali (not that I mind visiting Cali - love it there!) and add a palm tree (from the Caribbean preferably), the White House, Kensington Palace, and a Statue of Liberty...Just a few stops on my bucket list.
Someday, right?!;)
Having kids just puts a whole new spin on Christmas and we had a great holiday season! We mostly stayed healthy, a small miracle in itself since November and January and so far February were super sickly months for us!
Very grateful to be healthy for the holidays and very grateful for these cute little faces to share them with!
No comments:
Post a Comment