Evertyhing before Christmas minus Carson's Birthday.

We took our kids down to our town's Snow day. It was at the beginning of December, the kids had a really great time. Carson was over in the "big kids" spot and the girls stayed with the little ones. Morgan did not like getting snow on her neck and down her shirt- but once we got her her jacket with a hood she was much happier. Cambryn was all smiles the whole time and Bristyn kept finding chunks of "snow" and bringing them to us. Meanwhile Carson was having too much fun throwing snow balls at someone- the parent had to ask Carson to stop. Carson felt really bad because he didn't really mean to hurt them, but he was throwing the snow balls at them on purpose. So it was a good learning experience for him. As for Ryan and I we have NO problem with another parent asking Carson to stop. We would have done the same.

After the snow day we got pizza- Papa John's- it was a special treat. Ryan had a coupon for a free medium and we had another coupon for a $5 large. I think we might have threatened that any girls who had a bad attitude, during the day, would not be eating pizza with the family, that night. Needless to say we had very good attitudes. When we finished the pizza we hopped in the car to go see the drive-through lights. We had seen them from the freeway and they looked really cool. Our kids where loving driving through the neighborhood to look at lights and asking to do it every day. We thought it would be awesome. But it really wasn't that great. It cost $15 per car and the lights did not look very great up close. We will not be doing this again.

The next night we went to the Temple to see the Temple Lights. These did not disappoint, they never do. Their have been some years, sadly, that we did not make seeing the Temple Lights a priority and so we did not make it to see them. I am not proud of this, so this year early in December Ryan and talked about our month and figured out when we would go. Planning- I am not a huge planner- but it sure would help a lot of things if I were. We truly enjoyed the lights and the huge nativity scenes. Our family stood and watched/listened to the choir also. That night it was a combined choir of one nearby LDS stake choir and a local christian church choir. They have been combining to sing at Christmastime for about 15 years. The spirit is so strong on the Temple Grounds, I love bringing the kids there.

One night we were invited to a friend's house for Family Home Evening. The elders/missionaries were there to share a message with us. And as a surprise Santa stopped by. All of the kids got the chance to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. As you can see I got the chance as well- it was really funny- I can't even remember how many years it has been since I have done that. Also Bristyn was not happy at all about sitting on Santa's lap- but I didn't have to tell you that! We had a great time and are certainly glad for friends who invite us to do fun things!