December 2012

I love the Christmas season and the chance we have to reflect on Jesus Christ and his birth. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have that He is the Savior of the world. I'm grateful for the wonderful Plan of Salvation and that because of Christ I will be able to see my mom again and be with my family. It truly is a great season to celebrate. We tried to cram all sorts of fun things into the month and I think we did a pretty good job. We went to a live Nativity in Herriman. They had a donkey and a sheep and even a 'real' baby Jesus. We attended the Festival of Trees for the first time with the boys. I think we'll wait a year or two before we take them back again. It just didn't hold their attention enough. However, they did like all the trees with a train or Mickey Mouse. Herriman hosted a Christmas carols sing along at City Hall and Santa Claus was there too. We took the boys and they were able to sit on his lap. I don't think they quite knew what to do, because when they got off his lap, Santa told us they didn't ask for anything, so we should surprise them. We stayed and sang a couple of songs and had a cookie. We were in and out in about 30 minutes. It was much better than standing in line at the mall. We had our annual Graham cracker house making party, which was a lot of fun and went to our ward Christmas breakfast. Jim turned     this year and we celebrated his birthday at the annual Slade soup party. We hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house. For the entertainment this year we played Minute to Win It games. They were so much fun and everybody really got into them. Mike didn't feel well and spent the night in bed. Luckily he was feeling a little better in the morning. The boys were excited with the toys they received and loved opening their presents. We spent Christmas evening at the Slade family and enjoyed a yummy dinner and spending time together as a family. For New Years eve we went to the Scaddens for dinner and games. We played a fun new game call 7 Wonders, it was kind of a mix between Catan and Dominion, so we really liked it. We also had fun playing Just Dance. I wish I had more rhythm. I'm sure I look silly dancing, but it is really fun to play.