We attended the Festival Of Trees for the first time last December. This is a very popular event in Utah. Hundreds and hundreds of trees (big and small), wreaths, gingerbread houses, cottages, and treats were carefully decorated and displayed. I was completely blown away by these trees and by the generosity of so many people who donated their time and money for charity. It was ridiculously crowded, but it was an amazing experience. Also...take note of the Halloween costumes being worn like I mentioned in my previous post! Kids are funny!
Blake was so excited when it started to snow
Every year an elf visits us from the north pole. Normally the elf arrives two weeks before Christmas, and just wanders to a different location each night. However, this year he decided to really have fun with the kids. The children will only be small and believe in Christmas magic for a few more years, so he decided to really embrace Christmas fun. He loves our house so much that he brought a friend down as well, so we had two elves bringing Christmas magic each night. Chase and Blake absolutely loved them. Chase would run down the stairs every morning to check on the elves, and then would wake me up with his cute excited voice to tell me all about them. One night (before the girl elf arrived) the boy elf arrived in a hot air ballon. The next morning he had a bad accident and brought magic healing dust so we could heal him. Chase was really upset by that, but Blake was happy and eager to bandage him up and sprinkle on the dust. Here are some more fun things the elves did last Decemebr -
The elves brought a candy cane garden one night. The boys had to add the north pole dirt, plant the seeds, and then cover with fertilizer. The next morning the boys were excited to see what grew!
Our ward Christmas party was at the local park. It was a very cold night (no snow though), and even though they had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls, we didn't last very long.
Wesley took skiing lessons through the Dimple Dell ski school. Its a fantastic program - a nice charter bus picks them up from a local school and takes them to the mountain. They have a two hour lesson, and then then bus returns them back to school. Wesley had five lessons and is becoming a good little skiier! (or so I've been told).
We love Thanksgiving point. Its a great place to visit when the temperatures start dropping.
This winter has been very, very mild. There have only been a few big snow storms, and we have had mostly sunny skies. However, one night the inversion caused a beautiful frost to cover the valley. I have never seen anything like it. It was like the frost fairy from Fantasia delicately touched each twig, leaf, and exposed surface and left a masterpiece of ice behind.
Wesley had his first violin concert in December. He had his ski lesson the same day, and we had to rush straight from ski school over to his Charter school. We tore off his ski clothing (he still had his long thermal on underneath), and put his red shirt on. He looks a bit like a rag-a-muffin, but we made it, and that is what counts! Learning a new instrument for free at school has its challenges. He is in a class where a lot of the other kids already know how to play, so the group is often ahead of his level. He didn't know how to play many of the songs at the concert, so he faked it (and from the sound of it, many of the other kids faked it too lol). I'm so proud of him though for learning two instruments at the same time and working hard. I don't practice with him at home much (we focus on the piano at home), so I need to be better about that.
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| Our cute, simple light display |
For the first time since moving to Utah we decided to make a little trip to Salt Lake to see the lights on Temple Square. It was beautiful, and even though it was crowded, there was such a peaceful spirit there. I really enjoyed walking around with my family as we savored the Christmas festivities. The boys got to enjoy hot chocolate at the mall, and we also got to listen to some organ music in the Tabernacle.
I was able to help in Wesley's class for their Christmas party. I don't know how teachers do it. I love being with my child, but I'm exhausted after helping a classroom full of crazy kids for an hour.
We had a family party at our house, and everyone brought a white elephant gift. Blake got lucky and received some bath toys as his gift.
On Jason's birthday we sat in the back of his truck as we drove through "Christmas in color." Sitting in the back of the truck sounded like a fun thing to do at the time, but we were back there for over an hour in 20 degree temperatures. We had blankets and warm clothing, but we were still freezing. Poor Chase was coming down with the flu at the time (I didn't realize this until we got home and I discovered he had a fever), and he was miserable the whole time. Wesley and I had a good time, but next year I think we will stay in the warm car!
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