Christmas Time is Here!

This week has been full as well as fun.  Monday, for family night, we took pictures of the children in front of the tree. The only problem was that Vivian was not interested in having her picture taken or actually holding still.  She was much more interested in her new climbing skills that she learned that morning, much to my dismay.

Vivian getting up into a chair…she was so proud!  It took her until the next day to realize how to get down though… Here’s a picture that perfectly displays Christian’s frustration.

She’s trying to get away.

Now for some good ones: 

  

After a lot of frustration with Vivian and trying to pose with her, we let Christian take a picture of us.  If you notice, I broke down and got bangs the Saturday before…after realizing that Vivian’s pulling habit was really ruining the visual appeal of my hair ;).     

On Friday night, I had a cookie exchange with four other couples and their children.  We had so much fun I totally forgot to pull out the camera! I hate it when I do that.  I am thinking I’ll have to make my exchange a tradition every year….especially since we don’t have family here and having people we love around us is what helps us feel the Christmas spirit.

On Saturday we decided to go find Santa Claus.  The mall near us had him as well as a real snow making machine outside the magical set that was for Santa. Christian was very excited to tell Santa what he wanted.  Guess what he asked for.… a cell phone.  Good grief.  I suggested that maybe he should learn to read first….and then maybe wait about a decade.  I never even wanted a cell phone until I was a mommy! Vivian was really excited while waiting in line because the family in front of us had two beautiful dogs that she wanted to kiss.  When it came to meeting St. Nick, Vivian didn’t know what to think when I placed her on his lap and made a perfectly adorable pout.

 

Sunday, we went to my friend Kalei’s baby’s blessing and then afterwards, decided to detour to the temple and see the lights as it was about 4 pm and we would be just in time to see them first lighted.  We got there at the perfect time, dusk, because there was a perfect front row spot to park right by the visitor center.  There were 92 crèches displayed this year from all over the world and the missionary there explained that they were mostly from a collection of a sister Johnson who owns over 400 crèches.  Amazing.  I love how each culture has their own techniques and/or materials that they use to make these beautiful works of art.

Here’s the visitor’s center all lit up.

After looking at the display, we went outside to enjoy the lights before Vivian got too cold (we forgot her jacket…I know that sounds terrible, until you realize that it was about 74 degrees earlier that day).

Christian was very excited to look at the lights especially when they were near the water.  I was afraid a couple of times that we were going to bring home a wet child with the way he was playing near the reflecting pools.

Vivian, on the other hand, was not very excited about the lights.  She was pretty tired after a day with broken-up naps and a non-existent schedule.  She’s such a patient little thing when we are being crazies with her schedule.

Here’s a picture a sweet lady took of our family.  She saw me taking a picture of Jared with the kids and ran over to offer to take a picture with me in it too.  I was really touched.  I’ve been wishing for a family picture all month.

I love that we have a temple nearby that displays beautiful lights and helps me feel a little more of the Christmas spirit…it almost makes me want to go crazy with the lights in my own yard…almost :).