I have to say that December in Midway this year feels just absolutely magical. I'm trying to set realistic expectations because I know this year they got more snow than normal, but everything is covered in snow and twinkly lights and I just can't believe that I live here. Downtown has all their trees lit up, the big tree at town hall is decorated and there are so many little festivals like the Creches, and the Swiss Christmas Night.
We have definitely been taking advantage of all of the snow. I've never lived somewhere that had this much! There's probably a foot of snow outside my door right now and I could not be any happier about it. It makes sitting by the fire with my Christmas tree on just the dreamiest thing imaginable. On one of the first really snowy days I picked the kids up and brought all of our sledding stuff and some hot cocoa. We went over to the golf course because we saw some people sledding there before and I thought it would be fun, but there were signs saying you weren't allowed to do that so we stuck to the other side of the fence and went down a little hill there.
Another day we just did some sledding on the hill in our backyard! We mostly tried to snowboard down the hill which made for a whole bunch of epic falls.
I think the best day of sledding was going to the park just down the street. I knew it would be a great sledding hill, but it was always so busy it didn't seem fun. But by this day people had become less excited about it and we had some time there with just one other family before every one else showed up.
I have absolutely loved moving to Midway, and no small part of that is the wonderful people that are here. I lived in my ward in Orem for so long and never really felt like I settled in, and here within the few months I've been here I feel like I have lots of friends! I sound like such a loser, but I have missed that feeling so much! Cute Katey Webster had a "Ladies Lunch" and invited a bunch of us to her house. She lives up in the cabins and it is so beautiful up there! It's like a winter wonderland!
We went to Luminaria again this year and it was wonderful! My parents came with us and we had a great time. It was a little chillier than last year, so we mostly wanted to hurry through, but they added a cool fire and ice dance that was really impressive! And I love walking through those statues of the Savior. My kids are getting old enough that they can tell me the stories now and I love hearing them come from them.
Della had a dance recital coming up, and I asked her where she wanted to go for lunch afterwards. She said she wanted somewhere fancy, and I remembered the cool Alpenglobe that Cafe Galleria has. We tried to get a reservation but they were all booked, for pretty much all of December. There was on spot open on Thursday morning at 8:00 so we decided to book that and go there for breakfast! It was so cool!
We got to do the most magical thing in the world this year! We got to see The Nutcracker! And, we got to take the two older kids with us! Before the performance we went to get dinner and Henry asked for a place with shrimp and Della asked for a place with mashed potatoes haha. They are so funny. So we found a little steak house in Salt Lake and ate there beforehand.
We were all really excited for the show! Della was transfixed the entire time, her cute little mouth hanging open a little bit. Henry was really into it, but by the last half was ready to do something else. Rusty fell asleep haha.
Henry wanted to hold my hand on the drive home
ERC threw a nice Christmas party for all of the employees! We had some yummy food, and I got to talk to Chandler and Jess and I finally met Derrin and his wife! They are amazing people and I loved getting to talk with them!
We had another Grinch Party! We had yummy food and watched the new cartoon version of The Grinch. There were grapes and strawberries and bananas that looked like little Grinch Santas, Jessica made cupcakes with green tops and a red heart, we had who hash and roast beast, and I made a trifle because that seemed "grinchy".
We continued to be sick this month, although not as bad as the last two. Henry stayed home from school sick one day and I made him and Amelia some cloud dough to play with!
We had our Ward Christmas Party! They had the kids do a Nativity Program and it was so cute! All the nursery kids were stars or sheep, Della was an angel, and Henry was Joseph. He took it very seriously and told me that it was very important. He said, "He wasn't Jesus' real dad, but Joseph was still really important." He's so sweet. Amelia got a little excited and ran out before she was supposed to and got so scared she froze. I had to go out and get her and then she didn't want to go when it was her turn until we finally had Brynlee (her babysitter) hold her and then it was ok!
It was time to decorate the Christmas tree! Everything was so crazy this year that we didn't cut one down, we just bought one. And that is okay because I don't think we could have fit it in. But this night is one of my favorite nights of the whole year!
For the Partner's Christmas Party Geri invited everyone up to her new cabin in Oakley. She was so grateful for this job because her dream was to get a boat and a cabin- and because of ERC Specialists she was able to. Josh brought gifts for everyone and took about thirty minutes talking about the gifts and then finally gave everyone their watches he had specially made. Geri ran and got the gifts she had which were personalized Nikes. We knew we needed to up our game for the gifts so we got them really beautiful globes and Rusty thanked them for helping give his family the world.
This year at Pinner's Conference I saw these little dresses that reminded me of some dresses that Jessica and I had when I was little! I got some grief from Rusty that they looked like nightgowns, and that might be true. I think the ones we had were nightgowns in fact haha. But I loved them so it doesn't matter. I got these dresses for my girls and then she mailed me Henry's shirt because she ran out of that size. They were so good to me to let me take some pictures of them all dressed up!
One Sunday afternoon we went and walked along the trails in Wasatch State Park. It is awesome to have it so close! We loved being out in the snow and Bailey loved running around. Henry and Della ate so much snow and we tried aiming our snowballs to fit in between branches of the trees. It was a wonderful day, and one of the first days that I was feeling really back to normal and being outside was just perfect.
Charlie came back this year and was up to his usual antics! This silly elf! Henry was the most excited one to go find him in the mornings, followed by Amelia who was still mostly confused about it, and then Della who likes Charlie fine but doesn't really care a whole ton.
We had some more fun times playing in the backyard. Getting the mail can be quite the ordeal now, and it is faster to take Amelia in the sled instead of walking because she might slip.
We got ROY! I love Roy. He is a little robot vacuum and mopping guy that Rusty got on Black Friday. I wanted to name him and then I got these big googly eyes to put on him and it made me so happy. He runs into things or gets stuck on things and it is kind of like having a little pet. I get notifications on my phone saying that my robot is stuck and can't get out, so it is going to sleep. We all love Roy, except Amelia. Because Rusty told her that Roy was going to suck her up so we have a million videos of her saying "Roy no suck me up!"
We made Christmas cookies this year! I feel like things are so busy that we did it during the day, which it was sad to do it without Henry and Della but fun to do something one on one with Amelia. She was a great helper! She was too scared to crack the eggs because she didn't want to break it (none of the other two were like that) so I had to help with that part. But she loves mixing and pouring things in!
We hadn't seen Santa yet, so we went over to Red Sign's Christmas Party and colored some pictures while we waited to see him! Henry was absolutely stoked about it and talked the whole way to the party about what he was going to say to him and what he was asking for (which was Pokemon cards). Della was unsure but once she got there she just shined and asked for pretend keys and a pretend phone. Amelia was really brave after watching her siblings and asked Santa for a rainbow!
More time playing in the backyard eating icicles! This little lady loves to be outside and she loves to play!
We set up a date with the Bartons to go ice skating! Midway's rink is outdoor and it is soooo fun and cute! It was a blast, and by the end I was actually thinking that ice skating could be fun! Della had a natural talent for it and just took off, while Henry spent most of the time on the ice. He wouldn't accept any help because Della didn't need any help.
Gingerbread houses is one of our favorite traditions! The ERC Christmas party gave us two kits that had multiple little houses in them. This was our first time not using graham crackers and it was nicer in some ways and harder in others haha. But they had a great time! Rusty and I got in a little frosting fight at the end of the night which I won. Obviously.
Our friends the Cowleys invited us to go with them on a sleigh ride! Apparently they know someone that does it or knows someone or something like that, so we got to go do a sleigh ride out at a beautiful place near Kamas. Afterward we got stuff to make s'mores and the kids loved playing with the giant icicles!
I was so excited this year to finally do the breakfast with Santa I've been wanting to do for forever! Thanksgiving Point does it and it always looks so fun. Unfortunately, it was the same morning as Della's dance recital. Neither she nor I wanted to push our luck so we stayed home and had time to get her ready and get there on time and Rusty took the other two to the breakfast with Kyle and Bryndee. It was the right choice because they only got there five minutes before it was Della's class' turn. They had fun, but the line to see Santa was so long they didn't do it.
Della had her dance recital and she did so well! She was really nervous for this one, but was so brave and did it even though she was scared. And she did it amazingly well! She remembered all of the moves and I might have cried. I definitely cried. They did it a second time right after and they were all a little bit less nervous which was nice. Della was so beautiful and graceful! The song was When Christmas Comes to Town and it was so beautiful!
We went on a fun hike with Gigi! It was beautiful and the snow was so deep the kids would just tip over and land in it. We went sledding and hiking and played in the snow and found a cool tunnel! Neither of us had our phones so we couldn't take any pictures, but everyone had a blast! Afterward we got some hot cocoa in Kamas.
One night we went to the park to sled and then I asked if anyone wanted to go drive around and see Christmas lights. We were split evenly, so we did rock paper scissors to let fate decide. We ended up going to see some beautiful lights in the Lehi area.
Amelia wanted to be included
We went on the Polar Express this month! It was so cute and fun. We got a cookie and hot chocolate, sang Christmas songs, and went to the North Pole to see Santa. When we were there Santa got on our train and talked with everyone. He gave each child a bell, and even told them by the sound he can tell which reindeer it came from. Henry's came from Comet, Adeline's came from Rudolph, and Amelia's came from Prancer. Henry was pretty excited because Santa said that Comet was the fastest. Della did the cutest squeal I've ever heard when he said it was Rudolph's. It made her whole life! We have the cutest video of it. And Amelia did not understand what was happening, but Santa said he gave her Prancer because he could tell she liked to dance just like Prancer.
Amelia getting Prancer's bell!
Henry getting Comet's bell!
Della getting Rudolph's bell!
Christmas Eve this year we spent at home. After the last couple months of me having such a hard time emotionally, it just sounded dreamy to stay home and have a low key holiday with just us. It was really lovely! I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then we spent the day listening to music and making food. The kids also practiced what they were doing for the talent show because I decided to bring that back and I'm so happy about it. Henry sang, Della did a beautiful dance, Amelia danced in her Minnie Mouse costume, and Rusty did a magic trick. He just ate a cookie and made it disappear. The kids were unimpressed haha.
I brought the keyboard out and we sang some hymns as we read the story in Luke!
The Cajun Night Before Christmas!
Sleeping by the tree!
Christmas Day! I just love Christmas so much. The morning is full of anticipation and magic and joy, and with the kids so little it is all so genuine and pure that it is beautiful. They were so excited to go downstairs but they had to wait at the top while we went down and took pictures and made sure everything was ready!
Amelia got her rainbow and some makeup!
Della got her pretend phone and keys and some makeup and a jewelry kit!
Henry got his Pokemon cards and some games!
Amelia is clearly not ready for this
Chaos ensued in the most wonderful way! We all opened our gifts and laughed and played. Christmas morning is the best!
The girls doing my hair with Della's new hair stuff
We did something new this year and had a Christmas dinner at Jess and Aaron's house. I guess Aaron used to do it every year as a tradition, so Jess wanted to do it for him this year. I was not prepared and did not have my things ready at all. So the cake I made was supposed to cool and then I put on a glaze, but I didn't have time so I just poured it on and then basically in the car it all just poured down onto my legs. The rolls had to rise on the way to her house too. I was a mess but it was fun to see everyone for dinner. I don't think we'll be doing dinner again though haha, people can stop by to say hi but I am not going to be in charge of making dishes. It's too much for one day.
Henry's Highlights:
- I volunteered in Henry's class for his Christmas party! Once we got going everything was way too crazy to get a picture, but I snapped this one of Amelia before we started. They put cups on their hands like reindeer hoofs and had to pass white balls like snow balls down the line. It was awesome!
- Henry is always the most excited and first one to find Charlie!
Adeline's Adventures:
- She loves dance, but has decided she'd like to take a break and do gymnastics instead
- Della came home one day in a sweater that she was not wearing that morning, and that wasn't hers. Turns out she got soaking wet at recess and they gave her a shirt from lost and found. She was ecstatic and wears it all of the time. It's the one she's wearing in the gingerbread house pictures
- She made a store and was pretty serious about it. She wrote a sign, but nobody could guess it correctly so she asked me to write it for her.
Amelia's Updates:
- For "s" sounds at the beginning of a word she uses the "f" sound. My favorite thing to make her say is I SMARTED! Hahaha or I'M SMART!
- When we went ice skating she got all cocky and would say to people "Just stand up" that had fallen on the ice while she went past them in Rusty's arms haha.
- She was unsure about the train at first and then loved it! "Train go round and round"
- Wants to eat icicles all the time
- She loved the Fiona hippo Christmas book and song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
- Calls Santa "Ho, Ho, Ho"
- Says "Thank you" for everything and clasps her hands together by her face
- Amelia is obsessed with the pretend sink and doing dishes with me
- She loves cuddling baby Jesus
Extra Pictures:
Just dancing to some Colin Raye Christmas music with my girl
Our neighbor Christmas presents this year
We went on a walk at night to see the stars!
This is at the kids' dentist office! It's so cute!
The kids sleeping by the tree
Playing with Gigi and Aaron
Reading books by the tree and the fire!
This is a really cool story that I didn't want to forget. I won't write anything about this because it's not necessary, Rusty and I will remember the story.
Amelia helping me bake some more!
Amelia loved using this scanner to help me at the self check out at Walmart
"Dear Santa, I like phones."
Rusty and I had a date night! I planned out some Christmasy food and we watched The Holiday Inn.
I bought a ham for Christmas dinner, but I did it for grocery pick up. When I got home I saw that it was the tiniest ham I've ever seen haha. I had to go and get another one that would feed everyone for Christmas dinner
Amelia went shopping with me and loved carrying the bag!
Phyllis sent some yummy treats that they used to eat at her house!
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