Christmas at Temple Square... in Utah... Woohoo!

The kids and I were so excited to finally get to Utah.  We had a good flight (except for a few escalator episodes one resulting in Faith falling and cutting her head... sad. )
My Mom & Dad, brother Aaron with his family, and my little sister Moriann all met us at the airport.
Then we went to Temple Square to see the lights, the temple and of course the Christas.

This was the 1st time the kids have seen the Salt Lake Temple and temple square.  It's the 1st time I've been able to come and see the Christmas lights.  Of course it was a beautiful at night.

This is Carly's favorite tree on temple square.  Isn't my family lovely?!!!

The Joseph Smith Memorial building.   People who live in Utah are so lucky.  So much heritage so close.  It was so wonderful to go and see everything.

Adon, Grandpa and of course my little Faith.

A beautiful nativity on the reflecting pool outside the temple.

My little brother Aaron,  with his wife Carly, Adon & Collin.

 

We had such a wonderful time, and it was such a blessing to be here.  I just wish Brent could have been with us.   We miss him so much already!

The 1st of 2 Christmas's

We're celebrating Christmas twice this year.  The 1st with Dad before we go to Utah to visit family.

The kids thought they were getting a pretty sweet deal... Can't say that I blame them.  There's just something so nice about celebrating the birth of the Jesus with the people you love best.

Sledding Pajamas

My girls love Pajamas that zip, so they can go sledding down the stairs.  Here they are ready to go sledding!  Hope they have a fun ride.

Life is just so hard...

Isn't life so hard when the whole world conspires against you with horrible things like buttons and big heads?

At least she can still smile amidst all of that trauma!

TJ's No Name Creek Kindergarten Play...

It was so fun to go to TJ's school and see this little play the Kindergartner's put on. I know all parents probably feel the same way, but we thought TJ stole the show.
This is TJ's I'm in front of an audience and I feel silly face.

This is another silly face he does in front of crowds, some of the people from our ward might recognize it. He's awfully cute.

We were so excited that Brent got to come in on his lunch break and see the play. He's such a good dad!

Gracie LOVES to take pictures... they're not very flattering, but she loves to take them. :)

Here are a couple of clips from the play, He's kind of cute!

Halloween Night....

TJ rocking his Optimus Prime costume. (Thanks for the pictures Leaca!)

Gracie LOVED her angel costume. She's asked me a million questions about angels, and wanted to know if people would think she was a REAL angel. I sure think she is.

Faith was a beautiful little lady bug. (Though she's missing her wings) It's hard to stop for pictures when you're tearing into a piece of candy!

We didn't go to very many houses, but we made it to the Brenners. (They've been so good to us and to the kids.)

And of course we had to stop by the Youngs!

I love Halloween!

TJ's 6th Birthday!

TJ had his best 6th Birthday ever! His friends Garrett and Gabe came for a sleep over. TJ was SO excited!
Everyone enjoyed the the yummy Halloween cup cakes I... bought. (It's been a busy week.)
I tried really hard to dunk TJ's face in his, but he bested me. The other kids thought it was funny though, and after a series of monkey see monkey do events... We got these funny pictures.

Gabe

Faith

Garrett

TJ is the only one who wouldn't go for it. He's getting wise in his old age.

TJ tearing into his presents.

Dad missed most of the party, but we waited till he could come home to open presents and have cake. It was worth the wait to have him there.

Some cute stories about Gracie....

It's going to be hard to leave some of our friends in Kenai. When Becky told Gracie's best friend Morgyn that we will be leaving, Morgyn got really sad and asked if we were taking Gracie too.... Sorry Morgyn, we do want Gracie to come with us.

What does this look like too you? What would it look like if you were 4 years old? Watch the video below.