Leading up to Christmas

Don't let Haley fool you, we enjoyed a wonderful few weeks leading up to Christmas. 

This was the first year Conrad has been really excited about Santa. I also think it's the first time he remembers sitting on Santa's lap. It was magical for him and Orson too!

As we unpacked the Christmas decorations, Orson found a Santa hat that he adored. He wore that hat all day, everyday (and night) for a solid week. Of course then the other kids wanted to get in on the action too and started wearing Santa hats all the time. (And mustaches leftover from the grils' December book club).

Eliza took it a step further and decided to dress up Mara too. That chicken has the patience of a saint. 

Hazel had a Christmas show for her Irish dance class and sang in a live Nativity for choir. The children's choir she joined this year is incredible! They sing so beautifully, and the nativity they put on was wonderful. 

Eliza had a gymnastics exhibition as well, then Conrad got some ideas from watching her. I think we'll call these future blackmail photos! 

We had some fun evenings seeing lights in town, attending the IMA Christmas party, watching Eliza's friend in The Best/Worst Christmas Pageant Ever, and the ward Christmas party. 

Possibly the highlight of the month was the snow! We had three seperate big storms come through and each dropped between 6-9 inches of snow. One storm hit on Michael's birthday, and it was exactly what he wanted! The kids have been in heaven. 

The week of Christmas we got to spend a full day at Gram and Grandpa's house celebrating Gram's 65th birthday! Eliza decorated her cake with a whole bottle of sprinkles. 

We also had a Polar Express night with cousins. We rode the Front Runner train in our PJs, listened to Grandpa read the book, drank hot cocoa, and just had a blast. Becca even prepared cute little bells for each of the kids like in the book.

It was a wonderfully fun month! More importantly, we had some wonderful experiences as we pondered on the true reason for this Christmas season - our Savior Jesus Christ. More on that to follow, because it deserves a post of its own.