Magical Lights

The Salt Lake Temple is beautiful no matter what time of year it is, but there is something about Temple Square being lit up with thousands of Christmas lights that is just magical. We don't brave the crowds every year to do this, but I'm glad we did this year.

This picture below is actually outside the temple grounds, over by the reflection pool. The nativity over there is all white and looks like it's made of glass. It's pretty cool, although you can't really tell from the picture. My camera doesn't really like taking night pictures.

Abby looks like a big pink burrito.

The front of the Assembly Hall.

The Assembly Hall again. There's my kids in the corner!

On our way back to the van, we passed by the Salt Palace's huge Christmas tree made of lights.

That's Nate and Seth in front.

'Tis the season to be freezin'

Our first big snowfall! I think it's going to be a white Christmas for sure! I had to shovel half of our driveway before I finally figured out how to get the dang snowblower started. Thank heavens for technology. There was a lot of snow and I was getting tired.

Nate is always outside without a coat. What is it about kids that makes them think they are immune to the cold?

Oops...looks like I blasted the side of the house.

A Taste of Christmas

I love Christmas traditions! This is one of the kid's favorites....baking and decorating cookies.

Abby doesn't get to decorate, but she does get to help eat the cookies.

Alex shows off his mad cookie skills

Nate and Seth

Shawn's masterpiece!

Little Miss cutie pie

After having three boys, I have to admit that I am not very good at the whole doing little girl's hair thing. It usually ends up in a ponytail on top of her head. But I tried something new the other day and it turned out so cute! Of course, she is cute no matter what I do to her hair, but that's just my opinion. :)

And the tree goes up!

We put our tree up this year earlier than we have ever done before: the day before Thanksgiving. I don't know what got into me! The Christmas spirit, I suppose, but whatever it was it was fun!

Nate and Seth decorating. (Yes, Seth is usually halfway undressed. I can't get that kid to keep clothes on. I am thinking this is going to be a problem later in his life.)

Abby is fascinated with the lights! These happen to be the lights that went on the outside of the house. We were just checking to make sure they worked.

Alex mourns the loss of a broken Christmas ornament.

A few of our treasured handpainted ornaments that Shawn and I have painted since the beginning of our marriage. The earliest ones date back to 1995! Ahhhh!

Seth poses in front of the finished product the next day.

Congrats to my little sis

Congratulations to Erin and her new hubby who got married a few weeks ago. We are so excited for you! His name is Dave, which makes Dave number 4 in our family. My kids are going to be hopelessly confused. But as we decided at their open house last Saturday, you can never have too many Dave's and we've never met a Dave we didn't like!

Dad and Mom with Erin and Dave

The sisters: Amy, Erin, Me and Tracy. This is a rare occasion. It's not very often that we are all in the same place!

Dave and Erin's new family. Baby Dean, Dave, JJ, Donovan, Shalee and Erin. We love you guys!

Abby turns one!

I can't believe Abby is one year old already! Time has gone by so quickly. It really does seem like just the other day that we brought her into our lives. We had a fun party for her with the whole family and she is now even more spoiled than ever. I am so grateful to have such a loving family. Happy birthday Abby!

That was then, this is now

My post yesterday showed the new snow on the ground and the leaves still on my tree, but apparently it was so cold last night it killed all the leaves and they all fell off in one day.

Ok, I'm not really sure why I think this is funny, but it's my blog and I get to say whatever I want. :)

The view from here

Utah weather! Last week it was 70 degrees, today we have snow on the ground. Lots of people complain about it, but I have to say that I love the temperamental weather that we get here. The leaves on our trees haven't even fallen yet and we have snow! Today I think I'm going to stay home in my nice fuzzy sweater and sip hot cocoa. Actually, I don't have time to do that, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

Let's hear it for the boy

Finally! Seth has been trying for months to learn how to ride that bike of his and he's finally done it. I thought he was doomed to a life of being uncoordinated, but it seems I was mistaken. He mustered up his courage and just took off down the driveway without so much as a "here, let me help you" from me. I laughed and laughed just watching the pure joy and freedom on his face as he cruised down the driveway. My laughter quickly turned to horror, however, as he neared the garage door and I began to wonder if he knew how to use the brakes. Turns out he did, thankfully, and he screeched to a halt in the nick of time. I have never seen him more proud of himself!