Christmasing.

After one insane flight, we are in Idaho, and life is good.

The last few weeks we have been Christmasing our little hearts out.

A synopsis:

-We went to the Christmas tree lighting in Holt, a little town south of Lansing. It was a small event at the little library we go to. Carly loved watching the band and watching them light up the tree. She got to pet Santa's reindeer, and excitedly told me "I got to touch the goat's horns!" There were cookies and hot cocoa in the library, but we decided to forgo the long line, head to Tim Horton's, and have doughnuts for dinner.

 

 [Carly watching the first snowfall.]

-We held our somewhat annual "gingerbread" house building party. We invited Chris's friends from his program and had lots of fun. Carly requested a pink Barbie castle, and I delivered with stunning results. She was pleased enough, though we didn't walk away with first prize.

 

 -A few days ago we spent the day in Salt Lake City. My parents were kind enough to watch the twins, and we took Carly for a Christmas adventure. We played at Micheal and Camie's house, then headed for some shopping at City Creek. We enjoyed Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, H&M, and watching Carly walk wide-eyed through the princess sections of the Disney store. Then we headed to Temple Square. Carly doesn't get to see the temple very often, and this was her first encounter with Temple Square. She really loved it, and seemed more mesmerized and interested in the temple and the "churches" (the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall) than the Christmas lights, which was a reminder to me of what is most important (see how she teaches me every day?). We went into the Assembly Hall and listened to a choir and she sat perfectly still. Its amazing to watch the Spirit touch her, even as young as she is.

 

-On Saturday, I took Carly to The Nutcracker, along with my parents and my brother Michael and his wife Camie. I remember going with my dad as a little girl, and it is a tradition I really want to share with Carly. Add in pretty costumes and ballerinas, and the chance to wear a new pink dress, and I knew Carly would be interested. I just wasn't sure how long she'd last. Pocatello has a very family friendly Nutcracker, with a few professionals and the rest being local dancers. It was perfect for her. She sat on my lap the the whole time, talking the whole time, and asking a million questions. "Who's that? What's her name? Is he mad? Are they getting married?" and on and on. She was so smart to follow the storyline (we have a Nutcracker book), and really seemed to love watching the dancers. I asked her if she wanted to leave at intermission, but she said she wanted to watch more dancers. It was a sweet experience for me. Afterwards, we ran into a nice ballerina in the hall, and she talked with Carly and got her picture taken. When we came home, Carly had to show everyone "what ballerinas do", and poor Mimi was stuck being the Sugar Plum Fairy for longer than she probably would have liked.

-I have a small obsession with dressing my kids up for different occasions, and Christmas Sunday just may take the cake in my book. In the Spring, I found this most fabulous red Baby Gap dress on killer clearance ($11 for a $45 dress) and was just in love. I knew it would be Quinn's Christmas dress, I just had to make sure not to feed her too much so she didn't grow out of it (jokes . . . jokes). I wanted to find Carly a red dress too, and thought it would be fun if her two-year-old cousin, Shay, had a matching dress. After having no lucky anywhere, I found super cute red dresses at Gymboree in City Creek. They were on clearance and there were exactly two left: close to Carly's size, and close to Shay's size. It was fate. They were $65 a piece, and I got them each for $20. If there is anything I love more than a deal, its three gorgeous girls in fancy red dresses.

And now tomorrow is Christmas Eve. 

The main event is just about here.

I could not be more excited to share this holiday with my sweet Carly, who is all the sudden old enough to really grasp the excitement, and am so grateful to be here in Idaho to celebrate with my family.

I hope you all have a most fabulous Christmas.

xoxo.