Merry Christmas the First

As is our tradition, we had our own early Christmas before heading up here to Salt Lake for the real Christmas. We had a great Christmas this year and it felt extra Christmas-y with Jack around. For our Christmas Eve on the 22nd we had a fancy pants three course dinner.

I decorated the table all cute.

Then we had an appetizer of bacon wrapped scallops and bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos with a chipotle dipping sauce.

We had Orange-Habanero Glazed Tilapia on a bed of roasted onions with a side of Citrus Sweet Rice for the main course.

 And then mini Pecan Praline Red Velvet Cakes for dessert.

We watched Joy to the World and Jack conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as they sang Christmas carols.

Then after Jack went to bed Adam got to work being a busy little elf. He had some work to do for my big surprise. More on that to come.

We woke up early Friday morning to do Christmas before Adam went to work. Jack usually spoils me by sleeping in until 9:00, but we woke him at 7:00 to open presents. I was nervous about doing that. I thought we'd ruin Christmas for him forever. But as soon as he saw the presents and got the concept down, he was wide awake and happy.

 One of Adam's gifts to Jack and me was a fish bowl for a fishy that we have yet to pick out. We'll be taking suggestions of what to name our new little pet.

 New car seat

 Standing at the third bedroom to go in and see my big surprise.

 Wahoo! It's an amazing craft station. It's the perfect size and shape. I'm going to love it.

And then Jack got a singing Elmo from Nana and Papa, which he just loved.

I'll do another blog for the pictures we've taken here in Salt Lake when I have more energy later this week. But be sure and stay tuned. Jack dressed up as an angel for the nativity program and he made the cutest angel ever. Aw heck, I'll give you a little sneak preview just so you know it's worth checking back for..

Live Nativity

A family farm in Washington, Utah does a live nativity a couple times a week during the month of December. We made it to the last one of the season and I was glad we did. They had real barn animals in a manger scene with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and the whole crew. There was a great narration and some musical numbers. Then afterward we got to go pet the animals.

Then afterward we got to go pet the animals.

Joseph even let Jack ride the donkey.

Then we tried to get a sweet little picture of Jack and I sitting in the manger scene.

It's good Adam was quick with the picture-taking, cause the sweet cuddling thing lasted about .5 seconds.

Now that's more like it.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

For the past four years, the first half of December has meant one thing: finals. It seems like Christmas wasn't allowed to start until finals were totally over. Not only are we free from the stressful end of semester work load this year, but we're also relieved from the biting cold. So this December has been most enjoyable. As you know we started it out with a great ward party. We just got some more pictures back from the person who was taking pictures of all the families.

The Grinch wanted to steal Jack and stuff him up the chimney with the Roast Beast and Who-Hash.

Later in the month, Adam's great work put on a fun party. They had "Minute to Win It" games, White Elephants, the pen game, and a Christmas trivia game. We made it out like bandits, with at least one of us getting a prize with each game, but most games we both got a prize. They fed us good food and sent us home with a big gift basket with gift cards and cute home decor stuff. Aren't they great? Oh and did I mention they're also taking us on a cruise in a couple weeks? Yeah, a Mexican cruise. They're the best bosses ever. Period. 

Then we found out about a great house to visit here in St. George. The lady came in to Adam's work to get some things to add to her Christmas display and told him about it. Just when I was ready to give up searching for the house, we saw it...

 85,000 lights

 They start in October.

 20,000 lights on this tree alone.

Gorgeous front porch.

 Beautiful colors.

If this doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, then you can just head on over to the court house and legally change your name to Ebenezer "The Grinch" Scrooge.

In addition to creating this spectacular light display for all to enjoy, they also dress up as Santa and hand out candy canes to all the gazing visitors.

We've been talking to Jack about Santa for the better part of a month. Every time we see something with Santa we point it out and say Ho Ho Ho. He spot them on his own now, but I think seeing the man in the flesh was a bit alarming for him. He didn't cry or get upset, but he was definitely intrigued. And oddly enough, he LOVED the candy cane. He could have gobbled it all down in one sitting if we would have let him.

To make things even better, they had a really cute and friendly kitty the Jack just loved. I'm not much of a cat person, but this seemed like a cat I could really take a liking to. It kept rolling around on the ground and meowing at us, which just made Jack's night. 

And then, finally, to top it all off, they had a beautiful nativity display, which Jack really enjoyed. 

Maybe someday we'll be cool enough to own and decorate a house that's half as cool.

Baptism

Al and Cheri got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was an awesome experience. They have been such an inspiration to me in the past week and a half since we met them. They have a lot of faith in the midst of a lot of trials. They find tons of joy in reading the scriptures, the Ensign, the Gospel Principles manual... pretty much anything they can get their hands on. I'm working on being more like that.

We got a few of the traditional pictures on Saturday and wanted to share.

 With the Sisters

 With Bishop Wood

The whole group of them. What a great picture.