Of course we had to get our house ready. We did plenty of shopping. We found time for lots of friend and family get-togethers. And of course, we played.
The first Friday in December we met up with Sage and Taj on our hunt for elves at Gardner Village. It was sooo much colder than our search for witches, but still so fun. We had to run around and make lots of stops in stores to warm up. Ellie was quick to find her name on the nice list and mine on the naughty one! (I swear I was nice.)
The second Friday in December was Ellie's school program. It is amazing to me how incredible her class is. They are so well behaved and so smart. And SO fun to watch as each of them has their own unique animation. Santa came to visit their class after their program and they all got an opportunity to sit on his lap. Ellie asked for a Barbie- which I had not heard before. A few days later the class all put their shoes outside the door and St Nick came and filled them with crayons. I love that her class can celebrate Christmas.
On the same day, Grandma gave Ellie an early Christmas gift and took her on the Polar Express. We all had so much fun last year, Ellie and my mom wanted to do it again. It was as cute as it was last year - but it was a ton colder. I don't think Ellie noticed though. She was too busy being entertained and enjoying everything from the hot chocolate to the visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
We went to eat at Pizza Hut in Park City after and Kevin and I laughed as Ellie ate just the middle out of her bread stick. She is always good for entertaining.
One Saturday Ellie and I went to see The Princess and the Frog. She loved it so much she had her dad take her the next Saturday too! Ellie and I also made our first batch of fudge on Saturday night and gave it to all of our neighbors for Christmas. It was so yummy!
I tried to have lunch with as many friends as I could in December and Ellie came along when possible. Ellie and her cute little friend Ashlyn were so good as Audrey and I caught up and the girls entertained themselves by making their hair as crazy as possible with static. She has asked a few times since that lunch when she can see her again.
It's no secret I love to shop. Christmas gives me a great opportunity to do plenty of it. While we were shopping Kevin and I were trying to explain The Giving Tree to Ellie and she thought it would be a good idea for us to take a name off of it. I couldn't have agreed more - so we decided our new tradition would be to do this as part of our Christmas shopping. We picked the name of a 14 year old boy and ran around from store to store trying to get everything on his list.
Ellie had her first play date with a friend from school. I picked them up from school, took them to play at McD's and then brought them home for a full day of playing. They were cute together and hopefully she can have more play dates.
We drove around some nights in December looking for Christmas lights. I love doing this. We did the Thanksgiving point loop one night and then the Holdman lights in Lindon another. I think one of the things I miss most in January is the lack of lights as we drive. Ellie loved them too and asked the other day if we could go back to the Holdman display. I told her we now had to wait another year before we could see them again.
I bought Ellie an advent calendar this year and she had fun every day getting stuff out of it. Mostly it was candy - but a few times there was money and Kevin made a cute origami tree out of a dollar. We did this in place of our traditional "paper chain" to count down the days.
In December we also had our family Christmas party. It was at my Aunt Jolene's house this year and it was so fun for everyone. Santa came to see us with an early Christmas present for each kid. We had soup (Ellie ate two bowls full) and so many yummy treats. Jolene planned crafts and activities for all of the kids. They all had so much fun being together and enjoying family. What a great family we have and I am glad we do this every year. As adults we had fun remembering the party when we were children and laughing at our fun memories.
I know my posts are lengthy and I'm not sure how many people actually make it through them all - but life is just so fun and I try not to leave too many things out. We are so blessed in December to have so many friends and family members that we love so much and love spending time with. We are so thankful that they all make time for us!
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