The Pruess family party had delicious food and was kind of eventful with the power going out for part of it. A white elephant game was played there and it was fun to help Kayleigh particiapate in it. She ended up being pretty lucky and got a gift she really liked. I had warned her that it might be a silly or kind of dumb gift, but she loved what she got.
The Lyman party was nice. Michael’s grandpa read the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke, we played some music on some chimes and had to decorate Kayleigh as a Christmas tree. She was a pretty good sport. The evening was finished off with Grandma’s usual rolled ice cream cake.
The week leading up to Christmas Michael took some days off of work and it was really nice to have him home with the rest of us. We were able to spend a night and a couple days at my mom and dad’s. Although we never seem to sleep very good, it’s fun to be with everyone.
On the 23rd we got to help Nana make divinity. Kayleigh couldn’t remember what it was from last year when Nana made it. I tried to tell her what it was like. Once she got to try some she loved it! She even said it’s her favorite treat ever. That day we also decorated gingerbread houses. For some reason, this year Kayleigh wasn’t too interested in helping. She mostly was excited to see her cousins and they played while Michael and I decorated it. Landon loved all the candy and consumed a ton. I really thought he would get a little sick but he didn’t.
We had quite the variety of candy and our house turned out pretty neat. I was happy that Michael got to participate this year because normally he is at work when we make them. He had fun being creative with the cand y and frosting. Thanks to Mom who bought the houses, they were fun!
Our Christmas Eve was spent at my mom and dad’s. We helped to make the food for our dinner that night and time went by all too quickly. Before you knew it we were eating up the feast and acting out the nativity. Kayleigh had decided to be an angel, but once she found out Grace was going to be a wise man then she wanted to be a wise man. We finally convinced her to be the angel because there has to be an angel in the story. It’s pretty funny because when I was growing up it was Mary that everyone fought over, not the wise man.
Kayleigh made a great angel and then took off her cape to be a wise man later in the story. Landon helped Nana be a shepherd and I was the star. Marie had brought a pretty cool star costume and none of the kids wanted to wear it so I decided to not let it go to waste.
After presents and saying goodnight we headed home. Once the cookies and milk were set out for Santa, the kids went to bed. Christmas morning came all too quickly when Kayleigh woke up at 7:30. This is the first year she’s gotten up early on Christmas. She was so excited! I heard her run out to the family room and then come racing down the hallway to our bedroom basically screaming that Santa had come. I love the enthusiasium of little children and the magic of Christmas time.
With Christmas falling on Sunday we had told Kayleigh we wouldn’ open presents till after church. It was hard for her to wait but she did it. Our sacrament meeting was nice. The ward choir sang as well as the primary children. The kids sang, “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains”. I had worked with Kayleigh to help her learn the words and she did great! They sang all 4 versus. Michael sang in the ward choir and also in a double duet. He did great as well.
After church we unwrapped presents and it was really fun to enjoy the kids and the surprises. After eating some Rhodes cinnamon rolls which were delicious, we headed to Michael’s parent’s house. There we enjoyed a traditional dinner of potatoes, ham, green beans, rolls and cherry Jell-O. Kayleigh was thrilled to open more presents and play with her cousins.
We went home tired and grateful for all of our family and our blessings. The following day after Christmas we headed downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. We thought it would be fun to ride Front Runner down. With it being a holiday, the train only runs every hour. I was a little nervous with the timing and how that would work out.
The train was packed when we got on! Michael went up on the second level with Kayleigh while I stayed below with Landon. Landon loved trains and I think he thought it was pretty cool. Once downtown we met up with Nana, Grandpa and Nathan. We had planned to eat at the City Creek food court but after learning they were closed we bagged that idea and saw the lights first.
It was pretty cold outside, but luckily we dressed pretty warm. The lights were beautiful as always. This year it seemed that many of the trees had red lights. The red was a very bright, radiant red and it was neat. Landon hung out in the stroller most of the time and loved being by the water. He kept saying “wah wah” and wanted to be pushed to the water. He did finally get out by the reflecting pond and I am surprised he didn’t end up getting wet, he loved it!
After the lights we were very hungry so we decided to eat at the food court at the Gateway. Well, the trax trains were also running less due to the holiday so it took us longer than planned to get down to the Gateway, We ate very quickly and tried to get back to the main station in time to catch our train. We didn’t make it though. I was pretty worried about having to wait for another hour for the next rain with the kids in the cold. Since Mom and Dad had driven down, they had room for a couple riders on the way home. So Kayleigh and I rode home with them and Michael and Landon waited for the train. The train was available for them to sit in and stay warm until it departed so it ended up to being too bad for them. Landon had fun flirting with some girls that were waiting on the train, too. It was kind of an adventurous outing but ended up working out fine.
And that my friends, is our December wrapped up in a long post!
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