Christmas things!

With Thanksgiving being late this year, I was a bit worried about Christmas feeling rushed this year. Somehow it didn't, and we fit in the things we wanted to do. I am not sure if it was more early prep this year or what, but I felt more relaxed and able to enjoy this Christmas season more than in some previous years.

We visited temple square early in December and it was a very foggy night. The fog made the temple and lights look cool. We stopped by the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and gave to the "Giving Machine," which was a really cool experience for our family. The boys wanted to buy basketballs and soccer equipment for kids, and we also bought chickens and a few other things I can't remember. It was a great way for us to feel the true spirit of Christmas.

Sean and I and Jackson and Bode were also able to attend the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional in the Conference Center. It was a cool experience to have the two oldest boys with us. It was Bode's first time in the Conference Center. We were excited to hear the Tabernacle Choir sing Christmas songs for the devotional since we were unable to go to their Christmas concert this year. The talks were wonderful, and again, helped us focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

We made sure to make a visit to Santa Claus! The three boys all asked him for scooters and a Nintendo Switch, and Molly asked for a "bouncy unicorn" (when she finally mustered the courage to speak). 

I made what feels like a million batches of toffee to give to the neighbors this year. I had a few mishaps along the way. I didn't temper the chocolate right for the first several batches, and being as stubborn as I am, I saved that toffee for our family (it was like 10 pans of toffee!) and started over. Thankfully it worked the next time around. The kids made sure to help with quality control and ate one pan that turned out more like caramel than toffee :)

After buying pre-made gingerbread houses last year, I decided to make them again this year. I actually made the gingerbread in November. Spreading it all out made it not such a big project, and we had a lot of fun decorating them this year. In fact, it was one of my favorite nights during the Christmas season. We learned this year that Charlie really has a thing for gingerbread! He tried to eat the houses before we decorated them, and we had to store them on shelves higher up in the kitchen when we were done!

The annual Deerfield Christmas Sing was fun, as always. I love that the kids' school does this and look forward to it every year. All of the boys did a great job singing!

Molly also had a little Christmas program with her preschool class. She goes to preschool at Miss Amy's in our neighborhood. It was really cute and probably the best preschool program we've ever attended. No fighting for parking, short and sweet, and treats at the end!

Lastly, one of the brothers in our ward who ministers to us gave us a new card game to play as a family called 3up, 3 down. We started playing it and were hooked! We played this several nights together during Christmas break and it has become a new family favorite. I found these pictures Molly took of us playing one night and wanted to include them for memory's sake!