Merry and Bright

 We had such a wonderful week of Christmas celebrations.  We had plenty of time to relax and spend time with family doing all sorts of Christmassy things.  The Davis family arrived Saturday and we kicked off the celebrations with cheese, chocolate, and carmel fondue.  So yummy.

 We took the kids to the Shops at Riverwoods to see the lights, Santa, and the horses pulling the carriages.  The kids were big fans.  They were running all over the place, dancing to the live music, and laughing at the jingle bell harnesses on the horses.  It was pretty fun to watch them.  Then we had a little gift exchange for the cousins.  They were so excited to finally get to open some of those presents under the tree.

 On Sunday we went to my parents' ward for their annual Choir Christmas program.  Their choir is led by a professional choir director at BYU, so they always put on a great program.  We maybe didn't get to enjoy it quite as much as we have in years past, with five kids four and under sitting on two rows at the front of the chapel, but it did help us feel a little bit more of the Christmas spirit.

We spent the afternoon cooking and then had our ham, potatoes, and apple pie dinner with Grandpa Bodell and the Stanton/McCorvey family.

 After dinner we attempted our first Hicks family nativity with the grandkids.  This little lady made a perfect angel.

 Brigham was a pretty good shepherd for a few minutes, long enough to take his sheep and lay it on top of the baby, but he wasn't too interested in making an extended visit to the stable.

 It ended looking something like this.  Memorable for sure.  Maybe we will try again next year.

 Sunday night and Monday morning we got snow!  And quite a bit of it.  So we headed out to go sledding on Christmas Eve afternoon.  Brigham LOVED it.

 He loved walking around in the snow and didn't mind walking up the hill, usually holding grandpa's hand, after each trip down.

 After sledding it was time for hot chocolate and decorating Christmas sugar cookies while listening to Christmas carols.

 On Christmas morning, Brigham woke up to see that Santa had brought him a train table.

 Santa remembered Lexi too.

 Then we headed down to Provo for the rest of the day where we opened lots of fun gifts, ate lots of good food, and spent time playing with our new toys.  The kids loved their new Toy Story toys and grandma's new play kitchen.  They played with that thing for hours.  The adults and kids loved playing Just Dance 4 on the wii as well as some competitive Disney Trivia.

 We are so incredibly grateful for this time of year that we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior and think about what his life and teachings mean to each of us.  We loved the extra time that we have had to spend with our family, and we are so very grateful for the many blessings that we enjoy.