December Shenanigans Part 2

Just when I thought I had captured it all, there was more to our December and Christmas! 

Mc and I went and had a Christmas girl's day with a pedicure. Always lovely. 

We had a huge snow storm and Mc decided (on her own) that she wanted to shovel the neighbor's driveway

Mc's Christmas Choir concert

 This year, just like every year, we waited and waited and waited to see Father Christmas. We went straight from Mc's choir concert and hoped since it was only a few hours from closing that we would be the only one's there...nope. Like always, there was a HUGE like for Father Christmas- we were #62 and they were barely on 19.  Mark wasn't too thrilled with waiting but as 8:45 rolled around (it closed at 9:00) people started leaving and our patience paid off. He is just as magical as I remember. I love that he doesn't rush and talks to the kids individually. He really is THE one and only Santa. The kids asked for an Ikea loft bed with a desk (Mc), a remote control crane (Enzo), and a pirate roller coaster Lego set (Kingston).

Luminaria is another Christmas bucket list that we have done with the Thomases for the last couple of years. We always have a good time and it's made even better once all your kids can walk without a stroller.

We had the awesome opportunity to have the sister missionaries over for family night. I love having them come and deliver a message and to feed them. Our kids think it is pretty cool and I especially love sending their moms a text with their sweet faces. I hope someday when my own kids are serving others will love them too.

 Mom, Sunni and I signed up for a wreath making class with a sweet girl that has her son at Enzo's preschool. It was much harder than I had anticipated and the OCD was running high. Mom and Sunni helped me polish mine off so that it didn't look to lop sided and I loved the fresh wreath hanging on my door. It was a fun night full of sap, Cold podcast discussion and Crumbl cookies.

Another night, another Santa. Mom had a random work/brokerage party that was free so we decided to go. They gave us a darling book, donuts, had a pretty decent Santa and a professional photographer, letters to Santa (the kids got a letter back telling them they were on the Nice List) and crafts.  Not bad for free! We also drove around and looked at some houses with pretty impressive Christmas light displays in Utah County. We found a Hello Kitty house that was pretty epic.

 And last minute, I got Tabernacle Choir tickets! I was super sad that I missed the chance to get them (they opened to the public while I was in Chicago and we were in line for the Sears tower so I missed it) but when a sweet girl posted in our ward page that she got "too many" I snagged them. We already had dinner plans with Dave and Aish so it was an easy swap and well worth it to see Kristin Chenoweth. I still think Sutton Foster was one of my faves but Kristen's dresses and charm were fun too. So glad we got to go! It isn't really Christmas until you have been serenaded by the choir.

December Shenanigans part 1

The build up to Christmas and all the festivities/lights/parties and fun are what make the holidays the holidays for me! It makes the month always go too quickly but having a jam packed season is what it's all about. 

For the past few years, me and my lady posse have braved the frigid canyon winds to go to Christkindlmarkt. We were few in numbers this year but it was significantly warmer, the cowbells were fabulous and the gingerbread delicious. Tradition says we must eat Pho at Lai Cai Noodle House immediately after so that's what we did. I had an awful cough/cold and hoped I could survive so Pho and friends was just what I needed.  We missed Elder Uchtdorf AGAIN- one year will be cross paths! I sure love these ladies.

 

We haven't done the Festival of Trees but I had the chance to get discount tickets and Mark got off early so it was a perfect day. It was SO fun and will be added to the list of things we do every Christmas. The trees were AMAZING- so much talent and love put into those trees. The favorites were the Harry Potter trees, The Muppets, Nightmare Before Christmas, Lego, Hot Wheels, and the Avengers. 

Hulk, Hulk and Kingston

This Harry Potter set up was SO awesome!

One of my absolute favorite traditions is our Sub for Santa night for the Adoption Exchange. This year we had the opportunity to help nine children. I love being able to shop for kids close to my kid's ages and to involve my family in making someone else's Christmas awesome. We eat dinner, go through presents, talk about the #lighttheworld campaign and just spend the evening together. I love being able to think about those kids as we shop and on Christmas morning.

Our last preschool Christmas program at the Williamson house! It made me a little teary and Enzo has asked lots of time if "I still get to sing at big kid school". I hope he will always love to perform. For some reason at this performance he was a little shy and kept sliding behind Jack. He said he was a "little nervous". He was adorable and we will sure miss Miss Amy when he goes to kindergarten (NEXT YEAR!! AHH!!).

Daddy and our reindeer. 

 Christmas in Color- the drive through Christmas lights- has been on our December list since we moved back to Utah. They used to have the light show at the Olympic oval in Kearns and then they moved it to the equestrian park right across from Mom's. We all piled into trucks and drove through while the kids danced and partied in the back.

Transformer loving boys- Enzo, his bestie Tate and K-Man loved the Bumblebee movie

Cousin Christmas party- pizza, cookies, Dice Game/Gift exchange. I only hope these kids stay close for life and will still like getting together for fun when they are older.

On Sunday night before Christmas Eve, we headed to Gardner Village on a whim to see the elves. It was about 6:00 and it was D. E. A. D. We were the only people there and it was relatively warm. From what I heard, everyone was at Temple Square to see the lights so we were glad we chose the elves instead. The kids- all three of them, have taken their turns being afraid of the elves. Alex took Mc and K and both cried. We have entered a new phase of life where paper mache isn't so scary.

My beauty and her prince 

Mom told us quite a few months ago that she had a surprise for us on 12/21. We weren't sure what it was but my first guess was Hale Theater (I really hoped!). We showed up to a catered dinner of crab legs, R & R BBQ, and treats and then OFF TO HALE! I was so excited 1) I hadn't been to the new theater and 2) A Christmas Carol is one of my absolute favorite plays. It was lovely.  Having a night with no kids and just my family was awesome! I hope this tradition sticks!

Sure love these people. 

Animated Christmas Willies

This year I wanted to do something a little different for Christmas cards and I didn't have the time or the will power to wrangle everyone for family pictures. I found this darling girl in the UK that did custom portraits on Etsy and this gem was born. I absolutely love it and can't wait to hang it up! She got everyone perfect and even hid a Hello Kitty for me. Love this little family of mine.

Legoland/Finale

We made the decision last minute to head to Legoland and I am still debating on whether or not it was worth it. We decided in the end it was about the same price as a day at Lagoon and if I could have the Lego cities IN Lagoon, it might be the best of both worlds. Ty and Jade met us there (Mom, Dad, Britt and Garrisan went to Univeral) and we decided to spend the day- 10 to 5  PM there. We made it the entire day but mostly because the weather was nice it wasn't unbearable being outside. The kids seemed entertained enough but I am sure this is the one and only time we will be visiting. It rounded out our last full day in Cali.

We spent an hour on the freeway in traffic on the way home. Enzo fell dead asleep and then just randomly sits up and yells, "I don't want to go on this ride, dad!". Apparently he was dreaming about all the horrible, awful, fun we made him have at Disneyland. 

We finally got Enzo to loosen up on a ride. Mc was too tall to ride. 

KING-ston

The coolest and only part worthy of a visit (IMHO) is the city/world scapes made entirely out of legos. We spent more time there than we did in any other part of the park. There were little additions of Santas and reindeer for Christmas. The boys were absolutely enthralled (even Mark). There were moving pieces and replicas of almost anything you can think of- car, boats, buildings, Las Vegas, the Subway, a man on a toilet, babies, dirt bike races).

As we were leaving the park, we decided to stop and take a picture. We had the kids all lined up and noticed that Enzo was missing. We rushed back to the entrance to get back in and the worker wasn't too excited about letting us in (it was almost time to close). Bree booked it through without even asking and I finally did too. Enzo was in the Lego store (one of the biggest I have seen) and didn't even know he was lost. 

We came home with an entire suitcase full of Legos. Mr and Mrs Clause, Jack and Sally, a free Crimes of Grindlewald/Harry Potter set for spending so much money. Mickey, a turkey, a witch, a magnet, Kingston's Ant Man souvenir set, Mc's Gamora. So worth it. 

Lego Christmas Williamsons

By the end of the trip we were all ready to come home, have a little distance and our own beds. Spending a week going non-stop and then coming home smackdab to Thanksgiving isn't always smart but the weather in Cali for sure makes up for it. It seems like all the planning and preparing is over so quickly and here we are just a few short weeks from Christmas. It was a nice break from our jobs, our callings and laundry. It for sure was NOT a great break for Mc who came home with EIGHT pages of Math homework that had to be done before she went back. It was good to come home to a clean house, g ood to have the blessing of being able to travel, and good to make memories with our little family. Mark swears we aren't doing Disneyland in two years, so I guess we say Disney Cruise 2020!

Electronics always bring everyone together. 

Just Keep Swimming

 We LOVE the Aquarium of the Pacific. We didn't pick a great day to go because there were gaggles of field trips but, it was still fun. Mc was pretty sure she was having the worst vacation because 5 min in she lost her new Wall-E charm and then when she want back to look for it, lost a pin off her mini back pack. We still had fun touching all the things in the tide pools and getting our booklets stamped.

Aquarium kids

The octopus is always a fan favorite. This one was super active and we got to watch it immediately change colors as it swam away. Such a cool animal. It was mid "wave" here. 

One of my favorite parts is when the divers get in the tank and talk to you about the fish, the aquarium and all the neat little factoids about the ocean. This guy has been volunteer diving for 21 years. All the people that work there are elderly volunteers and I wish I was close enough to spend my afternoons there when I am old. 

Touching jellyfish. Animals with no brains- only stomachs. 

Let it be written that Enzo also hated the aquarium. He was bored out of his mind when we were inside and wasn't a fan of touching anything. We finally thought we had turned a corner when we had gone outside because he and Sully (his new stuffed animal from Disneyland) could just run and do whatever. We were watching the seals and sea lions and Enzo was scaling the bleachers when all the sudden he says, "I am all wet!". He comes down and his head and Sully are covered in bird poop. Totally got pooped on! Just added insult to injury I guess.

We came back and everyone ordered in dinner and we hung out in Mimi's room. Mimi, Papa, Britt and Garrison spent the day at Disney (they went on a day the Matterhorn was open) and everyone was exhausted. This is the kids and Papa all crashed out while we played Cover Your Assets.