Candlelight Christmas

This holiday our family tried out something new, we spent an evening at This is The Place park's Candlelight Christmas.  It was honestly so much fun, everyone, of all different ages, loved it!  The whole park is decorated for Christmas and each pioneer house has an activity for guests to do.

I know this picture is blurry but I was amazed at the beautiful view of the city you get while at the park and Zoo Lights really looked all decked out this year, I wish I had had time to go to that fun Christmas experience as well.  There is always next year.

We began our evening by taking a fun little train ride to the top of the park so we could make our way down through the park and hit all the houses.  It was a fun little ride, they had Christmas music playing and it was fun to see all the houses trimmed with Christmas lights and decorations as we chugged past them.

Our first and favorite stop was the social hall where we received dance lessons.  Our family had a ball and all 17 of us spinned around the dance floor, switching up dance partners and just having a grand old time.  We had a hard time moving on to the next house but we only had a couple of hours to cover the whole park, but we definitely created a lot of fun Christmas memories.

We spent a lot of time at the fire pits along the path, the night we went was absolutely freezing so standing around a fire felt fabulous!

Our next stop was a silly little Christmas puppet show about why santa has reindeer pulling his sleigh.  The kids seemed to really love the performance.

The little ones really wanted to meet the puppet cast after the show, Thomas especially liked them. (PS I was having major camera issues so that is why they are kinda dark and grainy ..... you can't win them all)

Patiently waiting....

Across from the social hall was a live nativity.  We found the shepherds warming up by the fire and they informed us that baby Jesus was sleeping.  So they let us take pictures of them to represent the nativity and we moved on to our next event.

Our next stop was signing the naughty or nice list in the Relief Society Hall.   All the kids made sure to get their name on the nice list and received a candy sucker.  All the adults had heard that the naughty list signers got better candy so we all took turns adding our names to the naughty list and received a handful of coal (yummy chocolate!).  When Nora saw that her mommy and daddy had signed the naughty list she got extremely and sincerely upset.  She full heartily believes in the naughty and nice list and could not fathom that her parents had willingly put their names on the naughty list.  They told her they still had a couple of days to change their ways and make it back on the nice list and that seemed to calm her down a little.  I love that girl, she is so funny. 

Ricky made sure that everyone could see sweet Karin's name on the naughty list haha, so when it was her turn she made sure Ricky's name was nice and big as well.

The little ones enjoying their "nice list" suckers.

A couple of Santa's reindeer were there visiting.  I love reindeer I think they are such neat/awesome/cute/huge/cool/fuzzy animals.

Then we stepped inside and discovered that Santa himself was there taking some last minute requests. This santa was one of the coolest Santa's I have ever seen, I just loved the unique fur trimming on his entire outfit, the style of his hat, the style of his coat, his authentic snowy white beard, just everything about this santa was so great.  He was also such a sweet and tender santa, the way the real santa is I am sure.  He had cute conversations with all the kids and generously gave out tons of candy canes to everyone.

We ended the evening by exploring the magical gift shop.  I found a package of the coal we had received for signing the naughty list, I thought it was so funny and wanted to get some but I didn't know who I would give it to, but I know where to find it for next year if anyone is mean to me over the course of this next new year...

We had such a fun night I think this might have to be a permanent addition to our family Christmas traditions.

I Am Thankful For ....

I always look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday, it is always so fun to be with family and to celebrate everything that we are thankful for.  We have a very traditional Thanksgiving in our family, we have special recipes that we cook every year that we only make for Thanksgiving dinner.  My mom and dad start cooking two days before the big day, they are just the best, I love their cooking everything they make is sooooo delicious and I think it is so cute that they cook together.  I am thankful for my parents.

My mom asked me to put some decorative finishing touches on the table to make it a little more festive.  So I added a few fresh fall colored flowers in silver julips then set the table using my mom's fabulous autumn time dishes.  I am thankful to live close enough to home to be able to come home for the holidays and to be able to help my parents out in anyway that I can.

My dad and I are the bakers in the family, we both just love to bake!  So I always help him with the rolls.  He likes to be in charge of making the dough, but I help him shape each roll.  I am thankful for all the things my parents have taught me, espcially the things I learned and things I learned to love based purely on their example.

Jenny brought this fun craft for the kids to do while we finished up some of the cooking.  You make the turkey's tail feathers out of silk flowers.  I though they turned out so cute!  I am thankful to come from a family that values and supports the arts and creativity and who all love to craft and create fun things.

My mom had made these cute turkey crayons and gave one to the girls along with brand new coloring books, filled with blank pages just waiting to be colored!  I am thankful for being a part of such a thoughtful, caring and loving family.

I got to brush the freshly baked rolls with melted butter, I love doing that, it is makes them look so yummy.

Mom making some gravy, me finishing the rolls, and my dad carving the turkey. I am thankful for every single minute I get to spend with my family doing the things we love to do.

These stuffing balls are my favorite Thanksgiving food, we only make them once a year so I think they are very special.  I am thankful for my family traditions.

The gravy boat we used this year belonged to my grandmother, I thought it was sooo pretty!  I am thankful for my grandparents and ancestors and for everything they did to give me the life I live.

The girls ate early and then cuddled up to watch a movie while us grown ups ate our meal.  This is the "nest" it has been in our family for years, me and my sisters used it when we were kids and it is just the best thing in the world, it is the most comfortable thing in the world when you are a child.  I am thankful for being blessed with such a happy childhood and all the memories I share with my sisters.

The wonderful finished buffet, everything was AMAZING!  I don't even know how it is possible but I it seems like it gets better every year.  I am thankful for being blessed to have enough food to eat at every meal.

Nora had learned a couple of Thanksgiving songs in her kindergarten class that she spontaneously shared with us.  She wanted grandpa to sing along even though he had never heard the songs before, it made for a pretty good post dinner show ...  I am thankful for all my adorable nieces and nephews and the joy they bring to our family.

After dinner we went to Century 16 Theaters to see Puss in Boots. I thought it was hilarious, Jenny and I laughed the entire time. I love humpty's gold sweat suit. Then we came home to have dessert. My dad made his traditional pumpkin pie as well as a lemon cheesecake for those weirdos that don't like pumpkin flavored things (pumpkin flavored anything is my favorite!) Both desserts were delicious! I am thankful for my happiness and the simple pleasures I get to enjoy that make my life so fun.

Jenny brought another craft for the kiddos, gluten free cookie and candy turkeys!  The girls had a great time making them and their turkens looked fabulous.  They didn't last too long, most of them got gobbled up seconds after being created.  I am so thankful for my sisters and everything they do to make family gatherings so fun.

I am so thankful for all my many blessings, no words can describe my gratitude