Weekend in SLC, UT

My cousin, Caleb, was married on Friday (18th) so my parents stopped by our house and took the kids and I with them to SLC for the weekend. I had never seen Temple Square at Christmas time so it was quite the treat. Our hotel was only 1/2 mile from Temple Square, which made it an easy walk.

There was a beautiful nativity set up between the old Tabernacle and the North Visitor's center. Every 15 minutes or so the Christmas story was told over loud speakers along with beautiful music.

The amazing Salt Lake Temple. This temple never ceases to amaze me. I am in awe each time I see it and think about the early Saints building it.

Mary and Joseph

My sweet boy

The kids really wanted to see the big statue of Jesus and have their picture taken by it. He is the reason for the season.

Hyrum and Grandpa at Temple Square

I asked Hyrum to stand in front of the tree and smile and this is what I got.

Lydia, Grandma Shauna, Marcene, Diane, and Grandma Hansen

This isn't the best picture of Hyrum but I had to post it because he's actually smiling!

From left to right: Rachel, Shauntae, baby Brinley, Amber and her baby, and my cousin-in-law Amber.

The following pictures were taken by Lydia:

The kids and I stayed in our own hotel room and they had a blast! They went to bed late and woke up early, claiming that they were starving and needed to eat breakfast. Could it have been that the breakfast included everything that I outlaw at home (sugar cereal, non-raw milk, white bread, sugar muffins, juice, hot chocolate, pastries...)? Knowing my kids, of course!

self portrait

A family in our ward hosts an annual Nativity night at their home. We've never been in town for it before so this was our first time attending. We pulled straight in from SLC and Jon met us there.

They had a couple fire pits so the pictures are hazy due to the smoke.

The Manger scene. Hyrum was one of the wise men.

This is the kids Monday morning watching a video and enjoying Hyrum's first day of Christmas vacation. It's been fun to watch them become better friends this year.

Hyrum's 1st Grade Christmas Program

Hyrum and the other 1st Graders put on a Christmas program for their parents. Hyrum's in the second row from the top in the middle of the row.

After the program Santa was a special guest. After seeing Santa at the ward christmas party, Lydia had a little more courage. She still didn't want to sit on his lap (notice the hesitancy in this picture) but Santa picked her up and she was okay with it.

When Santa asked Lydia what she wanted she responded with, "a cookie." She had seen him handing out cookies to the kids in line before her. She's sad now that she never got to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. Both the kids have written a couple letters to him so I'm sure he knows :)

First Snow Fall

Oh, how I love snow around Christmas time! Snow has the ability to turn a dreary world into a winter wonderland. Love it!

Life thru the eyes of Lydia

I believe we have an amateur photographer on our hands. It's not uncommon for Lydia to take 50 shots within a few minutes, thank goodness for digital cameras! I've decided to add some of her photography to our blog/family journal. Maybe someday she'll be a world renowned photographer?!

I was informed by Lydia herself how to smile in this one. She even tries to pose her subjects!

What adorable little toes!!

Jon and Hyrum have taken similar photos of themselves... must run in the family

Lydia's friend, Claire.

The fabric on our computer chair.

Ward Christmas party

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. Lydia was so excited to see Santa, but chickened out at the last minute and lost her courage to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Hyrum on the other hand, didn't hesitate to ramble off his long list of expensive gifts like a Wii, Xbox 360, and a Ninetendo DS. There were a few other less expensive ones like a puppy. He's a silly little boy! Hyrum's friend, Trevor, joined us for the party.

I really liked the saying on this plaque. "Children need a stable background." Amen to that!

This is Lydia's most common pose for the camera lately. She encourages me to do the same when she wants to take pictures of me. Too bad I never look as cute as she does.

Lydia Jane

We went out to Weiser Saturday night for a very nice Christmas play at the High School there. I was trying to snap a photo of Lydia smiling and instead these are what I got.

It was dark in there so I couldn't really see her face when I was taking the pictures. She knew she was being silly and quite enjoyed it. She was extremely excited to see Santa after the play but, unfortunately, I missed the memo that he was coming before the play. We missed him and she was so sad :(

Lydia really enjoys taking photos with the camera right now. Typically, I just delete them afterward but I kept this one to show what our tree looks like this year. We picked it up at the local tree lot instead of the mountains. It's a little full for my likes, but it's a tree and I love having it!

Naughty or Nice

Hyrum made this nice Christmas countdown chain at school and proudly hung it on his wall. Of course, Lydia wants to do everything Hyrum does so she wanted to take part in ripping off links. Hyrum didn't care to share so the picture below is his solution to the problem.

Naughty for not wanting to share? I think, nice, for making his sister her very own Christmas countdown chain that now hangs over her bed. Way to problem solve in a positive way, Hyrum!

My little Artist

Hyrum really enjoys "painting" on the computer. These are a few of his creations from the last few months. I think we may have a future artist on our hands!

A man out fishing

This last picture shows Hyrum's true nature. He's a sweet loving little boy and we are so grateful to have him in our family!