Christmas at Nana's

On Christmas Eve, the whole group went sledding. It was freezing so we only lasted about an hour, but there were plenty of runs between all the cousins, and aunts and uncles, and Nana too.After a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, we held our annual live nativity. The kids are old enough now that they really love to play their parts. I think this is definintely the sweetest nativity ever! And with our very own baby Jesus (Dylan). Sweet angels.Mary fair. Every 7 year-old girl dreams of being Mary and this was Emma's lucky day.Perhaps the most adorable wise man ever! Preston!Jade was our little lamb.Uncle Eric read from Luke 2.And then, all the kids got new pjs to sleep in! Emma never did give up baby "Jesus."We left cookies and hot chocolate for Santa with lots of letters.The kids slept downstairs all in a row of sleeping bags. It took them a few hours to finally fall asleep, but they slept until after 7 so the parents were thrilled. And then the mayhem hit...Santa left a mess in the front yard and a letter apologizing. You see, he was in a hurry and had to feed the reindeer on the front lawn.Presents...

Jess and Dylan.

Emma and Madeline before church on Sunday. Wow. What a fun, fun, fun time had by all!

Temple Square Lights

Now that we are back in Utah, of course we couldn't miss out on visiting Temple Square and seeing the lovely Christmas lights, the life-sized nativity, and the Christus. It was so cold, but the kids didn't seem to notice. It was dad who was ready to pack it up.
Isn't this a beautiful picture of the Salt Lake Temple?

Our kids really loved the Christus. They just sat on the ground in front of it and stared. It is so beautiful and I could hardly get Emma to leave.

December's Happenings... a little bit late.

Madeline made this darling gingerbread house at preschool, and then munched on it pretty much every day for the rest of December. Nothing like stale royal icing.
Ryan performed as "Santa Claus" in a reader's theatre that his class put on. It was darling!

Both Ryan and Emma performed at the school Christmas concert. The French songs were beautiful!

We also met cousins and grandparents at Trolley Square in Salt Lake for a nice dinner together.

A good book...

is a must-have in January. I cannot be held accountable for the lack of blogging lately. I have Jane Eyre to blame. Pictures from our holidays and lovely life to come soon!