Advent Days 8-14

December 8: Pictures with Santa. We went to CheapShots Photography again this year. Peyton said she was going to be brave, but got scared the minute she saw him. Maybe next year...

December 9: Decorate our Window. Just an easy, fun one that the kids were really looking forward to.

December 10: See the Lights on Temple Square. We rode Frontrunner and TRAX up and met Rog at City Creek. We got dinner at Kneaders and then walked around Temple Square. It wasn't freezing cold and it wasn't very crowded either - I think we picked the perfect night!

December 11: Sub for Santa (or Angel Tree or whatever you want to call it). Corbyn picked out a Lego set for a little boy in our ward and Peyton picked out a couple Frozen toys for a little girl in our ward. It wasn't their favorite activity, but it was a good one to teach them about giving and the true meaning of Christmas.

December 12: Make Neighbor Gifts. We made Peppermint Cookies & Cream Popcorn. The kids were our official Oreo and candy cane crushers. Our Best Bites posted the cutest (fully customizable) tags just in time and saved me from having to design my own!

December 13: Deliver Neighbor Gifts. Dolly got to come and Peyton pushed her almost the whole way.  It was pretty nice when we set out, but a storm came in that made warming up with a cup of hot chocolate necessary when we got home!

December 14: Open and Read a New Christmas Book. We got Sam's Christmas Wish, a cute book about how the spirit of giving is able to change one man's attitude towards Christmas.

Other highlights from the week:

We went to a Community Christmas Creche put on by our Stake. (I took the kids Thursday night with my parents while Rog was at school and then Rog took the kids again Friday night while I was at a Relief Society Activity.) I donated one of my nativities to have displayed. It was fun seeing it among all the many nativities from all around the world.

Rog finished up his classes for the semester!

As mentioned above, I went to our Relief Society Dickens Christmas dinner Friday night. They had a nice program with beautiful Christmas music and excerpts from A Christmas Carol.

My mom and I threw a bridal shower for Cailey. We invited a lot of people, but weren't sure how many would come with it being right in the middle of the busy Christmas season. I wanted to make sure we had enough food regardless of how many came, so I cooked and cooked and cooked. We definitely had enough with a good amount leftover for dinner that night. We had Wassail, Chocolate Milk, Orange Juice, Breakfast Taquitos, Mexican Eggs, Mini Quiche (from Costco), Maple Bacon, Applesauce Oat Muffins, Peach Muffins, Mixed Berry Salad, Fluffy Orange Fruit Dip with Fruit, Monkey Bread, and Mini Cheesecakes (from Costco).

The invitation.

The guests.

Kiera tied all the bows from the presents in Cailey's hair. The classic bridal shower picture!

While we were having the shower Rog took Corbyn and Peyton to the Bean Museum at BYU.

It was a busy and fun week!