Christmas Eve 2008

So, we are off to the party. Chad is sporting his lovely Christmas sweater that Kevin sent to him from the Mission. Doesn't he look sweeeet!!
After we had a wonderful dinner we acted out the Christmas story. Mark read, Andrea lead us in songs and the kids, some of them big, acted.
Mary and Joseph on the donkey going to Bethleham.
Lexi is Mary, Andre is Joseph and Chad is the donkey
The angel came to the shepherds and they were afraid. Kelsee is the angel and Jason and Jordan are the frightened shepherds
Kelsee the angel and Chad the donkey
Dan a wiseman
Kelsee
Kelsee hugging Santa
Lexi and Santa
Jordan up close with Santa
Andre and Santa
Dan and Alli
Grandpa even sat on Santa's lap
Mark is a bit happy to see Santa

After we got home Sherry and Chad thought it would be fun to take the annual photos. Since Kev was not here to wear the red long johns, Sherry took his place.
So this is almost the one with you, Kev. Compare to Elder Lawson's photos!!
Sherry and Chad are trying to imitate the photos from Christmas past with Kev usually in the red long johns. He is away and so we had to improvise. I hope you like it Kev!

They are trying the robot moves.
After all the photos, Sherry spent the night. She stayed in Kevin's room and awaited Christmas morning. We got up around 10. Had a nice breakfast, opened our gifts and then all the family came over. Later we got the best gift. Kevin called and we got to talk to him. He sounds great and he had a wonderful day. Next event will be the new year.

POLAR EXPRESS

Here we are. This place is pretty awesome. Check out their website. http://stringtown.us/ There is an amazing story about this family. Actually there is a link to the right- Stringtown. Check it out. If you go to the web site they have a 3 minute video with the music we heard and all the pictures that were displayed. It is really good. It would be awesome to be able to do what this family has done.
I only got a picture of Mary and Kelsee on the train. She is listening very carefully to the instructions. Jordan was behind Mary and Andre was in front of me and I could not get him to turn around.



Here we are at the NORTH POLE!!

There was this huge display around the room and a train was going all around. It was sweet.She had the cutest look on her face. Her hand is on his shoulder. I just love little kids reactions to Santa. I know I get excited when I see a good Santa.
After talking to Santa you got a bell just like in the Polar Express. If it had been busy we would have waiting in this big garage and watched the Polar Express while we waited for our turn but we went right to the train.
Andre was cute he asked for that "Blaster Nerf Gun" I hope Santa was listening.
Jordan was funny, he said "I'm not going first". He didn't even sit on his lap just sort of stood there. I could not hear what he told Santa he wanted.
There we are with Santa
Santa told the story of the symbols of Christmas, he started with the candy cane and asked what does it represent. The kids said the shephards staff. Then he turned the candy cane upside down and said what is this? It was a J and he said remember Jesus. And then he talked about the stars, the color red, the green trees and the bell. The kids seemed pretty interested still at this point.
Kelsee ringing her bell.
Santa singing jingle bells with the kids.
After Santa was done singing he told the kids they would get another present at the end of the train ride and to look at the pictures and listen to the music and they will get a present in their heart. I know I felt it, not sure if the kids did.The music started and the train took off and we saw some really neat pictures. First the star in the fields.
This was the stable.
I love this picture.
We sometimes forget that Jesus was a little boy and he must have been a joy to his mother.



This is only a portion of the photos along the train ride. There were so many and we were going quick enough that I could not get all of them. They were so pretty.








This activity would have been more beautiful in the dark. There were lights everywhere and all this pictures would have been all lit up. The music that was playing was really pretty. It has been soo cold here and the night we had tickets ended up the night Kelsee had her dance performance. Oh well, I enjoyed the little time I got to be with the kids and these pictures were awesome.
So, when we were all done Kelsee says "that was boring". So much for that activity!!

TEMPLE SQUARE

So we decided to take the annual trip to see the lights. Chad and Sherry were unable to come but the rest of us had a great time. First we hurried to get there in time to see the Joseph Smith movie. We just made it and I loved it just as I did the first time. The kids were fun to watch. They really seemed to be interested and during the time when he went to the grove to pray and the darkness came they were a bit scared. It was pretty sad and graphic when Joseph and Hyrum were killed. I hope they enjoyed it and will remember Joseph. The movie is amazing and really only shows a small portion of the prophet's life. What a man he is.

This is just a photo of the temple through the window and the flash made it look like this.

This is after we watched the Joseph Smith Story at the JS Building. This is from the 10th floor looking out on the temple ground. Pretty sweet.

What a great sight!!

This little old man offered to take our photo. That was nice but he chopped off Andre, Lexi, and Jordan's heads.

Here we are just enjoying the lights. It was a great night, not too cold. Jesse and Mary forgot Kelsee's coat so she looked like a little orphan child.

Say what?!!

What up?!!

Little HOMEY Kels