A Jack, A Joker and our Ace: December fun

I love December so very much. The magic in the air, the love and kindness that is extra strong, celebrating the birth of our Savior and warm days inside drinking cocoa while it snows outside. We have a nightly routine in December that the boys love almost as much as I do. We watch videos and read scriptures from the 25 days of Christ website, we open and read a Christmas themed book (wrapping all 24 is a pain but so worth it), put an ornament on our advent tree, and talk about service we performed that day to add straw to the baby Jesus' manger. It is so peaceful and the focus is all about the Savior except for the Christmas book. This year being pregnant was so special connecting to Mary on a level I hadn't before at this time of year. I felt closer to my Savior and gained even more respect than I already had for Mary and the sacrifices she went through. The boys loved seeing videos of her and saying, "Mom! Jesus is in her tummy like our baby sister is in yours!"

Shortstop had his Christmas school kindergarten program. So stinking cute! He practiced forever and nailed it. For some reason I can't upload any of the videos but they are awesome. He kept grinning at us and giving us a thumbs up. Love that kid and his personality.

One day after school we went to Thanksgiving point to see the reindeer. It wasn't crowded at all and we could enjoy watching them eat. We love Thanksgiving point and how hard they work to make holidays special. Another evening we headed there to drive the light show. Having kids this time of year rocks.

For the first time ever I actually spent money on good snow clothes and oh my goodness did it make all the difference in the world! I am so not a winter outdoor person but I want them to love it. And they did this year! The boys played outside until they had to go to the bathroom or were starving, one day it was even two hours of outdoor play.

And as per tradition, we headed north to City Creek for shopping and dinner and then temple square for the lights. It was a cooooold night so we did not stay long but again, because they have the right clothes, they were warm enough and had a good time.