Getting ready for Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas season between all my music commitments, our church commitments, and extended family plans. We made sure to plan time for just our family, though, and were able to do some fun things before Christmas!

Decorating the tree! Nora's first time (that she remembers....).

The kids LOVED the tree... we kept the lights on pretty much any time we were home. Both Owen and Nora loved to sit and look at it. 

Everyone came to see me play in the orchestra for Nutcracker at Temple Hill.

We made a point to go to some of the best Christmas light houses around us. This one was called Widmer World.

The whole yard - front and back - was full of lights and displays. Owen and Nora especially loved the trains.

We also loved the cool K'nex rollercoasters!

The best part about this place? They take and print professional-quality Santa pictures for you - totally free! This will definitely be on our list of places to come to every year. 

The primary kids acting out the nativity at our ward Christmas party.

Nora wasn't quite sure what was going on (she was supposed to be a sheep - hence the furry vest :) ). 

My sheep and my angel!

The town next to ours does a living Bethlehem, complete with live camels, sheep, donkeys, etc. It was awesome!

Signing the census in Bethlehem!

The Roman guards made sure that we followed all the rules.

Matt's family came with us.

Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem!

There were lots of displays set up - we tasted olive oil, learned how to write in Greek and Hebrew, smelled frankincense and myrrh, and Owen even got to make a mud/straw brick and use it to help build a wall!

We had a great time. It was really fun for the kids to see the story of Christ's birth acted out - we read about it a lot, obviously, but I think this really helped them realize that it actually happened.