Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas Activities

We tried to do some fun Christmas activities this year to help us get in the Christmas spirit.

We have...
Gone Christmas Shopping.
Us at Riverwoods. 
Seriuosly some of the best Christmas Lights. Matson and I want our future house like this!

Gone to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' show called Savior of the World.

Gone to the Thanksgiving Lights (little parade thing where you go through in your car).

Sorry I have no pictures from this activity.

Attended Christmas Parties.
We went to my friend J* and G*'s house for their annual dress up Christmas party.
Pre-Dinner Shot at our Table 
Me and J*. I love the Christmas decorations at her house and her cute Christmasy outfit!

Me and Mats at the party.

All the ladies at the party.
Mats got this great postcard book with hilarious sayings. My favorite is the bottom left. Am I horrible for thinking these are so dang funny? Matson and I were reading them after the party and could not stop cracking up! Don't be surprised if you get one of these in the mail from my husband. He has already sent one out. Sorry to his sister, T*. He thinks he is toooooo funny.


We also threw our own little annual Christmas party with some of our good friends. We had it last year too. It includes The Gingerbread Games (gingerbread competition), dinner & yummy treats, a white elephant exchange, and other games!
I seriously took no pictures at our party. It was a busy day and I just forgot! I am the WORST! But our Gingerbread house...we went for the Traditional Style.


Gone to the Nutrcracker and for a Hot Cocoa Run.
We went to the Nutcracker. I love it so much! Matson does too (even though he laughs hysterically through it due to the men in tights and the 10 minute clapping session at the end).


Christmas=A good excuse for getting hot cocoa often.

Watched Christmas Movies.
I made Matson watch Miracle on 34th Street. It is probably my favorite Christmas movie, I think he liked it just as much as I do. We have watched Elf and others too!

Participated in Christmas Service.
Last year we participated in Sub for Santa that Matson's work Vivint organizes. It was such a wonderful experience. So we did it again this year and it was just as wonderful! On Monday  night we shopped for two children that we donated money towards, we wrapped those gifts, and then Tuesday we were apart of the group that handed out all the gifts. It wasn't just like one gift. We got them stuff they needed, wanted, and other things!
Wrapping the Gifts Monday Night.


Top Left: The girl wanted a bike and got it! Along with clothing she needed and a book.
Bottom Left: All these children we opened gifts with were sooo pumped. One got a Barbie doll, the boy got soccer shoes & a Nerf gun, and one got the cutest little boots!
Right: This girl got hooked up! She got an Easy Bake Oven and it was super heavy along with all her clothes she got. She has to walk home a mile+ each day to school because this school does not have buses, but she didn't care that she had to carry it all home because she was so excited!

This little girl has the most amazing story of all that we had interacted with this day. On her request sheet she wrote that she wanted, "a baby that looks like me." And then the teacher wrote underneath it (black). Then the girl also had written that she needed a pillow. The teacher wrote under that that she needed a bed too. This girl got a blow up mattress (a cute disney Princess one), a pillow, and a black baby doll that eats & pees!
 It was such a touching experience this year. I tried not to cry, but there was some water in my eyes. It is amazing what Vivint does for these children.  A lot of the children just needed boots or a coat, yet the girl above didn't have a bed! I am so blessed. Seriously why am I so blessed? People in my own area, neighboring cities, and state are struggling more than I thought.
Here's a clip of our visit there: http://connect2utah.com/search-fulltext?nxd_id=192807

Christmas is such a wonderful time to do service.
Hope your Christmas is as fun and wonderful as ours has been so far! I am looking forward to this Christmas weekend where we can just relax, spend time with family, pig out, and enjoy Christmas!

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