Christmas Experiences

For Christmas this year, the kids mainly got experience gifts. We gave the girls tickets to go see Ragtime at the new Hale Center Theater in Orem. It was AMAZING! I've always loved the music from Ragtime, so I loved sharing this show with the girls. 

Hazel gave me a hard time at intermission saying, "You don't like Les Miserables because you say it's too sad, but you like this show?!?" It is admittedly not the most cheery plot, but it's so good! On the way home we talked about the power we have to be changes for good or ill in our world, and how so much depends on our reaction, not the things that happen to us. Such a great evening with these beautiful girls! 

The whole family got an experience from Santa to visit the Crater up in Heber. We enjoyed lunch at a fun train- themed dinner...

... then headed to the Crater. It's a natural hot spring inside this awesome cave. Because it's heated by carbon dioxide gas instead of sulfer, it doesn't smell yucky. In fact,  it felt amazing to swim in! 

It was especially nice to get away as a family before we add a baby to the mix again. Highlights of the day included: lots of laughs and smiles,  seeing the kids awe walking in to the cave,  Walter loving the water,  Conrad and Orson drawing maps of the cave at home,  and Lenora declaring it the best gift ever.  

Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa-Great!

Michael's grandpa turned 90 years old on January 5th. His daughters, Teri and Calla, wanted to surprise him with as many of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as possible, so we planned a trip to California for New Years instead of Christmas. 

We were supposed to leave on the end of December, but we were fighting off major sickness in our house. I had fallen sick the day after Christmas, and within a few days we were all down with a nasty strain of the flu. Body aches, fevers, runny noses, pink eye, and terrible coughs hit all of us. We postponed the trip, but decided that by New Year's Eve we were on the upswing enough to go. Sadly, we didn't bounce back nearly as quickly as we hoped, and we ended up still recovering most of our trip. Teri and Tony were so kind to host us all (even though they did end up with our plague). 

Since we were all fever free, but still not feeling great and coughing a ton, about the only thing we did the whole trip was visit the beach. New Year's Day was spent at Newport Beach and walking around the Harbor area. 

Recovering from sickness or not, these crazy kids still wanted to swim in January!

The following day Hazel felt extra yucky, so Michael stayed home with her while I took the other kids to a different section of Newport Beach. It was a super foggy day, but the kids loved it. We caught a low tide and found some great things in the tide pools including a huge sea star and sand dollars. 

Then Friday we headed up to Laguna Beach. The kids had never been before, and we caught the perfect day. It wasn't too crowded, the weather was beautiful, and there was a pod of dolphins swimming just off shore! 

That afternoon Michael and Eliza went to the temple (Hazel was still coughing too much to go)

And that evening, we headed to Balboa Island for a family celebration. We had challenged the kids to each read the Book of Mormon this year on their own, and they all finished! So we went for Balboa bars and a sunset walk around the island. 

Then it was Saturday and time to party! We arrived early at the venue to help set up (and goof off!)

Grandpa-Great was shocked when he walked in to this crowd at the restaurant! It was such a tender moment. I'm so glad that we were all well enough in the end to be there!

Great-Grandpa, was also so touched when we told him our baby's name would be Lionel Craig Ballard. There are several Lionels on the Craig line, so once we picked that name, it felt like a fitting tribute to Grandpa and his whole line of family to use Craig as a middle name. 

We love you Great-Grandpa!!!

Ho, Ho, Merry Miss-Miss

 Ho, Ho Merry Miss-Miss was one of Walter's favorite sayings all December. He loved the lights, the trees, his Charlie Brown Christmas shoes, and the general excitement that surrounds the season. We all do! And it's even more fun seeing it through fresh, toddler eyes. 

We had a beautiful Christmas season full of wonderful moments as a family and some beautiful, touching reminders of the importance of our Savior's birth. Of course we did our traditional scripture advent to count down the days to Christmas. This year, we focused on the song "Come Lord Jesus." 

Come, Lord Jesus, to the manger.

May we see Thy tender face—

Great Creator, here a stranger,

Infant in this humble place.

Darkness scatter; morning swell.

Come, dear Lord Immanuel.

Come, Lord Jesus, to the manger.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Come, Lord Jesus, to the wounded—

Broken heart and bended knee.

Worthy Lamb, Thy love unbounded,

Bid our souls to rest in Thee.

Grant us mercy, Savior, King;

Come with healing in Thy wings.

Come, Lord Jesus, to the wounded.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Come, Lord Jesus, great Redeemer,

Light of Morning, Prince of Peace.

We will be Thy children ever.

Dry our tears; may weeping cease.

Come in glory; come again.

Come to us to rule and reign.

Ready us to kneel and greet Thee.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Each week we focused on memorizing a new verse of the song and reading scriptures about His birth, His capacity to heal and lift us, and His Second Coming. It made for a wonderful way to memorize a new hymn and an even better way to invite our Lord Jesus in to our lives more each day! 

After a Christmas Eve dinner with the Smiths, the kids all slept in a fort they made in the boys room. That way Christmas Day could dawn for everyone at the same time (at the crack of dawn of course).  

Then it was gifts and good food and reading and having fun and wonderful family time! 

Merry Christmas! 

December Fun in Pictures

December was full of lots of fun thanks to Christmas parties, activity day ice skating, book club, forest school, and $5 zoo day. Not to mention Walter's Happy Christmas pumpkin. He spotted a leftover pumpkin in the garage and really wanted to carve it, so of course we made it a Christmas tree!