"In the Christmas Mood" Kind of Day!

Yesterday was one of those days that really got the Christmas spirit moving.  All the things that we did made it feel like Christmas.  I love those kinds of days and I was really needing one of those.  I worked all week and ran kids everywhere and felt the weight of the first week in my new calling and I was very stressed and overwhelmed....so this day was wonderful and fun and "christmasy"!

Ok, I have lied already in this post....I woke up that morning and cleaned my bathroom.  That is not at all the Christmas mood that is fun.  But it needed to be done desperately and I couldn't put it off any longer.  So after that, the Christmas spirit was flowing all through the house-----DECORATING!  I finally had time to get out all the Christmas decorations and put them around the house.  It was great to blast the Christmas tunes and really get in the "mood".  All that is left is the tree and that is coming very soon----

After a couple of hours of that, I took the girls out for some shopping.  They have been needing some things and I have been putting them off cuz I haven't had time, or I had forgotten.  They tend to remind me when I can't do anything about it, so I finally had to write a list and I made sure that we had time on Saturday to get it done.  It was so fun to shop with them, even though the stores were packed and the lines were long.  My girls make me laugh and I love being with them.

That evening we headed up to see the Christmas Creche.  It is sponsored by the community, local schools, and the Church.  It is held in a LDS church building where many, many nativities are displayed in the cultural hall to see.  It was fun to see all the different sizes, shapes and origins of them all.  They had opened the curtains to the chapel and had people singing in there, or someone playing the piano.  They did it last year, but we missed it.  So glad that we made it to this years.

K's favorite was of course this one..........

We thought the bear dressed as a cow in the background was very cute with his "horn" hat.

J liked the all chocolate one from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.........

How did it not all melt??

Afterwards, we headed outside.....in the freezing cold........I'm talking bitter, wind chilling cold........give me some hot chocolate kind of cold (thank goodness they had that).........to see the LIVE nativity presentation.

There was Joseph with Mary riding in on a horse (he was playing a donkey) to find an room to stay ........

There were the shepards watching their flock......

and the angel that appeared to them........

There were the three wise men that brought the new born babe gifts.......

And a slide show of Christ at the end.  It was truly a wonderful event, despite the cold and the fact that we couldn't get back to the car fast enough all wrapped in blankets.

Afterwards, we went to our Ward's Christmas Party at our church building.  We got there a bit early (that never happens) and was excited to see that there were crayons set out on the tables to color with.  We had a blast coloring all over the table coverings.

We kept going and going and were the very last family to get in line for dinner.  One-we were having to much fun coloring and laughing and two-we were too lazy to stand in the long line, so we waited until there was no line.  Then, there was not much food left by then, but the dessert was just starting so we actually had a yummy dinner full of Christmas goodies.  After we ate, we kept coloring as the stories were being told and the songs were being sung.  We were getting a bit crazy as the night went on, but by the time it was over, we had quite the masterpiece.......we hated to throw it away.

We think we deserved a prize for the best drawings.  We sure had fun with that---it is the simple things!

At the end of the program, Santa came and let everyone sit on his lap and get a candy......

And I am talking EVERYONE..........

It was a great day full of accomplishments and Christmas spirit.  I feel rejuvenated now! We are getting close to the big day.......only.....