Zoo Lights

For New Year's Eve we went to Zoo Lights at the zoo. It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. We decided that we will make it a tradition to go to the Zoo Lights whenever we are home for the New Year.

We discovered a lot of "active" lights. This bear was climbing the tree. We also saw a spider catching a fly, a bear catching a fish, an orangatun jumping for the walking path, a fox chasing a rabbit into its hole, and many more.

We actually were able to see the cats better at night in the snow than during the day time in the summer. They were gorgeous (even if they were sleepy)! The leopard turned its head to look at us right after I snapped the picture.

The tiger had its head hidden right behind the pole so I found it easier to take a picture of the rest of it. Benjamin is still as much into tigers as ever and this is his favorite part of the whole zoo. We also saw the cougar prowling from one end of its cage to the other while checking out the people observing it. The lynxes were also as interested in the people checking them out as the people. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could get a picture of the wide-eyed animals looking at the people.

The Spider Monkeys were jumping and chasing each other around their cage, some of the few animals that were up and about at night. We saw some other monkeys that were curled up in groups, sleeping.

Benjamin loves the sneezing elephant! This life size statue plays the music to "Pop goes the Weasel" and makes sneezing noises. In the summer, it sprays water when it sneezes. Benjamin thinks it is quite entertaining and Bekah giggles at it from a distance.

We tried to keep our Munchkins bundled up, but there was too much to look at to convince them to stay in the stroller bundled up in blankets. By the end of the evening they were very glad to have blankets to bundle up in because they were so cold.

Ornaments hanging from the tree by the elephant exhibit.

Inside the "swamp" exhibit there were flowers and butterfly lights. It was so warm and humid in there that my camera lense fogged up creating the glowing effect in this picture.

The deer were "hiding" in the trees.

We totally enjoyed ourselves and going to the Zoo Lights was a good early evening activity for the children. After the Zoo lights were over at 9 p.m. we went home and put the kids to bed. Michael and I attempted to watch a movie through the new year during which I fell asleep. Michael was sweet enought to wake me up at midnight to wish me a Happy New Year and take me to bed. All in all, we really enoyed having a quiet New Year's celebration.

Playing in the Snow

Michael was so excited about our wet snow fall that he had to take Benajmin outside to build a castle with him. I don't know who had more fun, Dad or Benjamin. When Bekah discovered that the boys were outside, she had to go join in the fun. Michael loves being able to work from home and share these kinds of experiences with the children.

Cool Kids

Grandpa and Aunt Mary brought their sun glasses when they came to visit and the kids thought they were cool. Sunglasses are a novelty at our house because I am too cheap to buy contacts or transition lenses and Michael does not wear his around the children very often. The kids looked pretty silly in the glasses, but they had a fun time trying them on and having everyone laugh at their cuteness.

Christmas Day

I made these cute jackets for the kids. They were way easy, and fun to make!

Grandpa stole Benjamin's sword for about a minute before Benjamin wanted it back.

Michael taking pictures as usual.

Michael likes his BYU jacket that I got for free from a promotion back in September.

Sword fighting with sister.

This time I was smart and Santa brought a sword for Benjmain, Bekah, and Dad so they each could have a sword when they dual instead of arguing over who gets which sword.

Bekah was afraid of brother's tiger rug at first, but after a little more exposure she decided it wasn't so scary after all.

Gary was surprised by what Santa brought him.

Waiting for Aunt Mary to go downstairs.

Playing with the play dough from the activity kit Mary and Gary gave them. They love it and I love that they can use it in the kitchen and not on the carpet.

Bekah was so excited to get clothes for a Christmas that she had to go get dressed right away. Needless to say, she was the first one dressed that morning.

We had a wonderful Christmas! My parents, sisters, and Mary's fiance, Gary, all came to our house for the holiday. It was great to have everyone here. We played in the snow, took engagement pictures, went fabric shopping for wedding stuff, ate a lot of yummy food, and spent time visiting with one another.

On Christmas Eve, we shared our favorite scriptures about Christ and his birth. My favorite scripture is John 3:16 which reads "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" because it talks about the greatest gift that we have all received. Christmas is a time of gift giving, but the most important part is to take time to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the gifts that he gave to each of us by setting an example, teaching, and giving His life for us. To me, that is the true spirit and meaning of Christmas.

After we shared a spiritual message we opened our one Christmas Eve present and sent the kids to bed. Then, Mom and Dad played Santa and went to bed so that Grandma could finish playing Santa.

I woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and laid in bed reading until the children woke up around 7 a.m. I found this surprising because Benjamin woke up at 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve because he was so excited to have people at his house for Christmas. Once everyone was awake, we went to the family room to see what "Santa" had brought us and then took turns opening presents so we had a chance to see what everyone else received. I love the Christmas tradition of taking turns to open presents because then we can all share in the joy and excitement of each other as we see what was given to everyone else. This makes the holiday more meaningful for me because we share one another's joy instead of having a opening contest to see who can open their presents the fastest and ignoring the giving part of the season. We then had some friends over for our Christmas breakfast and spent the rest of the day enjoying spending time together and our gifts. Michael and I decided that we did not like the idea of having two big turkey dinners within one month of each other so we incorporated to tradition of Christmas breakfast where we have a big, yummy breakfast after we open presents and then we have the rest of the day to enjoy. We were planning on having cinnamon rolls with our eggs and bacon, but we ended up having pie instead (another good tradition, pie for breakfast). Yum!

Christmas was wonderful! And, I look forward to having it again next year, and for many years to come.

Christmas Eve

Benjamin and Bekah were really excited to get cute pajamas for Christmas!

Thanks, Grandma J., for starting a new tradition in our family!

Gary was very enthusiastic about his Christmas present from Kristina. Can you tell that he is an outdoorsy kind of guy?