on thursday, the 4th, our HOA had a tree lighting party. they had a petting zoo, balloon animals, santa, carriage rides, and hot chocolate. we had a blast, and were very grateful for the hot chocolate - it was cold outside!
the first sunday in december was the first presidency christmas devotional. we had a family over for dinner that night, and watched the broadcast with them. it was a great night. i love starting out the season with words from the prophet.
the 13th was our ward christmas program, and while i was a little skeptical at first (and even grumbled a bit, i must admit), it was nice. there was a spiritual program in the chapel, and then refreshments and activities for the kids afterwards. the only downside was the time. i put my kids to bed early (saves my sanity!) - around 7ish, and the program started at 7. they were tired, and pretty cranky for church the next day, but i'm glad we went. i'm glad for the reminders of the real meaning of christmas. we had our pictures taken that afternoon. katie was fabulous, and offered to take them for us. thanks! we owe you one, katie!
i also got released from being the 2nd counselor in our young women's program, and was called as the 1st counselor instead. not too much of a change, just kind of switching gears.
christopher had his preschool christmas program on the 17th, which was super cute. he did a great job.
we went to our neighboring town's fire safety town, which is a little town built kid-sized. they had it all lit up, with fun activities. it was really cold, so we didn't stay for too long, but it was fun to go and see.
today was our yw christmas lesson, which went well, i think. i hope it helped the girls remember Christ. so, that's been our december so far.
oh, and i've also been baking like crazy! i'm pretty much caught up, and excited to enjoy this coming week. i can't believe christmas is almost here! merry christmas everyone!
p.s. here is a slide show of about half of our family pictures. *warning* not for people who might get irritated at seeing our faces more that 50 times. :)
