A Christmas Story

Here are some Christmas happening this good ol month of December...

To kick of the holiday season: THE BOUNTIFUL LIGHT PARADE! Ok. We missed it. All the floats ended very close to where we were, so we enjoyed a parade at a glance in a big ole parking lot. 

The parade got me in a Christmasy mood so we put up our little charlie brown Christmas Tree. It is only like a 3 foot tree, but we strategically put it on top of a table so it would be a little more Hyrum proof and hey, it made it look like it might be a regular size Christmas tree from a distance.    

I love that Hyrum can join the fun of putting the ornaments on the tree.

Later in the month we went to see the Christmas lights at Temple square. It was 23rd so it was so busy, SOo cold, but when we were done, it was a sure still was a  "wow, that was really fun" feeling. 

THE 23rd? Festivus of course! Jess' sister made sure the celebration and all the activities that come along with it took place. Picture: Feats of strength.  Jess and Natalie leg wresting.

Christmas Eve my mom came home from Peru (she had extended her month stay there). I felt we should get together as a fam for dinner. I started all this crazy cooking ..all four burners on high...BEEEEEEEp. Can you say smoke detector going nuts?

Pollo al la brasa. Hmmm. It is a popular peruvian roasted chicken.  I called my mom before hand to get her tricks of the trade so I could prepare it. Funny, I thought the chicken was all cooked when the guest had arrived, cut it open and surprise...not so much. It was back in the oven a couple more times before it was baked to deliciousness. 

Blogging this late about food is making me HUNGRY.

Christmas eve family fun.

CHRISTMAS MORNING!  That morning Jess and I woke up much earlier than usual  with the excitement of Christmas morning on our minds...it was the grown-ups waiting for the KID to wake up. 

Enjoying his GRAPES and new movie that morning.

Christmas day we visited as much family as we could. How cool it was to see everyone! By the end of that I usually would have been SO exhausted and grumpy, but for some reason I wasn't....it was Christmas just as I had hoped...happy!  This year was really such a sweeeet Christmas Season, perhaps one of the best.

I tried a new thing this year...it's was called: Relax and just really, really ENJOY the season. This meant getting presents as early and with as little worry and stress as possible.(..hint..shop online). I wanted to really enjoy the wonderful season of Christmas for what it is because, guess what Sariah? it really doesn't have to be tangled with stress if you don't let it. I kept it in my heart to focus on what really matters. It was nice to just be able to focus on Christ and his birth and smile that the world was celebrating the arrival of this wonderful King of Kings, our Prince of Peace.