Merry {Little} Christmas

Christmas celebrations were kept exciting this year by our little Chloe. She added joy to what has been a very bittersweet December. Here's a little breakdown of our month long celebration:

{Live Nativity at Tuachan}

We spent Thanksgiving in St. George with my family. We have a very special family tradition of visiting the Live Nativity at Tuachan every year. This year, I found the reflection on the birth of Christ to be particularly close to my heart. The Nativity scene was beautiful, and it was the perfect way to begin the holiday season. Chloe loved the live camels used in the Nativity!

Following the Nativity, we walked around the lights at Tuachan. Chloe just loved posing in the little picture scenes. She made Liz pose with her a million times! Chloe and Maddie rode on a small swing ride. They had a blast! We ended the night with a horse drawn wagon ride. What a fun night!

{Christmas FHE}

Brandon and I feel that it is important for Chloe to understand that Christmas is really a celebration of the Savior's birth and not just the commercialized celebration that accompanies the holiday. We found a small Nativity just for her and a very cute book that tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. We had a special FHE where we gave Chloe her special Nativity and Book. She loved to read her book and play with her Nativity all season long. (Don't mind her sweet hair and jammies!)

{Ogden Christmas Village}

On our Anniversary (December 10th - 7 years this year, but another subject entirely) my Mom and Dad came to babysit Chloe while Brandon and I went to dinner to celebrate. While they watched her, they took her to the Christmas Village in historic downtown Ogden. Chloe couldn't get enough of the little houses. Brandon and I took her for a return visit a few weeks later, and she showed us all around the little square. Her favorite houses were the Grinch houses and the Descente house that depicted a little ski/snowboarding scene. It was a fun night out with our little family.

{Temple Square}

On the 23rd we went to Temple Square with our good friends and neighbors, the Austins. Chloe and their son, Maxx, are little friends, so she was very excited to go with them and really excited to see the temple. Traditionally, Brandon and I have visited Temple Square at Christmas time every year since we were just newlyweds. With Christmas falling on Sunday, the 23rd was the Friday night before Christmas. Temple Square was beautiful, but SO crowded! I have never seen it so busy. Chloe has been facinated with the temple lately. She wants to go there when she gets bigger with her "prince charming" - such a cute girl! It was really quite cold, too. Between the chilly weather and the large crowd, our stay wasn't too long, but we enjoyed seeing all of the lights and the beautiful temple.

{Christmas Eve}

Brandon's Grandma Verna hosts a very fun party on Christmas Eve. She prepares a wonderful dinner, complete with her delicious homemade orange rolls, and we are able to enjoy the company of his extended family. After dinner, the children are surprised by a visit from Santa Claus! We had visited with Santa with Chloe several times prior to Christmas Eve. Each time, she had been pretty nervous about speaking with him. We actually ran into Santa and Mrs. Claus at Wal-Mart! Chloe refused to talk to him until he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, to which she exclaimed, "A lot of stuff! Just all of that stuff!" So, when Santa arrived at Grandma Verna's, Chloe just clung to my neck. She would only go talk to him if "Dad went with her." Brandon accompanied her to the front of the room to see Santa, and she actually sat on his lap, opened a small gift, and again voiced her request for "a lot of stuff!"

After the party, we opened our traditional pajamas, read the story of the Savior's birth, and tried to get Chloe to bed. Before bed, Chloe set out special treats for Santa and his reindeer. She was convinced that Santa would want a cupcake and a Diet Coke; you can't tell that is a popular combo at our house, right?! Chloe had a hard time falling asleep. She was very worried about where the reindeer would park and if Santa would come in the front door or the back door. She finally hit the sack after we told her Santa might pass her house if she was still awake when he arrived.

{Christmas Morning}

We woke up early on Christmas morning; we actually had to wake Chloe up. She wouldn't come out of her room because she was convinced that, "Santa didn't come because there is no snow!" We finally convinced her to come out of her room, and she just couldn't believe her eyes. She kept asking, "Is this stuff for me?" She is such a sweet girl! Santa Claus must have thought that Chloe had been a SUPER good girl because she got spoiled! I was really nervous about a "surprise" gift that Brandon gave me. He had teased me all week about the "electronic, useful" present that he had in store for me. I kept thinking, "oh great, he bought a dumb GPS or something!," but he actually gave me a new lense for my camera and a spa package. I was so surprised! He did a great job; I'm a lucky girl! Chloe had found a special gift for Brandon, and she was excited to give it to him. She handed it to him and said, "Here is your present, Dad. It is a remote control car!" Haha! After we exchanged gifts, we got ready for church and attended a very nice sacrament meeting.

After church, we went to Brandon's parents to celebrate Christmas with his family. His mom made a yummy breakfast, and we exchanged gifts. Her cute cousin, Tyson, gave her a pink little shopping cart. She has pushed it around our house nonstop since Christmas! We were spoiled by their generous gifts, and we shed a few tears as Brandon's opened the pictures of Talon we gave her - so bittersweet. Before we left, Chloe had to "build a Princess tower" with JoJo, probably because she insisted on wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress to our Christmas Breakfast! It was fun to celebrate with them and to see all of the joy that Christmas brought to Chloe and her cousins.

My parents and Liz drove up to our house on Christmas day. Brandon and I hosted a little Christmas dinner at our house for our parents and Liz. It was a nice evening, and I was just relieved that dinner turned out. We had planned to exchange gifts with my family just after dinner, but Chloe just crashed in front of the tree before we could even begin opening gifts. After a short nap, Chloe woke up and was ready for more present action. My mom and dad gave her a little Belle doll, which she loves!

Our family had a very Merry Christmas, and we are so grateful for the birth of our Savior. I think that His birth means more to us this year, and it will continue to be such significant event in our lives.