Happy Holidays - Finally

My involvement in our church activity this year kept me extremely busy pretty much from Halloween on.  But we pulled it off and now I can start relaxing and enjoying the holiday season a bit more.  Our tree is up, my collection of Christmas decorations and nativity scenes continues to grow and I love it!  We had a slight issue with the tree, or tree stand, I should say.  About a week after we got the tree we realized that the tree stand was leaking, so I had to take all the ornaments off and we had to move it from one stand to another.  Thanks to my dad and brother who help with that effort!  I liked the way i had it decorated the first time better, but here is the tree now. 

Last weekend we managed to pack in more than I could ever have imagined.  On Friday night we went and got our Christmas presents to each other.  Disneyland passes!  We're so excited to be able to go to Disneyland any day of the year now!  We saved $152 by volunteering during Disney's Give A Day, Get A Day program, so that helped with the cost of it.  Not something we can afford to do every year, but we're excited for many trips to the magic kingdom! 

Saturday was the church Christmas party.  I decided to go with "A Night in Bethlehem" program.  It was a huge undertaking.  We wanted to give our ward family a unique experience that really honored the Savior during this season.  So we built the best Bethlehem we could in the church gym.  We had a marketplace where people could use their shekels to buy food and gifts.  Then we had a nativity skit program.  I don't have a lot of pictures, I was so busy running the thing I didn't have time for much.  The pictures I do have, don't really do it justice.  It was a great turn out and everyone seemed to have a really good time.  I had a lot of help from family and ward members, but husband deserves the most credit.  I took hours and hours of his time.  And when I wasn't taking his time, I wasn't giving him any of mine because I was always busy planning and packaging and making calls and sending emails.  So a HUGE thank you to him for being so wonderful! 

This was the stable we built.  We would later get dressed in our biblical attire (Adam was a Shepherd in our skit)



The toy shop and bakery with a Bethlehem scene in the background



A produce market, pit inn and meat and dairy market were all a huge hit!



The stage all set up for our nativity skit

 

So after the activity was over I got to start enjoying the holidays with my family a little more. We baked and caroled and enjoyed a musical fireside on Sunday night. Then on Tuesday, since my little brother was in town we decided to go down to Naples to walk around and see the Christmas lights.




I couldn't resist - my nephew Luca is just so adorable! 



Me with my little brother Rhett and sister Sarah. 



Some of the family enjoying a stroll through the beautiful canals of Naples.



 It was so fun to have Rhett here for a week. Even though I was so busy, he actually was a big help with the set up of the Christmas party and I enjoyed hearing all about his experiences in Tennessee and am so proud of him.

This week the Christmas rush continues, shopping needs to be done, more parties to attend, and a drive to Santa Cruz are all ahead, but I am looking forward to all of it. I love this time of year!