Saturday Activities

Saturday was a fun day for our family. In the morning, we had our ward Christmas breakfast. Rinar and I were in charge of a small music presentation at the end of the breakfast. A neighbor played his trumpet for a few Christmas carols, some girls in the ward (McKinley, Kynnli, Ashlynn, Emily, Hannah, and Kate) sang "Nuttin' For Christmas" and then I sang "Gesu Bambino".  Then the bishop was serenaded by Sister Morris. This was a surprise number. I didn't know anything about it.  She sang "Santa Baby", accent and all. It was very funny.

Then the kids gathered around for a truncated version of the Grinch.

Rick E. was the Grinch. It was quite hilarious. It was a little scary for Harry and Julia, but they didn't cry or anything.

It was an enjoyable start to our morning.  Then in the evening, Rinar took me to Temple Square for a date. It was him, me, and Noelle.  We rode TRAX, which was a blessing because it was crazy-busy downtown. We went to the visitor's center so that we could watch a video on the family.  Rinar had seen it when he was in Oakland the week before, and he wanted me to see it too.  

The video was short and powerful. It wasn't preachy or anything, but it did a good job of reminding me what is the most important. When it is all said and done in my life, I want to be surrounded with the people I love the most. My family is a gift and I have been richly blessed. We both know it acutely.

The train ride home was a bit crowded, but uneventful. I made sure to get us a treat to share as we rode back to our car: a White Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

While we were gone, Leah and Jamie watched "Home Alone" with our kids, popcorn and all.  In the end, we all had a fun night.

Catye's Baby Shower

The Friday after Thanksgiving was pretty busy as well. I decided it would be a good time to host a baby shower for my sister. Her baby Paul is almost three months old now, but this is her first baby and it was the best time to celebrate with all family members in town. 

Hence, I was back in the kitchen getting ready for the next party. I had my mom and Leah decorate the room and give it a baby boy festive decor, using the same decorations I used at her wedding reception.  Hey, I am getting my money's worth, right?

I made a super delicious chicken salad, a Gable House recipe, a persimmon and pomegranate salad, fresh lemonade, homemade hummus (that I made about a month before), and a beautiful green salad with blueberries and goat cheese.  Sounds like a girly menu, don't you think?

All the food (besides the chicken salad) was super healthy, a nice balance from the day before.  

The shower was quite lovely and Catye got quite a few gifts. Hopefully, she felt special.

Catye's sister-in-law Jessica holding baby Paul. Isn't he so precious?

In the evening we decided to brave the crowds of opening night, and headed to Temple Square to see the amazing Christmas lights. They did not disappoint. The lights are amazing. The only problem we ran into was exhausted children. As we started to the 20 minute drive to downtown, Harry fell fast asleep in his car seat. That was not a good sign. It was the consequence of too many late nights playing with the cousins. He was pooped.

As soon as we parked the car, he was pretty miserable. But he face lit up when we got on TRAX. But that didn't last long. Therefore, we quickly enjoyed some of the Christmas lights and then it was really time to go home.

But we are not above bribery. In order to get these little legs marching back to the car, we told them we would get them a treat. Fortunately, right before we got onto the freeway, there was a convenience store. They picked out a treat and were quiet all the way home. Money well spent.

Next year, I am taking my kids to Temple Square on a weeknight some time in the middle of December, early in the evening. I think that would be better for many different reasons.

Temple Square and the Gateway

I have been busy the last few weeks. I decided to take a trip to Utah with my kids while Rinar went on a business trip to Florida. We spent almost one week with Melanie and her family. We were able to do lots of fun things. On the first day we went to Temple Square.


We first went to the Conference Center for a quick "kid" tour of the building. Melanie had never been in it before, but we didn't want to stay long because of our restless kids. So the tour guide showed us the inside meeting hall, which is massive and the roof. The roof is spectacular!

Halle, Zach and Raef are standing on the roof looking west over the Salt Lake valley. Can you believe that is a roof? The picture with all of us is also on the roof. I don't think there is anything like it in the world.

After this stop, we headed over the the church office building to go to the observation deck. The kids had fun seeing the entire valley. It was a clear day and a perfect time to look at everything. Then we did a quick run through Temple Square. There was a lot of construction going on, so we did not stay long.

We had to stop and fill up on some snacks before we caught the train to the Gateway.

Melanie and I were both amazed by the beautiful flower beds. They were stunning. Eli is sitting in front of one that is on the side of the church museum. I was especially struck by the beautiful color scheme for this one. It was so bright and well-planned.

Thanks to Melanie's eye for coupons, we were able to do 2-1 entrance fee to the children's museum. We got there mid-afternoon and all of the kids were enthralled by it, especially Eli and Ava. They hardly made a sound as they played really hard with all of the fun toys and contraptions. Here is Caleb in his mug shot. He actually was really happy but got all serious for this picture. It really cracked me up.



Eli and Ava got down and dirty with the balls. They must have been at this specific location for an hour all together. They just loved it.



We finished up the day with a nice dinner at Z Tejas and the kids were all surprisingly good. Melanie and I were both very surprised. Plus, we were able to finish up before the dinner rush. Then Melanie kindly bought all of the kids gumballs from a gumball cart. They had a lot of fun picking out the ones they wanted. And then we checked out the play fountains. I didn't want the kids to get wet so we told them they could play as long as they didn't get wet. It was quite a challenge and the kids all rose to the occasion. I think they had more fun running through the fountains dodging all of the streams of water. Plus, they only got a little bit wet.

It was a long, exhausting, but very fun day for us all.