Christmas? Oh yeah, we did that

I know you all think I'm horribly behind. Actually this has been a psychological experiment. If I wait long enough, will my memories of Christmas fade to slightly fuzzy but happy mental pictures? Will I have forgotten, or at least toned down, remembrances of the endless shopping (my life's least favorite activity), cooking, wrapping, and crowd-fighting? Like childbirth, will I only remember enough to be ready--even eager--to do it again?

We'll see.

So here's the fun we had.

We decorated gingerbread cookies. Charlotte won the Cookie Monster award this year. Long after everyone else had left the table she remained, squeezing every last drop of frosting onto her masterpiece. She ended up with a cookie buried under a two-inch thick layer of multicolored sugar and frosting.

Saw the lights at Temple Square which most of us thoroughly enjoyed (Charlotte being the obvious exception, here). It surprised me by being one of my highlights. It felt like a bit of a chore, packing everyone up to be outside for an evening, but we were there on a warmish day right when the lights came on and it wasn't crowded. We heard a couple of high school choirs perform (perfect training for the kids to sit through a nice, short performance), and it was so beautiful and peaceful, while the days before and after had definitely not been.

Went to Charlotte's dance performance and the boys' piano recitals. Wised up and took the boys out for their favorite chili-cheese hot dogs AFTER the recital and not before. (Caroline, that "authentic Viking blood" on Carden's shirt at the Halloween recital was actually authentic Viking ketchup.)

The cousin gift exchange. Who knew that $1 could go so far. It'll be sad (or at least expensive) when they outgrow the wonder of the dollar store. It was far more successful than the nativity play, which the older kids were burned out on and left the younger kids squabbling over which role had the best costume accessories.

Took the kids to the children's hospital fundraiser, Festival of Trees, our second year coming. Afterwards we dropped off our Sub-for-Santa contributions and went out to lunch (me and the boys at Little Caesars, Tyler and the girls at the slightly seedy Chinese restaurant next door). Here's Seth at the "dial-an-elf" phone booth. Charlotte was transfixed by all the dance groups performing. The kids love all the fun craft projects and it's touching to see all the beautiful trees created by families as tributes to loved ones gone.