The 3 T's

Each Christmas we try to visit what in our family have come to be known as the 3 T's (thanks for the idea Raelynn) Which are the Temple, Trains, Tree's.

Temple

We made it to the temple first. Each year the Washington DC temple puts on it's own mini light display. Now I have to say that it is Nothing like the lights on temple square it is basically just a parking lot with lit trees in it, and a small nativity, but it is a HUGE tourist attraction!! Tour bus after tour bus dumped hundreds and hundreds of people off to see it's lights, and listen to it's free concerts. When we arrived at 6:30 the 7:00 and 8:00 concerts were both full and the line wound around every inch of the visitors center, and out the door. It was PACKED! You could barely move. After a 1/2 hour wait we were able to see the huge, and amazing collections of nativities from around the world that they had there. It was chaotic, but despite the chaos it made me happy to see the missionaries so busy, and to feel the spirit that can come from being around the temple.

Tree's

The National Christmas tree is a massive pine tree that permanently lives in front of the white house for the sole purpose of being decorated each year as the national christmas tree. It has a bunch of trains that drive around the bottom of it, and it is surrounded by 50 christmas tree's decorated by each state. The tree's are beautiful but our favorite part is santas house that they have next to the trees. Each year they have an adorable cottage that is filled with sleeping elves, Mrs Clause and most importantly Santa. The kids LOVE to come here and best of all you leave with a free picture of your kids!

Train's

On Christmas Eve we finally made it to see the trains at the Botanical Gardens. This is my favorite Christmas tradition. Each year they turn the botanical Gardens into this amazing christmas wonderland. They have about 30 buildings from around the world that they make out of organic materials (leaves, mushrooms, and other plants) They are incredibly detailed, and look very real. The buildings are surrounded by waterfalls, christmas trees, poinsettias, miniature elf villages, and trains that drive in all different directions on tracks that drive through waterfalls, and on tracks that are suspended above your head. It is amazing!

Elf on Shelf

This year we decided to start a new family tradition and so I bought the ELf on the Shelf, left it on the doorstep and told the kids that Santa had sent it to them. They LOVED it! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Elf on the Shelf it s a very clever book, that comes with a very clever little elf. You start by reading the book, it talks all about the elf and how it a special elf from Santa that has been sent to live in your home and watch you until Christmas. Each night after you have fallen asleep the elf flies back to the north pole to tell Santa all that he has seen and heard throughout the day, and each morning it returns to a different spot in the house. If you touch it, it will lose some of it's magic, and won't be able to return to the north pole to tell santa how good you have been. Under Santa's strict orders it can not talk to you, but it can hear you and tell santa whatever you would like for him to hear. On Christmas morning he flies back to the north pole in Santa's sleigh not to return again until next Christmas. After reading the book you give it a name. My kids chose the name Dingle.

Chris, Hallie, Brooklyn and Dingle.

I knew the kids would like having an elf around but I had no idea that they would buy into it as much as they did.

On the first day Hallie talked to the elf for at least an hour

On day 3 Hallie told us that she saw elf's eye move

On day 4 Hallie told me that she thought she saw the elf watching her in PE at school, and once in the lunchroom.

Every morning I awoke to 2 crazy kids frantically searching the house for the elf and then telling me all that they thought that he did that night

On day 20 Brooklyn sat down in the rocking chair next to the elf and her hand accidentally brushed the elfs cheek. The kids cried and cried because they thought that the elf would not make it home to santa that night. Luckily he had just enough magic left.

The elf on the shelf may seem like a creepy little vintage doll that is ALWAYS watching you! The kids LOVED it and I definitely think that he will return again next year!

First Snow, Just In Time For Christmas

I know that I have not been very consistent at posting for the past few months. But I have to say that life NEVER seems to slow down. I thought that once I got the kids started back in school things would slow down a bit, but trust me they haven't. It has been nothing but Colds, Flus, PTA, Homework, Chris gone to NC, Super Saturday, Callings, Gymnastics, Joy School, Strep, Play Groups, Laundry, Doctors Appointments and the list goes on and on and on and on. I have been so stressed out I pretty much collapsed last week and spent a good 3 or 4 days without leaving my bed. So it is time to prioritize, reduce the to do list, and if needed replace good things with better things. I feel like through the hustle and bustle of life I have lost track of family members and friends. So it is time to start blogging again.

We had our first snow of the season!! Which is pretty exciting around here. Being in the UT state of mind I thought that although it was snowing I could head out and run some errands, after all it was only an inch or so of snow. Boy am I dumb! Apparently the reason the city shuts down when it snows is because I swear the entire city of Arlington only has 2 snowplows. After slipping and sliding around in my Jeep, while dodging other people who's terrified eyes lead me to believe this may just be the first time they have ever driven in the snow. I called my friend Lindi and we hunkered down and watched the kids through the window while they ran around in the snow.

UGggh! Why do kids eat snow! So gross!

The kids had a blast, and even better they fell asleep pretty quickly last night!