Christmas 2016

Christmas is always a good time. This year we tried Luminaria.  This is at Thanksgiving Point Ashton Gardens.  It was their first year.  You can walk all around their gardens that are lit up in all different themes for the different areas of the garden. The had dancing light, they even had areas where specific scents were dispersed for the full experience.  For example the candy cane forest smelled of peppermint, and the flowers garden smelled of Jasmine, the Pine tree area with the reindeer smell like pine and it wasn't the pine trees. They had real reindeer and hot chocolate.  They also had a great area for the families with a life size lightbright set, fire pits for roasting marshmallows, corn hole games, and sled racing. It was so worth the cost.  We had such a great time.

We were blessed to be able to get tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert which is always good. It was Scott Ellie William and I because they only allow you to get 4 tickets. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant just before so we could be up there in time then headed over to the conference center They had this awesome larger than life camel puppet the dancers were great but my favorite was the amazing organ player.  He was so super impressive with his feet flying as fast as his fingers.  Of course afterward we had to check out the candy windows at the mall.  I always thought it would be so fun to create one of those.

For Christmas this year we decided to gift Ellie with a car.  We really needed her to have a car so she could run all those errands while Scott and I are at work.  We found this cute little Mazda 3 at a used car dealership that was a steal of a deal.  It had been in a fender bender before but it had all been repaired and this was going to be her first car, she would probably wreck it anyway.  We bought it and hid it at my sister Kate's house.  Kate brought it over on Christmas eve during our family gathering.  I wrapped up a box with things for a car.  Like a key chain, an air freshener, an aux cable and phone charger.  These were all put with a little poem to help her find her car.  I must admit she didn't seem as surprised as I thought she would be.  I think she already knew it was coming, but surprised or not she seemed happy with the car.  We jokingly told her that we've ruined her because she hasn't had to have a POS car that breaks down and falls apart. But lets face it.  I don't have time to pick her up off the side of the road because her car dies.

The Johnson scored us all a cabin for our "Christmas Cabin" up at Sundance.  It was a great cabin with plenty of room for all of us. It was great that it was so close to everything.  The boys snuck out at night to sled down Sundance ski resort because we were so close to the slopes.  It was all groomed so they were hauling down the hill so fast.  With the danger of possible getting caught it made it all the more fun.  Scott and William joined them on a run and this time security was onto them.  Security was driving one of those side by sides with a spot light combing the hills.  Scott and William bailed off to the side of the slope not realizing it was a sheer drop off.  Luckily there was a tree that they landed on right between their legs.  After the danger of the security was gone they tried to climb back up the drop off.  It was a struggle with the edge being so steep and the snow so deep they couldn't dig in their boots.  After what seemed like forever and Scott thinking they just might die on the mountain they finally made it back to the cabin.  It was enough excitement to last them the rest of the weekend.