Christmas Eve

The snow the last couple of days made sure we would have a white Christmas. Christmas Eve was at the Weaver's this year. It sure is nice of them to hold this activity there. We had Nate and Laura from Pennsylvania, April, Tony and their friend Nate from Houston and Tammy and Kent from Idaho. This is becoming a national event.

There was the good food and then the program. You can see when it comes to the chimes that if you do not get the right note the excitement can wain.

We had a rousing rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer by the local touring group, "Not the Temptations." After Sisters last year and now this, can't wait to see who will come and perform next year.

We closed with the Christmas Story and this year Aubrey was perfect for the baby Jesus and Payton was Mary. Connor was a shepherd.

At the end of the evening as we went out to the cars the air was so crisp and clean and the lights of the city below glimmered as stars. What a wonderful night and tradition.

 

Christmas lights and concert

 
Between the carpet was the Kurt Bestor concert in Salt Lake. We met Mom and Dad at Layton as they had gone to an afternoon concert and then we were on to Salt Lake to see the lights and go to the concert. Here Maddie and Grandpa are walking down the street as grandpa tries to kick her in the behind. Some things he just can not do anymore.

 We looked at the candy display in Macy's (formally ZCMI) windows. It had been a tradition for many years and then when Macy's bought ZCMI that stopped. Four years ago they brought it back much to our delight.

We then stood in line for our dinner at the Lion House which is also another tradition. This time it was not as cold nor the line as long since there were not other concerts going on at the same time.

We then went to ejoy the lights at the church office plaza and temple square. They are always so beautiful.

 
It was then concert time and Mon and Dad got on the train back home while the rest of us went to the concert in Abravinal Hall. We love our balcony seats but this was the last time the Bestor concert is being held here. A new theater hall is being constructed and that is where the concert will be next year. It has been a fun time going here though and the concert was wonderful with Lexi Walker.
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The following week was two more concerts. The first was the Tabernacle Chior. We were lucky enough to get tickets this year in the random draw they do. The next night was VoiceMale at Weber State. We always like that concert too.

Finishing the inside

The month of December is the race to the finish line; the completion of the interior of the house. First it was removing the blue carpet which had been in place since December of 1992 when we did the last addition on the house. No matter how well you try to vacuum and keep a carpet clean as we removed the carpet you can see the amount of dirt that went through the carpet and pad and was under neath it all. The photo shows part of the dirt being vacuumed up so you can see the dirt line from the concrete floor.

 
We worked on the final touch ups on the fire place.

Then it was time for the carpet installation. It is hard to believe what it does to a room but we love the final result. The carpet was placed in the main area on Friday the 11th of December.

The living room was done the following Monday the 14th when we had our first big snow storm. It sure makes the home nice and welcoming to all.

Getting Ready for Christmas and Aubrey's blessing

This year is a little different in that not only are we getting ready for Christmas but we are trying to get the house done before Christmas. First was Payton's 7th year old birthday party.

Then Connor and Payton helped me put the decorations on our tree and then worked on decorating themselves.

On December 6th Aubrey was blessed by Nic. We had the family dinner at our house even though we are not yet done. We expect carpet at the end of the week. Things worked out well as we were able to accommodate over 40 people in the house for the dinner. It was a good test run for the addition.

We did a family picture and then a four generation picture to capture the moment.

Christmas Tree Hunt

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is our planned day to get our tree. We figured we have been doing this for 18 years now. It was a little snowy at home and as we drove to Logan, the highway had slush  and snow. Once we got to Logan the roads dried, the sun came out and it was a great day to find our tree. The snow was not too deep and it made walking easier for the kids and us. While we were getting into our snow suits the kids played with the large blocks of snow that were along the side of the road. Shannon had Aubrey all bundled up in a back pack and she had here first winter adventure.

It snowed lightly with big flakes as we were looking for our tree and yet the sun was out also. It made for a great experience. Payton had dropped to the ground waiting for the others to catch up in the picture below.

We all got a nice tree and were pleased with the days adventure.

Thanksgiving

A winter storm hit on the eve of Thanksgiving. In the morning I was shoveling out the driveway a noticed the full moon setting in the west above the clouds. The early light along with the moonlight and snow lit the mountains.

As the sun came up the light it Ben Lomand peak. It was a beautiful morning though it was cold and very windy.

 
In the afternoon we had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery's. It was a nice meal and fun to talk and play games.

Early November

Work on the house is coming along. I got the floor tiled in the addition. I am at the point now that the clothes I started working in to begin with have worn out and I am an embarrassment to the family. I have promised the clothes would be thrown away by the end of the month. We figured the Georgia Tech  t shirt is 30 years old.

Cameron and Cecelia have been living at our house for the last month. They had found a house to buy in Layton before Jeanne came back off her mission, but they still had not closed on it. They have spent the last month living in our house. They finally closed on the house and on November 6th moved into the house. We are so happy for them to have a place of their own.

The next week was Veterans Day and there is frost in the morning. I was outside when the sun was coming up and all of a sudden the leaves of the Mulberry Tree started falling off like an avalanche as the sun hit them. We had seen this happen a couple of years ago but it did it again this year and all the leaves were off the tree by noon.

Payton had done an activity at school called Reflections and she won an award at Pioneer. She then advanced to the district level which was an accomplishment. She did most of the sewing of the owl in a blanket herself.

Near the end of the month we started our combined family home evenings on Monday nights in preparation for Christmas. The first night was at Shannon's house.