It's That Time of Year

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  I didn't get any pictures though.  We had dinner here at the Briggs' house and then went down to Orem for Pie and games.  It was a lot of fun.  After Thanksgiving, it's officially Christmas time (never mind that I had already been listening to Christmas music since the beginning of November...)  One of the very first things we like to do each year to sort of kick off the season is go up to Temple Square and look at the Christmas lights.  Ryder was too young to care much about it last year, but he REALLY loves our Christmas tree and the lights, so I knew he would love the Temple Square lights.  On Saturday, we all bundled up nice and warm and got there not long after the sun set.  It was beautiful, as always!  When we first got there, Ryder yelled, "WOW" and was kicking his legs like crazy!  He loved it!  He also really liked the sheep at the nativity display.  He kept saying "daaa" over and over, which is how he makes a sheep noise.

 Ryder really liked the statue of Jesus.  We didn't have to tell him who it was, when he saw it, he said, "wow!  Esus!"  He loves Jesus so much!

 

 BEAUTIFUL!

 I love this nativity.  It's so peaceful!

On Sunday, my mom had tickets to something new this year called "A Night in Bethlehem"  My parent's next door neighbors own a reception/community center and they set up the building to look like Bethlehem.  There were little shops with basket weaving, animals, bread making, etc.  They have you go into another room and they do a really cool program.  They tell the story of the birth of Christ and have you join in singing some songs.  At the end, all the little kids get to walk up to the front and see the baby Jesus.  That was so sweet.  For the night in Bethlehem, you are supposed to dress up.  We all had fun trying different things on to look the part.  Ryder was so cute in this little robe :)  I love this time of year because of all the time spent with family and so many fun traditions!
 

Trying to get a toddler to sit still when they don't want to... never works out!