Christmas on Temple Square

We kept with our tradition of visiting Temple Square the Sunday after Christmas.  Well, mostly, anyway.  I don't remember what happened but we decided to go for FHE the next day.  I think it might have been slightly more crowded but it worked.

 I attempt this shot every year and I think this is the best one.  I wish I could have exposed it a little longer but I didn't have a tripod.

 I did take advantage of the stakes holding up the garland borders on the flowerbeds though.  Which gave me the idea for this shot.

 Brigham, as usual, wanted to go up and see the Christus.  There was a line so to keep him occupied I took his picture.

 And everyone else's too.

 So pretty.

 Brigham saw people taking their picture in front of the Christus and wanted me to take his picture too.  I'll do better next year.

After the Christus we saw that the Nativity was about to start soon so we waited inside until it was ready and then we went out and were right in front to watch.

I'm really pleased with this one.

My boys. :)

It was pretty cold so I didn't want to make anyone have to wait for me to take cool pictures so I did the best I could.  I think this one turned out okay.

I didn't even want to wait for a clear shot here.

I'm really happy with this one too.

One last shot on our way back to the car.

I love looking at the Christmas lights on Temple Square.  It's one of my favorite traditions.

A Late Christmas Present

All through the month of December I was toying with an idea for a special Christmas present for the boys.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with it but it was starting to feel like it was the right time.

I decided it was time to get a dog.

I say that "I" decided because it was really me that was holding us back.  I've never really wanted one.  I'm not really a dog person.  If I wasn't allergic, I would have gotten a cat years ago.  Since that wasn't an option, I was pretty sure that we'd just never have a pet.  One of my biggest reasons was that I would be the one taking care of it during the day while everyone was gone.  That changed now that Nathaniel and Jonathan are both home during the day.  I realized my major excuse was moot(or "moo" - as Joey would say).  Also, I knew several people and their dogs who seemed happy with each other.  One of my neighbors in particular felt exactly like I did before she got her dog and now she can't imagine life without her dog.  So, I was gradually warming up to the idea.  It had to be a small dog though.

On Christmas Eve we looked at the Humane Society's website at their dog profiles and wrote down a couple of names that looked like they might be a good fit for us but when we went to actually look, many of them were gone with foster families for the holidays.  So, we decided to try again after Christmas.  The day after Christmas we looked online again and so many of the dogs were different, we figured that maybe they had a high turnover rate, which was good.  We browsed through and looked at several and then we saw a cute little papillon mix with floppy ears and decided that she was the one.  We called to see where she was and told them we were on our way.  Turns out she was at PetSmart with a few other animals in hopes that they would be adopted.  I'm really glad we called because apparently we weren't the only ones who thought she was super cute.  Three other families had asked about her but were told that she was on hold.  We held her for a little while to see if we liked her.  One guy kind of followed us to make sure we were serious about adopting her.  I guess it kind of pushed us into making a decision.  Even after all this, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to go through with it.  In the end, I decided that we would and after signing a bunch of papers and buying a bunch of supplies we took her home.

 The boys were super excited.

 She was a little nervous.

 We didn't see her tail for a few days, she was so nervous.

But look at that face!  Cutest little dog ever!

 She hid behind the recliner for most of that first day.  By the next day she warmed up a little bit more.

 She still seemed so nervous and kind of sad but after a while she decided she liked us.

 We decided to call her Suki.  Named after a character from Avatar: Last Airbender series.  I think it fits her.  Also, since she's a girl, I made sure to get her girly things.  It was about time we had another girl in the family.  I got her a pink collar and leash and a pink food dish.

It's been a lot of fun to see how the boys play with her.  I don't know that I will ever be a Dog Person but she's pretty darn cute and I definitely believe it was the right move for our family.  We needed her.

Christmas 2014

I was doing great for a while catching up but life got busy and hard so I'm going to do my best to at least be done with 2014 by the end of the month.  I don't think that is too high a bar, do you?

Christmas was nice.  It feels like ages ago so I'm going to do my best to remember some of the thoughts and feelings I had that season.  I do remember that it was better than last year.  I was a little more excited about it.  I remember that in the past Christmas had always felt a little surreal.  I decided that it's because we are always remembering Christmas and memories are usually nice and warm and fuzzy.  Reality is rarely so warm and fuzzy so the actual experience in the moment never quite matches up with our memories of Christmas.  This year I think reality came pretty close to matching my memories.  Christmas was really nice.

Hear they are waiting to go downstairs to see what Santa brought.  This was the best picture.

Or maybe this one is.  It was a tough choice.  I completely forgot to get their pajamas this year and found myself at Wal-mart on the day before Christmas Eve.  I think I did okay considering.  I will do my best to avoid that next time.

It's hard to tell but Nathaniel is really excited about his new movie editing software.

Brigham liked his new bike and had to open the rest of his presents while sitting on it.

Jonathan was really excited about his presents too.

Then we went upstairs to open presents from each other.

Jonathan gave his friend a light up Minecraft torch for his birthday a while back and has wanted one for himself every since.  He loved it.

Nathaniel was happy to see the next book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Brigham got a coloring book and some crayons from his school teacher.

The best part was our family gift.  A Wii U!  Finally we are with the times.  Jaaromy and I worked hard to find one that came with Mario Kart 8.  It was in high demand but we managed to find one online, buy it, and then pick it up at the store.  We were going to get the game regardless but I figured it would be nice to not have to pay for the game separately.

Knowing what the family gift would be, Grandma Bonnie gave us a Disney Infinity starter pack.

It was a nice, relaxing morning.

Brigham loved his "I'm Dirty" dvd and watched it while he ate his stocking snacks.

Jonathan got a cool Lego Empire State Building.

We went to my parents' house for breakfast and Jaaromy's parents' house for dinner.  It was a very nice Christmas.