It's SNOWING. Seriously snowing and settling on all the red rock and the twins have been giving me an excited report on every new thing that now has snow on it every couple of minutes. I love living in a place where snow is not common. But I LOVE seeing the excitement and beauty that the odd snowstorm brings around here. It's coming down in soft big swirly flakes right now and I can just imagine the excitement at the big kids' school right now. I doubt those teacher are getting the attention they'd like from those kids!
We got our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving - got a permit and chopped one down in the mountains above Cedar City and I have to say we got a really good one this year. We happened across the "Storybook Calvalcade" parade in Cedar City on our way to the "rain forest" (as the twins kept calling our destination - guess the most recent forests they've heard of are the rain forests of Brazil where Jared was) and stopped to watch for a while. The kids were so excited to see all their favorite princesses and superheroes and other characters march on by and give them five.
Once we got up in the mountains, we wandered somewhat dejectedly for a while amongst some trees that proved to be the kind you can't cut down (blue spruce) and finally, as it was starting to get cold and dark and the kids were crying and numb from playing in the snow with no real snow gear, we found a really beautiful tree. It was too tall - but at that point we didn't care. We chopped that sucker down and cut it to size and it's perfect. When Jared got to the car with the tree, cold soggy Silas (who was waiting in the warm car) called out - "Daddy - is that our tree?! I want to hug it!"
Driving up into the mountains - so pretty!
full view of the tree
So the tree is up and decorated (so fun to have kids old enough to really help and get excited about each ornament from our different travels and memories) and we've been busily getting a few gifts (trying to keep things simple and cheap this year!) and going to or hosting plenty of parties and events. My favorite thing so far has been reading Christmas stories each night with the kids by the lit Christmas tree. My favorites this year are "Great Joy" by Kate DiCamillo and "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" that tells of the kind little boy Nickolas who turned personal tragedy into giving and joy as he grew into the jolly old man we all love. There's nothing like seeing the kids' eyes shine as we talk of giving and loving in the midst of stories of the magic and mystery and real meaning of Christmas.
Once we got up in the mountains, we wandered somewhat dejectedly for a while amongst some trees that proved to be the kind you can't cut down (blue spruce) and finally, as it was starting to get cold and dark and the kids were crying and numb from playing in the snow with no real snow gear, we found a really beautiful tree. It was too tall - but at that point we didn't care. We chopped that sucker down and cut it to size and it's perfect. When Jared got to the car with the tree, cold soggy Silas (who was waiting in the warm car) called out - "Daddy - is that our tree?! I want to hug it!"
Driving up into the mountains - so pretty!
full view of the tree
Wow, fun to see Christmas through those kids' eyes! The tree looks fabulous and may even last into January since you know it's fresh!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you after Christmas. Jonah showed us a picture of what Ashton wants. WOW!
Fun Days!!!
Easton looked up in the sky yesterday and said, "mom, what are those white things falling" I guess we need to expose him to a little more snow. He has played in it, just never when it is actually falling! Great looking tree. Great event last night too!
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