Pre-Christmas Festivities in Mesa

The last time we were in Mesa with my side of the family for Christmas was in 2008.  In 2009 we went to Denver to spend it with Dan's family.  Last Christmas, Hannah was only 8 days old, so my mom came down and we stayed put.  This year we stayed in Mesa with my mom for 4 days and it was wonderful to be with my family participating in all the festivities.

The day before Christmas Eve, Dan and I went to the Mesa temple to do a session.  It had been ages since either one of us had done one, let alone together.  Initiatories have been our bread and butter since Hannah's been nursing all year and we were always rushing back to feed her.  It was so nice to do a session.  Then, that same night, we took the kids to see the Christmas lights.  They are spectacular and the spirit is almost tangible.  It's one of my favorite things at Christmas time.





One day we visited Dan's Grandma Dixon ("Granny") who winters in Mesa, and Dan's uncle and aunt who live two doors down from Granny.  We had a great visit.

I'd been waiting 3 years for my favorite Christmas Eve tradition, which, of course, revolves around food: bring-your-own-mug soup night!  Every family brings a different soup and each person samples as many soups as so desired.  We didn't have as many people as usual, so there were only four soups this time, but they were tasty!  My mom always brings her YUMMY minestroni, my sister always does a potato/cheese for the kids, and I do french onion.  Mmmm.

The family crowd was small that night - only 8 children.  They put on a lovely nativity for us.

 



Pre-Christmas Festivities at Home

We had a busy, memorable month of December.  Here are a few things we did here at home leading up to Christmas to get us into the spirit of the season.

When my mom was here for a couple of days for my birthday, we put up all our Christmas decorations.  A few days later we decorated our tree.

I found this in there one day.

We made a paper chain counting down to Christmas.  On each link we wrote something we knew about the birth of the Savior as found in the scriptures.  We came up with things like "Mary wrapped Baby Jesus in swaddling clothes" and "Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that there would be no darkness the night before Jesus was born" and "An angel came to Mary and told her she would have a son named Jesus, who would be the Son of God".  Each day, when we tore off a link, we'd read what we'd written on it.  The kids loved it.

Both Emily and Dallin did seasonal stuff at school.  Emily had a sing-along and a class Christmas party.  Dallin's preschool put on a little nativity and he got to play a wiseman.  So, we made a crown, which pretty much ended up looking like the big, tall hat the Pope wears.  Classic Dallin with a tissue up his nose to stop a nosebleed.  Frequent nose bleeds are in his genes.

Of course, Megan got one too just because.  Again, the Pope-looking hat thanks to my mad craft skills.  Luckily, both of them were oblivious to how lame of a crown they had.

The afternoon of Hannah's birthday, we carried on a long-standing Dixon Christmas tradition of making brazelis - yummy, cinnamon-y, Swiss cookies.  It was our first time doing it at our house, with our very own brazeli iron.  We all had a great time, and I loved that familiar smell of butter and cinnamon that permeated the entire house.

  

One Sunday, Emily orchestrated the nativity for us all on her own.  She was Mary, Dallin was Joseph, Megan was an angel, Ta-doot (her favorite stuffed animal) was Baby Jesus, and Princess Pig was a wiseman.  They all did a terrific job.

The kids and I wrapped presents for Daddy one day.  Emily did some of the wrapping all herself, while Dallin was my tape man.  Megan taped some, but found the scissors and enjoyed cutting the wrapping paper scraps into a billion microscopic pieces.