It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas....

I must say that I was so excited for the day after Thanksgiving I could barely sleep that night. (Part of that maybe was Megan throwing up at 1 am because she had eaten too much.) My cohorts in crime this year to hit the stores were Mindy and Kallie. We started at 4:15 am and headed to Target. The lines were huge, the crowds were insane, and the weather was cold, but it sure was worth it.

We had to take pictures of our van when we finally finished at 12:30 pm. Yes, we were gone for 8 hours shopping. We probably would have gone longer if we had the room. We just couldn't fit anything more in the van. The 3 shop vacs and fire pits did take up a lot of room in our defense. We actually got everything we set out for and didn't even get in any fights or get hit with anything. Our longest lines were at the mall, but we didn't mind since it was warm and there were plenty of shops around. There's nothing like a huge shopping day to get the adrenaline going. I know many thought we were crazy, but we just had so much fun. I can't wait for next year. Any takers?

After shopping all morning I came home to our Christmas stuff out. Emily was dying that we didn't have our tree up. And so, the decorations flew and boxes were emptied. We did get it all cleaned and decorated before our movie party that night. We started a new tradition this year of watching "The Christmas Story" on the projector to get us all in the holiday mood.

Wendell spent all day Saturday after Thanksgiving stringing lights across our yard. Our neighbor gave us tons of lights and they couldn't go to waste in a box. He tried to make our trees look like those at Temple Square. We just need bigger trees.

Luckily our neighbors came to help with the lighting project. It kept the boys occupied almost as long as my shopping trip. Our yard does look great all lit up.

What says Christmas more than Santa coming to town in a parade. We ventured to see the holiday parade in Ogden over Thanksgiving weekend. The weather was cold, but not unbearable. The parade actually lasted 45 minutes before the big guy came.

The crew waiting for the parade to begin. We had a great spot right in the front.

And finally, Santa rolled into town in a buggy with Mrs. Claus. Christmas really is coming soon!

Our ward held it's traditional breakfast this past weekend. The visit from Santa is always the favorite. Emily asked for a giant Webkinz that is a dog. Surprise, surprise that she would want more stuffed dogs. Our basement already looks like a pound.

Tyler of course just asked for more Legos. We're going to have to build an addition to his room to house them all. He keeps them all up and actually plays with them.

Megan said she wanted a surprise. I think she didn't want to sound greedy asking for what she really wants----an iPod. At least she attempts some humility once in a while.

After breakfast, we headed to Michael's to craft away at the Santa's workshop. Mammy had told Emily about this craft day the Sunday before and all Emily could talk about was making a stocking. The kids ended up making cards, painting boxes, and making stockings.

Tyler wasn't so sure he wanted to participate, but actually made some great looking crafts.

Two hours later we finally left with all our projects and a smile on Emily's face that she had been to Santa's workshop. One more thing to cross off our list of things to do before Christmas.