Christmas Countdown: Day 3

I started this month with great expectations of documenting all of the wonderful moments and memories of this Christmas season in words and pictures, but here it is the 6th of December and I only have one day to report on. We have been battling major illness in our household for the past month. H. Man has had it the worst and I think he is just finally turning the corner on a three week battle with bronchitis. We're praying that we are all healthy by Christmas and that we have paid our dues this last month so we can stay healthy the rest of the winter.

I decided to start a couple of new traditions to help us to enjoy the true spirit of Christmas a little more this year. The first thing I did new this year was to find 24 Christmas books, wrap them, and place them under the tree.

Each morning one child gets a turn to pick a book to open, and we read it together as a family. There are a mixture of fun stories like The Night Before Christmas, and The Polar Express, but I tried to make the majority of them ones that exemplified the true meaning of Christmas, like Christmas Day in the Morning, and A Christmas Bell for Anya. We have been loving this addition to our Christmas traditions. Each child can't wait until it's their turn to pick the book for the day and I love the mood it sets for the rest of the day as we start the morning cuddle up together on the couch reading stories about Christmas.

The other new thing we have done this year is that I made a Christmas Activity Advent for the kids. I got 24 bags at the craft store and filled each one with a treat for each child and an activity for the day. I hung them all up on our banister and each child takes a turn opening a bag for the day.

I had wanted to photograph and document us doing each of the activities, but I have only remembered to pull out the camera for one so far, and that was for our trip to see the lights at Temple Square on Friday night.

We all bundled up (although the weather was quite pleasant for December at 40 degrees) and headed downtown to take in the sights.

C. Bear was mesmerized by all of the lights.

The boys favorite thing was the life sized nativity. Little C. loved everything and Doug had to carry her or she would have spent the entire night wandering around, enjoying it all at her leisure.

After looking at the lights, we headed to a nearby café for hot chocolate and treats.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect night.