Nielson News: Jan 1, 2017

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Shepherd's Supper

I wanted to try something new this year. I wanted to have a simple dinner, kind of like what would have been eaten back when the Savior was born, and talk with the kids about what it would have been like to be one of the Shepherd's. We had such a wonderful experience. We ate by candlelight under the Christmas tree. We talked about the Shepherd's and what Mary and Joseph must have felt like on their journey to Bethlehem and after Jesus was born. But we also talked a lot about our month of doing Light the World and what we learned from it. We loved our evening so much, the kids asked as soon as it was over if we could do this every year. And yes, we definitely will.

Temple Square

We were able to make it up to Temple Square to see the lights and go see the windows at the Grand America. It was cold, but we were so glad we made it up there. As always, everything was just beautiful!

We love going to the Grand America! They windows this year were awesome, the gingerbread house was unbelievable, and the "Golden Bathrooms" were stunning.

Christmas Catch Up

As always, we packed a lot into our December. We had the Riley's over to make gingerbread houses. My kids look forward to this night all year long. The kids all get very sugared up and have a lot of fun goofing off. And their houses turned out as crazy as they all are.

We went on one of our favorite outings and drove around Salem Pond to see the beautiful lights.

We decorated cookies.

Tessa's ice skating class had a Christmas party and the whole family was able to go skate together. Daddy was out of town, so Mommy and the little ones just watched Adam and Tessa skate. Santa even showed up to skate with everyone.

They were pretty good sports about watching from the sidelines.

Poor Adam, he still can't stay up on the ice. Tessa tried so hard to help him.

But they had fun!

We had fun being silly while we waited. Caleb loves wearing his "roar" hat.

We finally made it to see Santa! We got some pictures with him and the kids were able to tell him what they wanted. Gwen asked for the $400 carriage at Walmart, Tessa asked for a stuffed Pikachu, and Adam asked for classical books.

We welcomed baby Brooklyn to the family. She looks a lot like Caleb!

We loved doing Advent all month long. It's one of our favorite December traditions!

Poor Pa had knee surgery right before Christmas. We went to visit him one day. Gwen wanted to help take care of him, but accidentally jumped on his knee. When we got home that night, Gwen said, "I am so embarrassed I jumped on Pa's knee." She felt really bad

We were busy for a couple of days doing our holiday baking. I was glad to have some helpers this year!

We made reindeer food.

We loved our experiences with Light the World all month long. On the day we focused on gratitude, Eric and I found thank you notes under our pillows from each of the kids. It was very sweet.