Snowshoeing

Teag and I bought some snowshoes more than a month ago, but there had been so little snow we never had any opportunity to use them. Well, Christmas day changed that pretty fast. So a few days after the holiday, we headed up Emigration Canyon to test them, and our endurance out. It was honestly quite a lovely day, and we were high enough to be above the inversion in the valley.

I'm not going to lie though, snowshoeing is a lot of work. I had to take frequent breathers, and I like to think I'm in pretty decent shape. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Our shoes were easy to put on, easy to adjust, and didn't make us feel too much like we had to change our way of walking to accommodate them.

And in the process we got to see some pretty spectacular views. As well as burn a ridiculous amount of calories!

It's definitely an activity I hope to be repeating more in the future!

Christmas Day 2017

Christmas Day started bright and early for the Baylys. And we were all pretty surprised to see that several inches of snow had fallen over the course of the night, the first real snow we'd had! It was a Christmas miracle, as far as I was concerned.

Once our kids woke us up, we went quietly into the living room, where Rory found her a reply to her Santa letter, and Danyn read it aloud.

Then we divvied up the presents, holding Finn's back until he woke up. We took turns opening them, with Rory starting. Rory received several Beanie Boo's, little stuffed animals that she's become very attached to, as well as just about every Littlest Pet Shop set there is.

Danyn got a lot of coloring supplies, some books, and a crystal growing kit, as well as some jewelry.

Maisie got a skateboard, a basketball, several books, and some jewelry. She loved all her presents, but mentioned how it was a little different than years past, as she didn't have anything to really play with or build. One of the hard parts of getting older, I guess.

And me, you could definitely tell where my interests lie based on my presents. I got a lot of sweaters, and a lot of books. Two of my favorite things.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself because I managed to surprise Teag this year, something that is never easily done. My brother had designed a logo for our business awhile ago, and Teag had talked about getting some shirts and things embroidered with it, but he'd never gotten the necessary file from Kevin. So I went ahead and got it, swore Kevin to secrecy, than went to a custom embroidery shop and had them put the logo on a hat, a polo, a new backpack, and a jacket that Teag had already bought for that purpose. He had no idea, and was very surprised when he opened the box.

It looks good on him! He also got some great presents from the kids, like a new tape measure, and a fun pilot shirt, as well as a sweater from me. Because, you know, sweaters.

Finn woke up shortly after the rest of us were finished, and made quick work of his own presents. He got several Rescue Bot sets, a Bumblebee Rescue Bot, some Magformers (magnetic shape building), and a Chewbacca mask that makes Wookiee noises.

His face says it all

And now for your viewing pleasure.

Teag and I both felt like we hit a home run with presents. Everyone seemed happy, everyone was grateful, and we heard thank you's given over and over again. It was a very pleasant, contented morning, made more so by the opportunity we had to go to church that day and partake of the sacrament, sing a few Christmas hymns, and spend time with family. We finished off the day by reading aloud our new book, Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and watching White Christmas as a family. It was a peaceful, magical Christmas, one that made me very grateful for the things that I've been blessed with.

Christmas Eve Will Find Me...

We got together with the Rogers on the 23rd again, where the kids entertained us with Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer, and The Reindeer Twist. Maisie got to wear the bright red nose. We also ate our customary cinnamon rolls, and delivered our special surprise packages to people in need. It was a noisy but fun evening.

Christmas Eve was lovely this year. We had a ton of great food at the Baylys get together in the morning, and it was so laid back and relaxed. The best kind of party. Then we headed home and hung out for a short while before dinner, and which point we had a special visitor!

The kids were very excited to see that Santa made a special stop to bring them a little extra present and some treats, and to remind them to be good. Shortly after Santa left, so did we, to patrol the neighborhood. Our stake had handed out luminaries, ten per family, to decorate your porch with, in an effort to further Light the World. Unfortunately, we had quite a lot of rain that night. Yes, rain. In December. In Utah. You could see that a lot of people had made an effort to light theirs, only to have the rain disintegrate the bags. But our kids still had fun pointing out houses where they could see them, and it was a nice thought to unify the neighborhood.

Neither Teag or I felt like cooking, so we drove to Cafe Rio, which was thankfully open. I think that may become a new Christmas Eve tradition! We got our food to go, then went home and watched The Santa Clause with our kids, a movie they'd never seen before. We also opened up the last few envelopes from Grandma and Grandpa's reindeer advent, one of which gave the kids some reindeer food to spread on the lawn for Santa's reindeer to eat, and another one that completed the reindeer we'd been making for more than a week. Rudolph finally had his glowing nose.

After that we listened to the Polar Express, and finished the evening off with the Luke 2 bible video. Teag and I continued our personal Christmas Eve tradition of watching The Christmas Carol Doctor Who special. Yeah, cuz we're nerds like that. And here's a picture of our tree, in all it's tree glory. A fitting way to honor such a lovely specimen that graced our home for a short while.

A Laugh and a Song

Teag and I got to enjoy several fun shows in the month of December. When we learned Jim Gaffigan, one of our favorite comedians, was coming to SL on our anniversary, it seemed like fate! We got some really good seats, and got to attend with Kev and Meg too.

It was a great show, and a great time. By the way, that was number 17 for us. We're rapidly approaching an old, married couple.

A few weeks later, we had the opportunity to see Celtic Woman again, this time for their Christmas concert, backed by the Utah Symphony. I've wanted to see their Christmas concert for years, and we were thrilled to have this chance.

There was a lot of truly beautiful Christmas music, including a violin solo of What Child is This that made me forget to breathe until it was over. Of course, for some reason, that version isn't the version on their CD, and isn't available anywhere for purchase. I hope it becomes available soon, because it was stunningly beautiful. We also enjoyed the bagpiper who had a fellow kilt-clad gentleman stand up next to him at his wife's urging.

I think our only real complaint is that it seemed that whoever was in charge of mixing sound wasn't doing a particularly good job. Too often the soloists were drowned out by the symphony behind them, and several times we couldn't hear the Celtic Flutist, which is part of what creates their unique sound. It seemed to get a little better after intermission though.

Given that the show was only a few days before Christmas, it was a lovely way to set the tone. And now I can cross something off my bucket list.

Light the World

This year, the church came out with an initiative that asked people, and not just members, to Light the World.

It gave those who wished it an opportunity to serve others the way that Jesus did, 25 Days, 25 Ways. I remember how rushed and unspecial Christmas felt for both Teag and I last year, how it seemed we'd lost a bit of what made this time of year special, so we talked and decided to do the initiative to the best of our ability, and to involve our kids as well. I put it out to extended family, and we got together on December 1st for the official church kickoff: A Day of Service. We made food kits for needy kids, to be passed out at schools to those who wouldn't have food over the holiday. We got all the kids involved making the kits, pairing up older and younger cousins.

We ended up with a lot of food kits, and a lot of smiles.

Throughout the month, our family had opportunities to participate in all kinds of service oriented activities. Maisie donated some of her old glasses. We donated money to a Sub for Santa. We wrote encouraging notes to people. We also read scriptures as a family.

Visited with the kids Great Grandma's to take them some banana bread.

And even donated some more food to a local Food Bank drop off.

I didn't get pictures of every activity, but we talked about every days suggestion, and what we could do to honor it. I can't begin to say the difference it made in how I felt about the Christmas season this year. We talk about putting the Christ back in Christmas all the time, but by following in his footsteps, I felt as though he were truly more present in my thoughts throughout the month. And I think our kids felt it too. I am truly thankful for our Savior, and for our church leaders for creating an opportunity for us as a family to draw closer to Him.

Such a Pretty Tree

After our tree was cut down, it was time to decorate! We used our tiny tree lights from last year, and they were just as time consuming magical as they were before. Our kids were a lot of fun, recalling all the stories behind each ornament.

And Teag and I added a new ornament in the shape of a saddle to commemorate our trip to Arizona in April.

Not to be outdone, our brand new fireplace looked pretty spectacular, once it was all done up.

The tree is always such a magical part of Christmas. It seemed like this year in particular, Finn was very in to having all the extra lights off when the tree lights were on. It makes me feel very peaceful to enjoy the quiet lights of the tree.