Celebrating a little Christmas

We have tried to do a few activities to bring in the Christmas joy over the past week.  Last weekend, we had Windsor for the night, and I took the girls to the Riverwoods in Provo.  It was lit up beautiful, and we enjoyed a ride around in a horse drawn wagon.  I made the girls stop and see Santa. . . who thinks they are too old to see Santa??

Visting Santa!

We also stopped at some of the fire pits and roasted some marshmallows for S'mores 

Roasting S'mores

It was a nice little evening with the girls all together.  

Last night, we decided to take the Frontrunner train up to Salt Lake to check out the lights at Temple Square.  It was our first time on the train, and I  really enjoyed the ride!  We were able to get on the train in Provo and just enjoy the ride.  Jeff and Eliza and Windsor hopped on at the Orem station and joined us for the evening.  The train rides up to almost 80 MPH and is a very nice way to travel.  

Lizzy and Kennedy with friends, Lily and Kailina, on the Frontrunner 

Temple Square was bustling with crowds.  It was still beautiful. . . even though extremely crowded!!  It felt like everyone in Utah was visiting the lights last night in Salt Lake!!   We got a bite to eat and enjoyed walking around and seeing some of the lights.  

We took the Trax from Temple Square back to the Front Runner and enjoyed the crowded ride back to Provo. .. the girls enjoyed making some friends on the train and singing Christmas Carols most of the way!  It was nice to not have to worry about driving or parking or traffic. Overall, the evening was a success !

Thanksgiving weekend

We had a very different and nontraditional Thanksgiving break this year.  We drove down to Southern California to support Lizzy and her team play in a tournament in San Diego... The Surf Cup.  This is a very big tournament with teams from all over that travel to compete.  The competition is very good to say the least.  Her team managed to win their pool which is a very big deal, and move on to the quarter finals.  They ended up losing to a powerhouse team from southern California, but were happy with the experience.  Lizzy played hard, and narrowly escaped what looked to be a possible concussion at the time of the hard hit and fall she took on the field.  One of the teams she played was overly physical. . . .it was a pretty brutal game.

Lizzy's Celtic team at Surf Cup

One nice thing about the weekend was we were able to stop in St George on the way coming and going. . . so we still spent a little time with Grandma and Grandpa Toolson, as well as Mike and Shareen.  Wednesday morning, Kennedy wanted to get up early and go to the St George temple before we drove on to California. .. So how do you say no to that??  We got up at 6am and she was able to go.  We hope to go again with both Lizzy and Luke at Christmas time when we are there again.  

Kennedy at the St George Temple

Our Thanksgiving meal was definitely not the highlight of the weekend.  We have never eaten out for Thanksgiving before, so this was new to us.  I just made a reservation at a restaurant with a few families from Lizzy's team.  We were a bit dissapointed. .. but tried not to let it ruin our day or weekend by dwelling on it.  First, we weren't even seated with the other members of her team. . . we were in the opposite side of the restaurant in a booth. . .the whole point of eating there was so she could be with some of her teammates?  But luckily, we were able to switch to a booth that was at least in the same room a little later.  The meal was just ok. . . we had Pasta for our Thanksgiving dinner!  But the kids loved the huge icecream sundae we shared for dessert.  Would I go there again??  Probably not. . . live and learn.  

Our Thanksgiving of Pasta

Lizzy with Elle, Rien, and Peyton at "Thanksgiving"

Luke couldn't wait to try out the dessert!

Mia was smiling when they brought this out to try :)

Luke and Mia

We weren't able to get too much Beach time while we were there, but we did stop for a short walk and took a few pictures on Thanksgiving.  I was hoping to get back, but the timing never quite worked out. .. it was a pretty quick trip!  

Kennedy walking on the beach

All my kids together!

Lizzy playing with the soccer ball

It was a bit of driving, but we had a nice time and it was fun watching Lizzy and her team play so well together!  Luke got safely back to Logan to finish up his first semester. . . And we are back to school and work etc. . . .