Christmas, Malone's birthday and New Years

On the 5th of December we went to a community nativity our stake puts on every year. I was expecting a regular live nativity or something, but this was so amazing! Our stake gets together with other churches in the area to exhibit people's nativities they have. There were literally thousands of nativities of every kind and made of everything from glass to metal to wood, even legos. They were traditional to some not so traditional, nativities from all over the world. The entire gym at our stake center was filled. There was also a small live nativity. And while you are walking around looking at these thousands of nativities, in the chapel they had entertainment. Many people from all different churches including ours performed in choirs, duets, played musical instruments, you name it. Every half hour they had a performance of some kind and this went on for three days from morning to late in the evening. There were so many people involved in organizing this and it brought the whole community together. It was amazing! We loved it and can't wait to go back next year. 

Lego Nativity

The next day we attended a tree lighting ceremony in Flower Mound. It was a really cold and windy night! We had to park a couple blocks away and take a bus to the park where the happenings were.  We ended up having to walk the last block because the parade route blocked the street. We missed the parade, but we were able to see all sorts of things at the park. We got to go on a hay ride, visit Santa Claus, and pet animals at the petting zoo. The hay ride was fun, but as I said before it was cold! And when we visited Santa Claus, Mason was a little uncomfortable on Santa's lap, but he didn't cry. Because Malone swept him up and sat on Santa's lap with Mason, which was funny. After we wandered around looking at things and watching shows on the stage, we went to the petting zoo. We all enjoyed petting all the goats, donkey, chickens, pigs, sheep, calf, and even a baby deer! Finally around 8 they did the tree lighting, which was somewhat a bummer because the tree wasn't even a Christmas tree. It was just a regular tree with blue lights which was weird. Anyway, by the time we got done we were all half frozen. So we caught the bus back to our car. We all had a great time! 

 For Christmas my parents came and visited! They drove all the way through Phoenix to visit my brother and ended up here Christmas Eve. It was such a long drive and we were so thankful for their sacrifice to come be with us. We played games and ate food, and watched movies all Christmas Eve. We celebrated Christmas and opened gifts and had a really yummy dinner. We played some new games that my parents got for Christmas and hung out most of the day. Mason had a great time with his new toys. He got a bouncy dragon to ride on, a walker toy, blocks, 3 outfits, toy trucks, and a few puzzles. I got Malone some replacement parts for his little race car set he's been wanting forever, a movie, and a knife sharpener. And Malone got me a new sketchbook and some much needed bread pans and baking dishes. We also received some nice clothes and toys from Chris and Natalie. My parents got us a new waffle iron. Malone's parents gave Mason a really cute outfit.

this is how we protected our gifts and tree from Mason

Mason's Christmas jammies

Malone made a beautiful turkey and it was sooo yummy!

The next day we visited the Dallas Temple and drove around to see the Dallas skyline. Mom and I went antiquing at a nearby antique store till we were both exhausted! 

Dallas Texas Temple

 It was a really fun Christmas. The best Christmas gift though was just having my family here to celebrate with us and for Mason to get to spend quality time with his grandparents. 

Malone's birthday was a week long celebration. On the 23rd we spent the evening at our friends house in Denton. We had dinner and played minute to win it for a few hours. It was so much fun! We had cake and blew out candles. We also celebrated Malone's birthday on the 26th before my parents left. They had bought him an outfit from his favorite store, which he loved! And I bought him a Roku for his birthday. On Saturday the 27th, we went out to Malone's favorite Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy's in Denton. Then on his actual birthday, Sunday the 28th, it was pretty laid back. We went to church, had leftovers and hung out and played games. It had been a big week and it was actually nice to have a quiet evening to ourselves. 

For New Years we stayed up and watched the new X-men movie Malone got for Christmas. On New Years day we went bowling with some friends. Malone and I haven't bowled in a couple years so we were rusty! But we had a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to Red Robin for dinner. We are so lucky to have such good friends here to spend time with. 

Overall December was a little crazy as it usually is, but it was so extra special spending so much time with the people we love and that's all that really matters to me this time of year anyway.