Polar Express, The Grinch and Traditions

It was "Polar Express" for our ward Christmas party.  They picked the skinniest guy in the ward to be Santa!  Not to mention his high pitched squeaky voice.  We had the yummiest breakfast and listen to the story Polar Express.   Afterwards, we went to the Y and took a gift wrapping class.  It was a great way to get our gifts wrapped in all different kinds of wrapping.

This is from the Riverwoods.  They have decorated everywhere and it felt so festive and it was soooooo cold. 

They had gas fires and heating elements stationed everywhere but it was still sooooo cold. I felt sorry for the singer behind Kim in the pavilion...he had to stand still and sing.

I looked out the window one morning and saw birds everywhere.  It was so interesting to watch them fly back and forth in big groups.  All of sudden they all flew away.

Some of the fun things we did this past week was go to the new Taco Time in our town.  It is tucked away behind businesses and you don't really know it is there but we have great memories of taking our kids to Taco Time when they were little.  It did not disappoint as they had a bar where you could put fresh salsa, smoky sauce, olive, jalapenos,  pickled peppers, hot sauce, etc. on your taco or burrito.  Yummy!
We had a Stake Choirside where all the wards sang and then a Stake choir sang.  The organ music was fabulous as it was our own Dr. Cook who played.
Sunday night I got to read on the phone to Tyler's children for bedtime...How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Eli and Sharon know it pretty good and are able to read parts so we all took turns reading.  Tyler has a great Grinch voice.    That brought back many memories and so Kira got her pillow and listened to me read "Christmas Every Day" about a girl who made a wish and it was Christmas every day for a year.  Dallin pulled out his sax ( literally since it was buried deep under the stairs)  and we played around the piano ( with me on the flute and Kira playing the piano) and sang.  It was so nice to be able to do so many simple but special traditions this week!