after we got home from hawaii, we had two and a half weeks to pack in all the christmastime festivity we could before the big day!

i took gabriel on a mommy date to the christkindlmarkt in salt lake. we had a blast together meeting krampus, watching the parade, singing carols in the old white church, and getting cotton candy!

the next morning we went to pick out a christmas tree and we happened to go to the same place at the same time as the cousins! everyone was so excited to run into each other and help with tree selection.

that afternoon we were treated to a movie (moana 2, which was so fun to watch right after returning home from hawaii!) with grammie and grandfather!

before we put up the christmas tree we had to take down the thankful tree. i think this was our best thankful tree yet and i had to snap a few photos of the incredibly beautiful leaves we had collected throughout autumn before taking it down!

but indeed it was time for a new tree in the house! we had fun on sunday afternoon decorating together! moses was excited to put the very first ornament on – a flying snitch ornament that we got at harry potter studios in tokyo! evie was so excited to play with the angel that used to be on top of my family’s christmas trees growing up. i inherited the angel when my parents moved out of my childhood home, but we replaced it with a star a few years ago. now the angel is eve’s beloved doll that she named dahlia 🙂

i got to go up to my sister saydi’s house for our annual sisters’ chocolate dipping morning and festive lunch. it was just delightful.

i took moses and the twins to a live nativity presentation while gabriel was at rock climbing one tuesday. august loved the live animals and eve was starstruck seeing mary and baby jesus. santa’s sleigh was at a little market nearby and the kids were excited to chat with santa!

the most anticipated christmassy activity we did this year was riding the “north pole express” on the heber valley railroad. i have been meaning to take kids to do this since we moved to utah and the tickets always sell out so fast! we snagged a few this year and i took the big boys on this grand adventure that turned out to even exceed our high expectations. it was so much fun!! a special night and a memory forever.

moses and i finished reading the very last harry potter book! the end of an era!! i looked back through my pictures and was so glad that i’d had the foresight to take a photo of the day we started reading hp together – it was nearly two years ago! i have loved our harry potter era more than i can say, and i definitely cried as i read the last few pages of the deathly hallows.

we made a christmas tree pizza one night and we had a good little snowstorm that provided some great backyard play one day. ian employed the kids in building a bench in the garage, we did lots of water painting, and we went thrift shopping for sibling gifts (eve just really wanted a picture with this princess bike at savers…).

i took moses, gabriel and their cousin dean up to sundance for their tree-lighting ceremony and it was magical! we got to see santa arrive on a snowmobile after a mini skiing torchlight parade, visit with santa, have cookies and hot coco, play in the snow, and enjoy the sparkly lights.

gingerbread house making happened one sunday after church! that’s always such a mess and so much work but the kids just love it so much!

we hosted our second annual provo cousins christmas party! i was proud of my christmas tree charcuterie board and the party was raucous and fun. we swiched it up and played a candy-bar-game version of white elephant, with hidden money in envelopes, and etta got the grand prize of $50!

we had a fun playdate with a preschool friend after making gingerbread houses that day at preschool, and the kids had quite a few “bed parties.” love so much that they have each other as best friends (although the fighting sometimes feels constant…)!

since the twins missed seeing santa at sundance and on the north pole express train, i took them to see santa at the outdoor mall near us. it was pretty exciting!!

we had our traditional santa lucia aebleskivers-for-dinner celebration and invited some good friends to join us. eve was so excited to be santa lucia (she was so excited to watch for our friends to arrive!) and all the kids were mesmerized by the story of santa lucia that i told by candle/twinkle light. the aebleskivers turned out really good this year and we all enjoyed guessing the fillings as we ate.

so many different holiday performances! first at the big boys’ school (this was so fun for me to go to because i missed it the past two years!):

then at evie’s dance class:

then at august and eve’s preschool (where auggie refused to perform but was happy to show us around all the christmassy stuff in the “classroom”):

then at august’s preschool!:

i went to a christmas gathering with a group of dear friends (most of whom i’ve known since high school) in salt lake:

one day i took august and his cousins simon and dean to the palentology museum at byu, and then we did some amazon returns and aug was amazed at the truck toys at the store:

moses’s christmassy mommy date was to see the nutcracker at the capitol theatre in salt lake. this was sooo much fun for me as that ballet west production is something i’ve adored since i was a little girl. mo and i had so much fun taking in all the beauty and magic together! we went to see the candy windows at the mall afterwards.

when we got back that evening, gabe had a huge surprise for us! he had lost both of his front teeth! i was completely and delightedly shocked when he greeted me with a big smile when we got home!

on christmas sunday the twins were matchy-matchy and it was demolition day for the gingerbread houses (which were so tightly stuck together by the icing that we had to pull out the electric drill!). that afternoon moses got really into wrapping up some of his toys and overseeing several rounds of pass the parcel for his siblings. it was the sweetest thing.

that evening we got to deliver our sub for santa to a refugee family that we had been put in touch with and that the kids had carefully picked out gifts for. the doorbell ditch was thrilling!!

just days before christmas i finally convinced moses to get a haircut, and that same day eve came home from the neighbours’ house with a full face of make-up and hair glitter!

we went to ian’s grandma’s christmas party at her house with a bunch of ian’s aunts, uncles and cousins. the chime playing and the fish pond were so much fun for our kids!

on christmas eve eve, ian and i snuck away for a date night and went to the festival of lights in spanish fork. it was great to spend some time together, just us, before christmas eve and day hit. love that boy so dang much.