The Sage Family

Rett and Grandpa Kip took the boys to the shooting range a while ago. The boys got a great lesson on gun safety, which I loved. And they got to help Dad shoot a 22 pistol. They loved it and kept asking if they could keep shooting!

We took the boys to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the Christmas Lights. We went with Grandma Teresa and TJ and Megan. It was lot's of fun. They had so many different nativity's from all over the world. It was so beautiful. The boys always love seeing where Mom and Dad were married. It's especially nice this time of year though. I am just amazed. I was a lazy bumb this year and did a really poor job of decorating our tree with the Christmas lights. They were just kind of draped over the tree. At Temple Square every bulb is wrapped tightly and perfectly around a tree branch. So pretty. And I can't even do one small tree right! At least my boys think our tree is pretty though! And the boys had so much fun with everyone there. Afterwards we went to a great bakery and had soup and sandwiches and amazing desserts! It was a great night!

Some cute neighbors called one day to invite the boys to go sledding behind horses at their house. It was fun. They also got to ride on the horses, and they loved that too. We don't have tons of snow right now, it's kind of old left over snow from a huge storm around Thanksgiving where we got a foot or so in a day and a half. But it was enough to give the kids some fun rides. And they had a blast. We're glad we have such great neighbors and the space to do fun things like this!

We got a Christmas Tree Permit again this year. We had another year like last year, and it seemed like we ran out of weekends to get the tree. There was lots of snow again, and we made the mistake of the boys and I trying to follow Rett off the main trails. The boys and I ended up down a big hill that we had to climb out of, and it was so deep the boys couldn't really walk. We ended up getting cold hands and snow down their boots, so by the time we made it back to Rett and the sled, they were crying and really sad. They even told us they just wanted to buy a tree next year. But Rett found us a tree, and it was a lot of fun. The boys were great once we got back to the truck and got them warm. And they loved decorating the tree and didn't want me to take it down after Christmas when I started to. I told them we'd leave it till New Years and then take it down.

I don't think it gets any better than Christmas with young children. It is so fun to see the joy and excitement and magic of Christmas. We've always done Christmas Eve jammies, but this year, something a little different happened. And it was magical. And it was very exciting for the boys.
One of Santa's Elves knocked on the door, but was speedy at getting away. He left Crew & Drake some Christmas Eve jammies and a note that said they should go to bed early so Santa could bring their gifts. Drake was so excited! Then he realized he didn't get to see the elf and was sad. He cried because he wanted to see the elf. It was so fun when they told people about it too. They were so excited!
Christmas morning was fun too. Rett woke me up at 6 something to tell me to go turn on the Christmas tree lights, the Christmas train, and Christmas music. I was sound asleep. I tried going back to sleep. Then he kept asking me if we should wake the boys up. Finally, after he tried ringing jingle bells and they didn't wake up, he went in to get them. Drake's not much of a morning person, especially if he doesn't wake up on his own. At first he didn't really care, but Rett and Crew convinced him he should get up and check out what Santa brought.
I loved seeing their cute and excited expressions. It just melts my heart. It's amazing what making your kids happy does for a parent. They got mostly new clothes, which they needed. Crew got the spurs he asked for, with his name on the leather strap, which was an extra special touch that we're grateful for :) Drake got his camo pants! They also really wanted hiking boots like Dad's but they were very hard to find, so we settled for some black hiking boots mostly like Dad's. They got new suits for church, which I have to get pictures of them in, because they are super handsome boys! We let the boys pick out presents for each other this year, trying to help them realize the joy of giving. Crew got Drake a foam t-ball set. And Drake got Crew a rope for roping calves. They both loved their gifts and were mostly grateful and happy. Drake wanted to keep unwrapping gifts, which I think was his favorite part. I really wanted to help them understand that they are very blessed to have what they have, and to try to think of others, and help others at this time of year. I wanted to do an Angel Tree gift, but was a slacker of a mom and was too late. We wanted to help a family in the area, but a few others decided that giving money for the mom to go shopping for her kids was the best thing. The boys weren't really able to be involved in that, but we talked a lot about it. And we found a Santa to deliver the money from a bunch of other families, and we heard that it was really neat. Next year I have to be much more proactive about helping the boys help others. Because that is after all, the true meaning of Christmas. We did some really neat advents to get ready for Christmas, and I hope the boys learned something from them.

We took the boys for a visit with Santa. They were so excited and have been talking about going to see him for so long now. Crew went first and asked Santa for some new spurs. He also asked him a question he's been wondering about for a long time now! He wanted to know if Santa ate the cookies first or put out presents first. So he asked. And Santa's response was to eat the cookies first and if they were REALLY good, he might leave an extra present! It was so cute and Crew is so excited to leave really good cookies on Christmas Eve!


Drake was a little shy, but did really well. He asked for a pair of hunting pants (camo pants). He's wanted them so he can go hunting with his Dad. It's cute. But this wasn't actually the first thing he wanted to ask for. We had to help him scale things down a bit. He wanted to ask Santa for a real bucking bull. But we explained that there would be no corrals to leave him in, and it just wouldn't work! So he settled on asking for the pants.


During all the fun and excitement of getting ready for Christmas, I can't stop thinking about trying to help the boys learn about giving to others. I helped Drake pick out a present for Crew, and so far, it's still a secret. But it was really hard for him to pick something out for Crew and not for himself. And we'll let Crew get something for Drake too. But I really want to do more. We're working on figuring out what to do to help the boys catch the spirit of giving. Do any of you have traditions or things that you do to help your families remember what Christmas is all about and to help teach them that giving really is better than receiving? I'd love to hear about them if you do!