The weeks leading up to Christmas, the kids imagined that Santa might not know we had gone to Utah and how would he know to bring their presents there? I asked them what we should do...? Maggie suggested that we leave Santa a note telling him we went to Utah. As soon as Grant heard that, his face lit up and he announced, "Maggie! That's a great idea!" So, before we headed to Utah, Maggie penned Santa a note to leave behind. It said:

Good idea, Maggie! Looks like Santa found you!

This year for Christmas we travelled to Utah to spend it with my side of the family. Quite a treat for us and especially for all those cousins. Grant is already asking if we can go back to Utah for Christmas again. I'm glad they had a good time and I'm grateful for my sister Shelby for hosting us at her house so all the kids could be together. I didn't get pictures of everything unfortunately but the highlights were Christmas Eve dinner at Aunt Lori's house, Christmas Day with all of my family, family pictures in the snow at Wheeler Farm (hopefully to come...), a visit to see the lights at Temple Square and a trip down memory lane to visit BYU. We didn't get to do everything we wanted cause the time always goes way too fast and we even had to cut the trip short by leaving early before the storm hit. And since we left before the storm brought snow, we didn't get to go sledding either... maybe next time?

Before we went to Utah, we really did have a fun time doing Christmas things around here where we live. Like seeing this very large Christmas tree at a local outside mall. I just thought it was pretty... and tall!

On Christmas day, Grandma Deb with 3 of her granddaughters. She gave the girls the cutest silver star nightgowns that they all loved wearing!

Since it's been a few years since we've all been together for Christmas and the family has grown a little bit, there was quite a stash under the Christmas tree. I think it took us 3 sessions total of opening presents!

Grandpa Dave with his 2 oldest granddaughters...

All the girl cousins (except Addie)... cute!

Maggie and Lauren are best friend cousins!

Here is the happiest baby ever, Andrew! I can't even tell you how close I came to taking him home with me! What a cuddlier! He just melted my heart!

At Temple Square...

I can't believe there wasn't much snow while we were there... which is fine with me cause it scares me to drive in it!

Cute picture of Maggie all bundled up... no snow, but still cold!

Thanks to my mom for finding us these cute coats to keep them warm while we were in town. Doesn't make much sense for us California folk to have winter jackets on hand...?

Oh, and by the way... Cory and I celebrated 9 years of being married at this Salt Lake City temple! YAH for us!

The kids enjoyed seeing the lights at Temple Square...

We had a fun time... but sorry that we couldn't see everyone while we were in town!

On Sunday, we went to a local church to experience their gift to the community... The Bethlehem Experience. It was amazing! This church and their hundreds of members turned their grounds and parking lot into Bethlehem for a drive thru experience. I was in awe. I couldn't believe the beauty and authenticity of it. Everyone was dressed up and the props galore. Even real animals, including a camel! I mean, it was like we were driving through Bethlehem in the day. They gave us a pretty Christmas music CD to pop into our player and I'm pretty sure my jaw was dropped all the way through, I forgot to take pictures until the end when we saw Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus in the stable. So, this is the only one I got but the kids really enjoyed it as well. Maggie is already asking if we can go back...

Seriously? How am I so lucky to be Cassaundra's friend?! Saturday was her birthday and her hubs surprised her with a reservation for her and 6 of her friends to take a cooking class at the California Health & Longevity Institute located at the classy Four Season's hotel. I am telling you... I felt like it was MY birthday! It was so much fun!

Aren't we cute in our aprons?

Me, Emily, Amy, birthday girl, Britney, Katie and Lacey.

Emily and Lacey learned how to make these amazing flourless chocolate walnut cookies.

Cassaundra made a yummy curried coconut carrot soup...

Amy and I made the apple tart and gingerbread with caramelized pears...

The kitchen was just amazing, okay? I mean... a dream come true kitchen... someday maybe?

There 12 of us total students and we worked closely with 3 chefs who taught us how to make health...ier appetizers and desserts for the holidays. At the end, we sat down at a fancy table to sample our work. I just want it to be known that I was super mature that day! I was a big girl and decided it was time to taste mushrooms and seafood (that is the sound of my mother gasping right about now...) Well, don't be too proud mama... still don't like mushrooms and seafood, sorry! Okay, so here is what we made:

curried coconut carrot soup (delish!)

cauliflower soup with truffle oil (oh, yum!)

Babaganoush (an eggplant dip, surprisingly tasty)

Edamame dip (wanted to like it, but couldn't)

smoky black bean dip (my favorite dip of the dips)

crab cakes (eh.)

crunchy garlic shrimp (eh.)

spiced cauliflower dip (interesting...)

spinach stuffed mushrooms (eh.)

rustic apple tart (mmmm!)

lemon pudding cake (my favorite of the desserts)

dark chocolate dipped pineapple with pistachios (yes!)

chocolate walnut cookies (it's a toss up with the lemon pudding cake)

gingerbread with caramelized pears (oh, this was good too!)

oranges supreme in grand marnier sauce (was it against the rules to sample this one?)

I've got the recipes if anyone wants them...

Oh December! You've been so wonderful so far in keeping us busy with fun activities! I'm having as much fun, if not more, as I do in October...

At the beginning of the month, we took the kids over to a neighboring city where there was community Creche exhibit. On display were hundreds of nativity scenes. It really is a delightful thing, we've been to one before when we lived in Orange County. In fact, Cory and I were even part of it as the living nativity display. It was right after Grant was born and they dressed us up as Joseph & Mary, Grant as baby Jesus. And yes, Cory is going to freak out when he notices that I'm sharing this. I thought it was lovely but it was just one of those things that Cory'd like to forget...

So, in the Children's activity room, they had costumes available for dress up. Grant chose to be a wise man so he could wear the beard... of course.

And is this darling and terribly precious? Maggie was the angel, Seth was the star, Laura as Mary and Ryan as Joseph. Grant and Zoey as the wise men.

And Zoey got such a kick out of her costume!

The "boys" of Cory's family have a little tradition of attending the auto show every year and this year Grant got to go with. Obviously... cause this post is about to turn into a photo essay of Grant at the Auto Show...

Audi R8... the same car that Iron Man drives... cool!

Mercedes AMG... only about $175,000 but probably worth less now that Grant leaned all over it!

Mercedes Gullwing... over $200,000.

Grant's pick of the day... a Corvette ZR1

A race-ready Scion... Grant liked it cause it was a race car...

Rolls Royce

You can pick your own apples in California... we just have to drive 2 hours away to get there. Which is what we did a few Saturdays ago. Loaded the kids up and followed grandpa and grandma to an apple picking farm in Riverside County. I chose to pick apples from the granny smith orchard, that way I could bottle them into apple pie filling... yum!

Maggie, cousin Seth and Grandpa and Grandma went to a different orchard, but we all had a grand time picking our own apples!

What our family is thankful for in 2010...

So, here's the thing... I need to pay it forward! I played along on Heather and Carol's blogs... they sent me wonderful, useful things... now it's my turn to pay it forward.

Heather sent me this darling handmade diaper clutch that I use every single day while I am on the go but don't need/want to tote a diaper bag. A few diapers and some wipes fit perfectly inside!

Carol sent me these beautiful handmade journals, along with an inspiring poem...

I love the idea of paying it forward. If everyone just payed it forward, the world would be a better place. I honestly believe that. It's so true that when someone goes out of their way to do something nice for me, it motivates me to want to do something nice for someone else. We should all do it more. I remember the first time someone told me to "pay it forward"... I was stranded with a dead car battery at an outside stripmall and a nicely dressed businessman took the time to jump my car. After I thanked him up and down for taking the time to help me during his lunch break he replied, "Just pay it forward". I was so impressed! Was he helping me cause someone did something nice for him? Possibly. One thing for sure, his kindness made me want to help someone else in need. See how it works?

So, here's how we play: the first 6 people (I'm paying it forward 3 for Heather and 3 for Carol) to respond to this post will receive something wonderful from me. Something truly wonderful and unique will come your way! After you receive the giftie from me, you are now responsible to pay it forward. If you have a blog, post this game. If you do not have a blog but still want to play (trust me, you wanna play), do something wonderful to pay it forward and email me your story so I can post it here. You have one year to complete your assignment...

So, who's it gonna be? Don't be timid... come, on... this is fun!

Our very good friends Scott and Sarah moved to a neighboring city. They had a housewarming party and invited us. As we were oohing and ahhing over their new home, we got a surprise visit from a real fire truck! Turns out their new neighbor is a fireman, soon to be retired, and had arranged for his firetruck to come to his home so that he could snap some pictures. Kids love firetrucks and this turned out to be a very unique opportunity of exploring the firetruck. It was a lot of fun!

I love how Grant is smiling for this picture...

Zoey was not shy at all... she went right up to the fireman, put her hands up in the air, he picked her up and planted her in the seat! She must know who's gonna keep her safe!

Posing in the firetruck...

They got to check out every nook and cranny on that truck...

ready? aim... shoot!

And for the grand finale, they took a little ride around the neighborhood... now that was special!!