Annual Hoopes Family Activity

Each year my mom organizes a little outing for our whole family. It gets a little crazy to find things to do for 19 people. This year we headed downtown to see the giant gingerbread house at The Grand America, the Macy's Christmas windows, and have dinner. The gingerbread house was huge and awesome. I had to hold Scott back from licking the sugar glass windows. The kids completed a little scavenger hunt with the Grand America's Christmas windows and got a little treat. That hotel is so festive at Christmas!
The Macy's windows were fun to see too. This year the artists were different art students or individual companies. Each display was entirely made of candy. The kids really liked to try to figure out what each object was. 
We decided to have dinner at Tony's, a burger place. It was hit with the kids. They especially loved the shakes. I love to watch the cousins joke around an bond with each other. This was time well spent. Thanks Grandma Nettie!

The Happiest Season of All!

Christmas. We packed in as much as we possibly could in the shortest amount of time.  We spent a lot of time with family and doing all that we normally do. Christmas Eve was extra special this year as we added a new tradition. The cousins acted out The Nativity. Watson absolutely loved it! Actually, everyone did. Even Chandler asked that we do it again next year. I think they acted it out four times. Watson got to be a Wise Man. He also served as a Wise Man at church the Sunday before. There were humorous moments, including Brooklyn donkey running into a lamp. But I felt the Spirit and the kids really enjoyed it. We were missing the three youngest, I'm sure they will enjoy it next year.

The Nativity in Primary.

The cousins Nativity.

Christmas Eve we went to Challey and Spencer's for a little dinner and games. We enjoyed each other's company and wore out the kids as best we could. Watson and Chandler were in bed asleep pretty quickly after opening new pajamas. 

Santa came right on time and made sure the boys got most of what was on their lists.

Christmas morning was great! After reading about the Savior's birth we enjoyed opening presents. Everything felt so happy and good. I felt so grateful. I love this time of year and all the magic that comes with it. We are truly blessed.

Later on everyone met at Grandma Nettie's for yummy German pancake brunch and more gift giving. I'm thankful we got to spend so much time together as a family.

Patiently waiting his turn, as a ninja.

He is now a ninja pirate.

The grandkids opening Grandpa Hoopes' gift together.

This was truly a special holiday for our little family.

Sneaky Mr. Jim

Our little Christmas elf did a pretty good job of finding a new place each day to hide. Watson loved searching for him each morning. Mr. Jim reported to Santa every day about Watson's behavior. Except for occasional sassiness, Watson stayed on the nice list all month! 

Christmas Traditions and Fun

I love all of the fun things to do in December! I worked really hard to organize things and daily activities so we could each just enjoy the experience. Scott was in the Christmas mood every day and it really added to the fun of everything. We continued some long traditions and started a few new ones. First on the list was Watson's letter to Santa. The first time he visited Santa his wish list was unbearably long. We talked about the need to keep it to three or four items so lots of kids could get what they would like as well. He did pretty good. I love to watch him write his own name. 

 This years Elf Scavenger Hunt at Gardner Village was super fun because Liz and Thor came too. The boys found all the elves and couldn't wait to eat their cookies. There were a couple of different elf displays this years, but we found them all!

 Watson and I made our special Christmas sugar cookies. He did a great job cutting them out, decorating, and eating them. We also shared them with some neighbors close by, including the old ladies at the care facility down the street. Watson was kind and polite as he offered each one a sweet treat.

We made it to the Miller Family Christmas Carole Sing Along downtown. I am so grateful this family is willing to give this gift. It was great to sing Christmas carols with hundreds of other people. It really helps us to feel the Spirit of Christmas.

Of course we decorated our gingerbread houses. This year the boys added their own personality to the Zombie Apocalypse house. We spent over an hour together laughing and creating.

We also experimented and created snowflakes in honor of winter solstice. They were the background for our candlelight "breakfast for dinner" meal together. Chandler got really creative. It was fun to work on those for a couple of days.

Of course we visited Temple Square to see the lights. This year was extra beautiful to see them with the trees covered in snow. It's always beautiful.