Braving the COLD

On Friday night we met the fam down at temple square to check out the lights. I guess last time we did this is was not minus 100 degrees out. But we braved it and Beck's fam, Ang's fam, and Nett's fam all came down. We had a blast.

We all had our cameras so it was pretty much a photo opp every 2 minutes. It was FREEZING, but the lights were beautiful of course. We didn't last very long.

Joe and I decided to get a pic and Joey said that he did the smile that me and Nettie do in all our pix. HA HA HA! He pretty much nailed it~

The kids were having a blast. There were nine of them and about a million people there, so it was a work out keeping track of all of them. They all found a fountain and walked around it for quite a while. That was the only time all the adults could talk.

All the kids were so bundled, kinda like in the Christmas Story. Gar got this awesome shot of Mads. I love this one. She is so freaking cute. They all are!

We didn't last very long in the artic weather, maybe 30 minutes or so. So we decided to ditch the cold and make the trek to our house. Gar and I were thrilled to have everyone over. It's not the biggest house, but it fit everyone perfectly. We had our Christmas present up, don't think I've blogged about it yet... I'll get pix up. Its our big flat screen TV. We love it. The kids watched Spiderman 3, played the Xbox 360 and we got out the toys they could play with them. Benjamin came up wearing this.....

It was just the cutest thing we had seen. The Vader helmet was huge on him and he kept his finger on the button that makes the Vader breathing noise. Then all the kids were wearing it. It was just too cute.

It was a great night and we loved having everyone over. It would have been perfect if Nat and Steve-o were here... miss you!

I told you that we will start a tridation in the Dean home of having 2 trees in the house. The nice one upstairs that I will decorate and then the "kids" tree downstairs. Gar went and bought a "Charlie Brown" tree and decorated it. It is so cute. He has the big cheesy colored lights and all of his sweet superhero ornaments. It is so great.

Then we made one more holiday decor purchase. Gar's work is giving these sweet "3 Wisemen" out as gifts to client's and he could get a deal. So we got them. They are beautiful. They are the "3 Wisemen" that are carved out of wood and then have the nativity scene carved in then. Aren't they so neat?!?! They are different and artsy, that's why we love them.

Tis' the season to be Merry...

It has been a crazy ever since T-day ended. Aurora, Nat, and Steve all went home. It's always hard when the house guests leave. It's so quiet. But the quiet only lasted for second and then back to the grindstone it was. 

I worked at the PB, we had tech week for Carol, both of our day jobs have been so busy... And to top it all off we had the first snow of the season. Finally it feels like the holiday season.

It is about time that we had a night off, together. So we put up our Christmas decorations.  We don't have many, but over the years we have started a collection. We bought a fake tree a couple of years ago... here is Gar putting it together... We will need to get the pine tree sent to make it smell like Christmas.

So Gar has a few ornaments that he has collected over the years that I will not let him put on the tree. We have to have a nice classic looking tree, just the way I was brought up. So we decided that this year we would do 2 trees. The "nice" one upstairs for all to enjoy through the window, I will decorate this one. And then we will get a real tree, on the small size to go downstairs that will be Gar's. Kinda like a kid tree... So the superman and spiderman and stromtrooper ornaments can hang proudly... after all these years.

I have been eyeing the cutest stocking and stocking hangers at the PB ever since we put out the Christmas floor set.  So I got them and am so thrilled how they looking hanging on my beautiful mantel. You can see it in the pix but the stocking hanger is J. O. Y and each of the stockings hang from the letters.  The are just too cute!

I'm not the best decorator ever and i'm still working on collecting some really different/cool ornaments, I got some really great ornaments at Tia Pan last year, here is the finished product this year... 

I love the house looks when it is all decorated for Christmas. When I was going up, it was such a big ordeal to decorate for the Christmas season, as I'm sure it is for everyone. There is one tradition that we had when I was little that I really want to start with Gar. While we decorated we listened to... are you ready for this... "Christmas in the Stars". Yes... This was the Star Wars Christmas album. A classic and a staple in the Omer household growing up. It wasn't Christmas growing up without that.

So i'm on the search for the album. I mean, you can't beat the hits such as...

"What can you get a Wookie for Christmas, when he already owns a comb"

"R2D2 we wish you a Merry Christmas"

I need to find it, if you see it, snag it for me!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!