Weekend Recap…I can’t believe Christmas is in a week!!!

Oh my goodness, where has this month gone?  I feel like we were even lucky and got an extra week this year since Thanksgiving was earlier, but whoa!  Time flies when you’re having fun!  Every year at this time I feel a little bit like there are so many things on my list I wish I had accomplished or done with the kids to make memories, and then I just have to remind myself of all the fun things we have crammed into three weeks and remember that they don’t know the things that were missed. 😉

It wasn’t quite the weekend yet, but Wednesday night we felt like we kicked off the weekend with a special visit from a dear friend…Santa.  Our quiet evening was disrupted by a loud honking car in our driveway and pounding on the front door with a loud HO! HO! HO!  We were SO surprised!  This dear Santa has been visiting us every year in CA since the kids were tiny, and Oh My Goodness were we shocked!  He had some business to take care of in SLC (probably some naughty kids to straighten out ;)) and he extended his flight, packed a special suitcase with all of his gear and rented a car just to come down and surprise our family.  Such a happy day!  In a year when we are feeling especially homesick and missing all of our old traditions, this was a Christmas miracle in our house.

I headed up to John’s office to have lunch with him on Friday afternoon…it doesn’t hurt that he works above a fun mall…and that outside the mall is my favorite HomeGoods in all of UT.  That might encourage me to make the drive and have lunch with him even more often than I might otherwise. 😉 .  I wanted to stop into and pick up some sweaters because everything is such a good deal right now and I am in desperate need of some warm clothes. lol!  At 50% off, almost all of these sweaters are under $30…yep..that good of a deal!  And you can still get them before Christmas!

I picked up these: (click on any affiliate image for more info)

Friday night we headed to Trolley Square to try a restaurant and walk around .  I love that place all decked out for Christmas!  I always have to make sure I’m not missing out on any last minute holiday deals as Christmas draws closer.  and picked them up for next year.  I suddenly have a lot more beds and after decorating Ashley’s room for Christmas this year I am thinking we need to deck out all of the rooms!  It is too much fun!

Ash had to put in a few last minute requests for Santa at Pottery Barn Kids.  So cute that they had letter writing goodies all set up for the kids.  I just love this little girl and that even though she’s getting big, she still puts on her Hello Kitty ear muffs and writes letters to Santa.  I wish they could stay little forever!!

Saturday we headed out bright and early to see Star Wars.  John had some tickets through a bank that he does business with and they did a fun early morning party for their clients.  They rented out a few theaters and had donuts and juice and the movie for all of us.  I really liked this one!

We ran home from the movies to host a party for a few of Ash’s little friends from school.  I’ll have more about this on the blog later this week, but it was SO fun.  The girls are all so nice and I’m so very grateful that she has found some nice friends here.

Saturday night we had some cute Christmas carolers.  The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, after all. 😉

It snowed most of the afternoon on Saturday and through the night.  Just itty little balls of snow, but snow!  It left us with a little blanket on our driveway and lawn which made trying to get out the house early on Sunday morning fun! 😉 . We’re learning all about this whole shoveling thing…it’s not really my idea of a good time, but the kids seem to think it’s kind of fun….that’s until we REALLY get snow.  I’m sure the novelty will wear off very quickly! 😉

We hopped in the car Sunday morning and ran to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing.  There is no better way to usher in the Christmas spirit!  Some Christmas songs just need to be sung by a giant choir with an orchestra. 🙂 . They always have special guests for the Christmas Music and the Spoken Word.  This year it was Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Sutton Foster (Younger and Broadway star).  They were both amazing.

Sunday afternoon we headed up to Brighton to see some REAL snow.  It was pretty empty up at Silver Lake and we had the place to ourselves.  I decided that I like to look at snow and take a few pictures, but then I’m good to get back in the car with a heater and some hot chocolate. 😉 . Take me to the beach! lol!  It was really pretty though…

and boy do I love these people.  As hard as 2017 has been on all of us, I would do anything with this group!

I hope you all have a great last week of prepping for the big day!  This is crunch time and the fun time!  Enjoy every minute of it!!

xoxo-

tammy