white christmas

this year we spent christmas up in utah!  the kids were so excited to go and be with their cousins.  we were really hoping for a white christmas and we got it!!  they had more snow than i had ever seen during christmas.  it was so much fun!  the first morning the kids went straight outside and andi got right in the snow to make a snow angel.  without snow clothes!! she didn't care, she was so excited.  the first day there we took the frontrunner (the new train that goes from provo to salt lake) up to salt lake.  we walked around city center, had dinner and then walked around temple square.  i couldn't believe how freezing it was!!

on christmas eve we woke up to more snow and it pretty much kept snowing all day.  then we went to breakfast with ryan's family at kneaders.  when we got home the kids went to grandma camp and decorated gigantic gingerbread men.  then we got ready for christmas eve dinner.  the tradition in the anderson house is to get and wear new christmas jammies to dinner.  i love it!  grandma and grandpa anderson gave us our new jammies, we got in them and then ate dinner.  after dinner we always open our christmas crackers (another anderson tradition to celebrate our english ancestors).  then we sat down by the fire and read in luke.  ryan's mom had a wonderful idea for christmas this year.  she asked us all to donate money for a wheelchair the church sends out through the humanitarian dept.  she thought it would be a good idea for the kids to earn money to donate (which worked out perfectly since our kids were already earning money to help someone out).  a couple of weeks before christmas we watched this video from the church website.  after we watched it i asked the kids if they wanted to use the money they had been earning.  they all said yes!  so at grandma and grandpa's house we watched the video again on christmas eve and then had everyone put their money in a jar.  before the kids went to bed they exchanged their cousin gifts!  hey were excited to give their cousins gifts!  then they were off to bed!!