Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful day off of work and school today. Liam and I went to visit some friends, did some grocery shopping and then played and cleaned house. I thoroughly enjoyed Liam's well-behaved manner. Anticipation of Christmas and downtime really makes a difference in demeanor for us.

This evening we went to a new hibachi grill restaurant and were so impressed with our meals (and the entertainment). We drove up to Temple Square after that and were glad we wore warm coats and mittens. It was a beautiful crisp night as we walked around to see all the lights and look upon the life-size Nativity. Liam loved seeing the Angel Moroni on top of the temple. We were sure to get a photo of Liam and Moroni together.

On the horse-drawn carriage ride around the square, as we were passing a glorious view of the temple, Liam told the driver and the other passengers (who we split the fare with) that his mom and dad got married there! It was so cute to hear that from him. They looked at us and asked if we really did get married there and we smiled and nodded.

I think this Christmas Eve venture should be a family tradition from now on. It was an amazing way to celebrate this season of our Savior's birth.

I forgot to mention that in the middle of the carriage ride, I managed to drop my mitten whilst taking photos. The gal sitting across from me saw it happen so we knew where to go find it after the ride. Anyway, Ian was kind enough to drive us back to the mitten and I picked it up out of the road. When we were on our way again, Liam said, "Mom, I love you because you found your mitten." I was quick to give Daddy the credit since he drove us to get it back. He said, "Yeah, Dad is a good finder, but he doesn't find everything." We got a good laugh. Then Liam gave himself credit on how good of a finder he is too.

Prior to getting home, Liam mentioned his excitement to get the cookies set out for Santa. He rushed into the house and did his work. My job was the pour the milk in a snowman mug. He went to bed very easily, you know, because Santa is getting so close to Utah... we had to hurry.