Spreading Christmas Cheer---er Crafts

It was a fun weekend. We spread the Christmas cheer to other places...why stop at your own house, right?

My brother recently bought an auto part store and we have tried to spend a few days down helping him get everything the way he wants it. I am proud of him for taking the risk and doing it. He has always inspired me in the way he makes the best of everything. I am excited to see where this challenging and stressful journey takes him.

This weekend Lady Hiva and I went to help Christmas-ize the store. It was fun. We decorated a tree--just simple, of course simple is not our style, but for now it works! I then painted the store front windows. I have never done that before, but hey, that's never stopped me before.

So after chasing down some paints--a miracle itself, we had two different aunts bring some over for us to use--I went to work.

It is not perfect, but it was fun to do. Its good that Beau-D is so busy he can't tell me he doesn't like it! HAHA.

And..in other news, Lady Hiva has completed 29 weeks of gestation! That is the second longest of all our kids--Lucky Dragon being the other. We hope she lasts as long as he did! Every day and week is a blessing. 

Christmas Time of Year

 It is a bit late, but I needed to show that we have Christmas up at our house! As every year, it went up 1 NOV! YAY! As you all know I am itching to be done with Halloween so that we can start the Christmas season. This year, with all of the Halloween celebrating we did (see posts in October), even Lady Hiva was excited to dig out the decorations.

Sadly, we have such a downsize in house (downsize is an understatement) that we had to only choose 1 Christmas tree to put up this year! GASP! (Last year we had 5). Lady Hiva decided that she wanted to do the Green and Red tree this year and we added some new aspects to it. I took her to Modern Display, a decorating store in Salt Lake City, for the first time. She loved it and of course we found plenty of ideas and things that we wanted to try. We should stay away from crafting stores...and bookstores...and Lego stores...and for me suits...I guess with suits she is there to remind me we don't need it. With the other three we both like them and therefore, end up buying something we love that maybe we didn't REALLY need. haha

This is serious business

Lucky Dragon was really fun this year too. He loves Christmas every year but this year he was actively excited about decorating. He wanted to place them on the tree. His version of decorating is grouping--so there are random groups of ornaments in clumps of three or four around the tree. He was also excited that Lady Hiva had found a small tree at a thrift store that he could put in his room and has been making decorations for it. He would dance around the tree to the music and we would watch his genuine happiness for the season and all it brings.

Showing his style

Lucky Dragon showing more of his style

We have had Christmas music on the Pandora in the house for weeks. Lady Hiva even texted me last week while I was on a work trip to tell me that I "would be proud of" her because she was listening to Christmas Carols in the Mongoose as she did errands! I am turning her into a Christmas lover like me! (It only took 9 years! haha). Now I just need to talk her into watching corny, love-y, mushy Holiday movies with me (usually on the Hallmark channel) and going to watch the Forgotten Carols. Those she has not given into yet...yet being the operative word!

We are so excited for the season. A chance to love and share with those we love.

A Trip Over the Mountain

This weather in October and November has been amazing! It is a bit cooler, but there has been no snow yet and that is something I am thankful for. Maybe I should not say that when we live in the desert. But it still makes me happy.

Trying to enjoy all the good weather we can, we went with some of our favorite family members on the drive over the Wasatch mountains from Utah County to Wasatch county. This trip takes you from American Fork Canyon over the mountain to Midway and Heber. It was a beautiful drive. Although most of the leaves were already colored and fallen, it was still full of breathtaking views.

Up on top when you are about to go into the Heber Valley we stopped as one of our new favorite places--Cascade Springs. We will be going back as much as we can.

There is a range of pools and small waterfalls that are surrounded with trails, bridges and boardwalks. It is a perfect place for little guys to explore nature and see all that is out there. We had fun looking at the water, the bugs, the trees...all those things that little minds find interesting.

We made our way down the dirt road on the Wastach County side (the Wasatch Back) and ended up in Midway. Now, Lady Hiva and I have loved Midway and Heber ever since we have been in Utah. We find ourselves there often for some reason or another.  It is a quaint little town with plenty of charm. Each house is well thought out and fun to see. We ate ice cream at a fun, eclectic place on Main Street and found a park to run around for a few hours.

Too bad Heber and Midway are not closer to Salt Lake, I could just commute! But I guess if it was closer, it wouldn't have that charm that we love so much.