On our way back from St. George, we stopped at costco, grabbed a few essentials because we love costco, and got our legit Oregon Christmas tree too! We strapped it to the roof of our car and hauled it back home! I have to admit that I do miss hiking around in the mountains up here and cutting our own tree, but they just don't live up to my expectations. They don't hold lights and ornaments very well. Oregon trees is where it is at!! Thankfully, Phil is a good sport and gives in to my pickiness. The kids were dying to decorate the tree, but it took a few days to get the lights up. Right? We always run out of light because our tree is bigger than the last year and we always have a few stands that we can't revive. But we finally did and the kids loved putting up their old ornaments and discovering all the fun that's been stored away for the year. They especially love the "cliff hangers" that Jeremy gave us a few years ago!
With the Christmas season starting, we decided to take part in the "light the world" initiative, set out by the church. Every day we tried our best to do something that could light the world. We made a couple hundred swig sugar cookies to wrap and deliver as neighbor gifts to start. It was definitely inspired to do this so early in the month as we would find out later soon that Mutti's health was starting to decline even more. The kids had fun decorating them, but didn't do too many as their skills weren't quite up to par. Although, I was surprised that Brewer seemed to have more talent than Boyd. Funny. For light the world, we also wrote notes to our parents (and grandparents) telling them how much we loved them and appreciated them. One day we went and got hot chocolate from the gas station and drove around until we found some workers, building a house out in the cold. The best part was they were subs working on our good friends home. Win, win! Probably the most impactful for our kids was choosing some of their toys, plus getting to spend some money on new toys to donate to Subs For Santa. Brewer had no problem gifting some of the toys he doesn't play with anymore and actually choose some awesome stuff. Boyd easily picked what he thought was cool at the dollar store and spent his $10 without thought of himself. Brew on the other hand found some really cool stuff but didn't want to buy it if it wasn't for himself. It took some time, but he eventually realized he could still get that for another kid and also ask for it himself for Christmas. Once he realized there was a chance he could get the same monster truck, he was okay and picked it out. Lola actually surprised us all. It was easy for her to pick a couple things that stood out to her and really loved. She chose a pink minnie mouse. When it came time for them to put it in the box, they did great, even Lola dropped her minnie mouse in the box and didn't throw any sort of fit. It probably helped that her older brothers were doing the same thing! It was wonderful and definitely helped us to feel the Christmas Spirit!
The same day that we did the hot chocolate, we also were able to stop in and see Santa, who had taken a quick breather at Grandma's Candy Shop. He was awesome and they were so fun with the kids and it felt magical! They gave them all a little chocolate when we arrived and then Santa gave them a little goodie bag as well. I couldn't resist the adorable and beautiful sugar cookies they had either!! Boyd was excited to see Santa and had no problem talking to him and telling him everything he wanted. Brewer I could tell was a little nervous, but then hopped right up on his lap. Lola, who has been so fascinated with Santa and so excited he was coming, did not want to be near him. She was so nervous, but could not take her eyes off of him. At the end of our little visit, she did manage a little wave to him and even a tiny smile. It was pretty dang cute!
Last but not least, we went to Victor for the first time that we have lived here and hit up the little parade they put on. The Yeti was there as well as Santa. Even though it was a little chilly, it was so fun for the kids and we were all surprised by the fireworks that were put on afterwards!
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