December: Jingle All the Way

December started with a beautiful sunrise.

We always find a ton of fun adventures in December. This year was no different. December started with a beautiful sunrise and a baseball tournament for Mark. He was invited to play with his friend, TJ. They did pretty well, but Mark had a great time. Seth came along with Mom and Mark to southern Utah. In between games, we found some Christmas adventures in St. George. There were some really great Christmas light homes!

Mark pitched and played great.

Mark had a lot of fun with this team.

This house had lights all around! It was awesome.

We walked through the Desert Garden lights, too.

We thought the lights were super fun.

Mom loves going on adventures with her boys.

This house had little elf houses. It was so cool!

We had a great weekend.

While we were gone, Dax and Dad had their adventures, too. They went on a Christmas Cruise for the website. Then they saw A Christmas Carol at the Hale. Dad even spoiled Dax by taking him to dinner at Brick Oven!

Dax and Dad did such a great job taking pics and videos for the cruise.

Dax was really excited to eat at Brick Oven.

We also did some of our favorite Christmas adventures. We rode the wagon ride at Jordanelle with all the lights. The driver let Seth sit up front, which was extra fun. We also went to check out the Ogden lights. We haven't been since Seth was a baby and Grandma Betty was alive. It was nice to remember her as we walked around the Christmas Village. Later we went to Candlelight Christmas, which is our  favorite activity at Heritage Park. We ran into Elder Stevenson, one of the 12 apostles. He was so kind and talked to the boys about the Buffalo Bills. Then we had a fun evening doing pioneer dancing and exploring the village.

The wagon ride at Jordanelle is really peaceful.

Seth got to ride up front with the driver.

The lights in the snowy park are beautiful.

We went to Grandma Betty's favorite restaurant in downtown Ogden, too. 

The pie was the best part of the meal.

Ogden Christmas Village was very busy, but a lot of fun.

The trees are covered with so many lights.

We were glad to get back to Ogden.

We are never quite sure what Dad is doing.

Weber State in honor of Grandma Betty and Grandpa Dan. They loved supporting this local school.

We managed this one selfie in Ogden Village.

We also stopped at the Roy Christmas lights. Can you spot Seth?

On our way to Candlelight Christmas, we ended up at Mimi's Cafe. Mom and Dad ate dinner many times when they were working on their masters program.

Seth saw Father Christmas at Heritage Park.

All of the boys saw Elder Stevenson.

We voted on activities, and this one came up on everyone's list. 

During December we also had the Ockey Christmas Party. This year Dad and Mom were in charge, and we held it at a church. Sandy and Carl had been so sick and busy this year that we wanted to take some of the craziness of planning off their shoulders. The party turned out great with lots of food. Nate played Santa and did a great job. And we had lots of the family there. It was awesome!

Nate was a great Santa.

He told jokes and everything.

Randy and his Dad.

This was the best I got. No one was good at looking.

We were invited to check out a new exhibit at the Children's Museum, so Dax, Mom, and Seth spent a few hours playing there together. It was a lot of fun even though it feels like the boys have outgrown these activities, they still love them. Dad, Mark, and Dax also had the chance to do baptisms at the Draper temple. We are trying to visit all the Utah temples for baptisms.

The best Seth pic from this month!

Dax loves the grocery store.

Seth preferred the music area.

It was a great day at the temple.

The final adventures came after Christmas. We spent a day at the Hogle Zoo, followed by lunch at Hires Big H. Finally, we checked out a new museum called the Gale Center in south Salt Lake Valley. The zoo was awesome and a lot of animals were out and about. The new museum was also fun with tons of places to play together.

We love visiting the zoo in the winter.

The lions were super active.

The boys saying it is too bright for a picture.

Dad standing in a different spot so the sun isn't in their eyes.

The polar bear was swimming his same pattern as last year!

The tiger was outside enjoying the snow and sunshine.

This turtle was moving as fast as he could along the glass.

We enjoy looking at all the birds in this open area.

The turtles were eating lunch.

We had yummy food and homemade root beer for our lunch.

Dad tried the peppermint shake and it was delicious!

In the new museum there was an exhibit about a boxer.

We like to look at all the pioneer exhibits.

There were so many places to pretend play!

The school was super fun and everyone got to be the teacher.

Dad was a postal worker!

Dax relaxing on the porch by counting cars.