Christmas

Christmas morning!

Now that the boys are older, Christmas is a lot simpler. The boys all had a specific request, so shopping was a cinch. It turned out this year was a musical Christmas. 

Mark wanted a new guitar with a whammy bar and pedals for his amp. He picked out his own guitar online, and we got a new amp that can help you with effects for any song. It is really quite amazing, and he loves playing along with it. Mark and Mom also played, organ and piano respectively, on Christmas Eve for Sacrament Meeting. They did very well on their big orchestral number.

Mark is an amazing guitar player.

We were more skeptical when Dax asked for a bass guitar. He hadn't played very much, and it is a huge instrument. Still, he played for four hours on Christmas day. When we were away at Yellowstone, he kept repeating how much he missed his bass. So far, his attention hasn't waned.

Dax got his greatest wish for Christmas.

He has been playing it so well.

Seth got a tennis racket, which he hasn't had much chance to use. Dax also bought him a cheap ukulele, and that turned out to be his favorite gift. He has been playing at school, so we've been hearing a lot of his songs at home. He also plays the piano songs he did for his new teacher any chance he gets.

Seth is always happy when he gets books, too.

Seth has loved the ukulele.

Dad also got a new musical toy. He got a big speaker which he has been wanting for awhile. Now we can party at the beach.

Dad with his new speaker.

It was a happy Christmas. 

Mom got this awesome Utah hat!

Christmas Day was pretty easy. After breakfast we went to see Grandpa Ockey at Amy's and give him a gift. We also stopped by the open house party of two ladies in our Ward. Then Mom made a huge ham dinner. The boys also enjoyed being big enough to buy presents for everyone. It really was a magical, musical, Christmas.

We visited with Grandpa on Christmas.

Dinner was delicious. 

Christmas Adventures

 We went on a lot of fun Christmas adventures this year (like usual). Here are some of the standouts!

We went to see Elf at Lehi High. It was super cute.

Mom went to lunch with her PTA friends.

We love going to Candlelight Christmas! It's the best.

Pioneer dancing is our favorite part.

Mom makes everyone stop and see Father Christmas.

Dad found an interesting book in the book shop.

We love Handel's ice cream.

Mom went on A LOT of light drives for the blog. Only Dax joined her for these.

Seth had a Christmas concert.

Mom got to organize the Christmas party for Seth. This was the most popular game.

Seth made his own Josh Allen cookie.

We went to see the Nutcracker. It was super well done, but not our boys favorite thing.

Mark likes to wear these glasses sometimes. 

We checked out a new park since December felt like Spring.

We went to see a movie over the Christmas break.

It sure is fun doing things together as a family.

Temple Square

We were really happy to have Gary and Matt come into town in December. They came to see Grandpa Ockey, but that didn't stop us from hanging out with them, too. Mostly they stayed at Laurie's house because that's where Grandpa was staying, but we did get them for one fun-filled day. 

Gary requested to go to Temple Square. Normally, this wouldn't be unusual at Christmas, but with the temple closed and under construction, it was a little bit different. We left early, because we wanted to eat at Dad's favorite Mexican restaurant, the Blue Iguana. This place is right around the corner from Temple Square, and the food is amazing.

We love eating at the Blue Iguana.

We were able to get Grandpa in the door and down the elevator through Benihana's next door. Then we enjoyed our food for about an hour before heading out into the chilly weather. Amy met us at Temple Square, and we went into the Tabernacle to watch a choir sing. After enjoying that for awhile, we pushed Grandpa's wheelchair across the street to the Conference Center. Only our family had done a tour, and even though it was dark, they let us out on the roof to view the temple. We really enjoyed the artwork in the building, too.

We pushed Grandpa around in a wheelchair.

The lights were still pretty, but there were a lot fewer.

Mom's favorite tree every year at Temple Square.

We had fun with family!

Mark made his best prophet pose.

Wheelchair buddies

Overlooking Salt Lake from the top of the conference center.

The whole gang!

Temple Square only had a few lights, but we walked up around the Church Office Building to check out the Nativities. There are only about a half dozen life-size Nativities, but they are from all around the world. The Mexico Nativity was most unique, but we enjoyed the Maori and Japanese Nativities as well. 

It was a really fun night, and we enjoyed being with family that we usually don't get to see in December. We got back later than we wanted, but that was okay, too.

We enjoyed the different Nativities.

Mom, Dax, and Seth checked out the Macy's candy windows, too.

City Creek has great lights, too.

Christmas Visitors

We had some fun visitors at Christmas this year (besides Santa). First, Matt and Gary came to Utah. This was Gary's first time at the Ockey Family Christmas Party, and we were hosting. We reserved the church and invited everyone to bring a soup. There was also salad and rolls. We always have big plans for singing and games, too, but those activities never materialized. Instead, we finished eating and hosted Santa. Then we cleared the gym and let the kids play basketball. They were especially excited because they had Matt to play with, and he is quite the basketball star.

We also played games and made ornaments with Laurie and her family the next night. It was fun to spend so much time with the Alders, Gary and Matt, and Grandpa Ockey, too!

Mom did not take a ton of pictures at the party. But she caught one of everybody with Santa.

Grandpa Ockey and Santa!

Cousins playing basketball.

Grandpa Ockey's ornament. He did a great job!

Playing Apples to Apples!

On the last Friday before Christmas, Dad had a workday at school, but the kids didn't attend. Since no one was really watching the clock (in fact, Dad was one of only 2 teachers in the building), we decided to take a long lunch at JCW's for burgers. We'd meet Grandma and Grandpa Daniels and spend the rest of the day with them. When we arrived, we were surprised to find Jonny and Audrey! They had flown up for the day to exchange presents (and get the last two flights Jonny needed for a companion past before the end of the year). Dad never did go back to work because after that long lunch, we all drove back to the house and spent time together before Jonny's flight back to Las Vegas. 

Grandma and Grandpa Daniels stayed the night, and we opened their gifts after the Poole's left. They were so good to us, and especially the boys, who got new white shirts and ties. We were really glad to have had so many Christmas visitors.

It was so fun to have people visit for Christmas.

Volunteering at Alpine Nativity

Our family loved volunteering.

We had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at the Alpine Living Nativity. We have been visiting this live Nativity event since before Seth was even born. It is one of our favorite holiday traditions, and we were excited to be able to give back a little bit of our time to help.

Our neighbor was in charge of finding volunteers for the day shift, and we happily said we would help. On the day we were volunteering, Mark came down sick so he missed out. Hopefully he can help next Christmas time since we definitely want to help again.

It had been a snowy day the day before we volunteered, so when we arrived there was quite a bit of snow around. But we headed to the special trailer where you get information. Soon, we were all dressed up in costumes and Dad even got the important job of being a wiseman. Mom, Dax, and Seth were shepherds and were positioned at the front to help take tickets and hang out by the sheep.

Seth was so excited to be a helper.

Dax was a great shepherd.

Dad was perfect as a wise man, of course.

We were layered up, but serving in the day was nice.

Cutest shepherds, right?

The time passed quickly. Mom got to say hello to just about everyone that walked into the Nativity since she was the ticket taker. Dax and Seth were in a a lot of pictures as shepherds for people. We didn't see Dad since he was closer to the end saying his part over and over again as a wise man.

The boys took turns hanging out by the sheep or helping Mom.

Seth and Dax both said they posed for a ton of pictures.

The wisemen!

Dad's costume was amazing.

At the very end, we got to walk through the route and pick people up just like the end of a temple open house day. So we were able to see the activities, and the angels, and listen to Dad say his part. And then the entire group of volunteers went into the stable to see baby Jesus. They thanked us for serving and bringing the light of Christ into people's lives. Then we all sang Silent Night and the wiseman (Dad included) gave their gifts to baby Jesus. It was amazing and so spiritual. 

And we ended the whole thing with a cup of hot cocoa.