Temple Square Christmas Lights

We had to grab someone walking by to take a family pic!

We love Temple Square at Christmastime. The problem is that there are so many people you can barely make your way through the crowd. Last year we went and were shoulder to shoulder with ten thousand strangers. We thought that it might be a little better this year if we went on a Tuesday.

Right after school (well, after Dad returned a phone call to LDS Family Services) we piled in the van and headed out. The plan was to arrive downtown by five o'clock, grab some quick food, and enjoy the lights for a few hours. Things went mostly according to plan. We parked at City Creek and decided to walk to the food court. Unfortunately, we aren't that familiar with the mall, so we parked on the far west end. We finally found the food court after walking for quite awhile. The boys and Dad ate really well at McDonald's, and Mom enjoyed her nuggets from Chick-fil-A. Then we trooped all the way back to the van to bundle up.

The boys' favorite part was riding all of the escalators. 

We love walking through City Creek to see their pretty fountains.

Dinner in the food court is always a happy night!

We had enough layers on to be warm, but the air was chokingly dirty from the cold temperatures. A thick layer of smog covered the city. The good news was, due to the smog and the fact that it was Tuesday, there was no crowd at Temple Square. We saw very few people. Seth was able to see the Nativity because we were right on the front row, and we took all the pictures we wanted. The hardest part was finding someone to take family pictures, but we got a few. We were really glad we decided to go when we did!

Mom and Dad both love this tree!

Dax wanted to be in lots of pics which is not normal! 

We had a ton of fun!

Mark wanted a pic with the temple. I felt bad it turned out a little blurry!

Seth was so excited to be in the front for the little Nativity reading they have.  

These two were happier hanging on the fence! 

The temple and lights were beautiful, but you can see the smoggy air was not.

We got another family picture by the reflecting pool. 

We always enjoy the Temple Square lights!

We drove up to the house right at eight o'clock, which was perfect for bedtime. Mom wanted to run some cookies to the neighbors who moved in just down the street, so she ran in and grabbed the plate. The neighbors were so nice, though, that we accidentally talked past 8:30 pm, so the boys had another late night! We sure hope they can catch up on sleep over Christmas Break!

As we walked back to the car, we stopped at the Macy's Candy Windows!

I didn't know you could see Mark when I took this picture, but when I was looking back through,
 it became one of my favorites!