Temple Square

It wouldn't be Christmas without seeing the lights at Temple Square.  Having Kirstie in school has thrown a little twist in our planning.  In the past, we didn't have to worry about being in bed early on weekdays.  We could go to Temple Square on any night. It was so nice.  But this year we ended up going on a (crowded) Saturday night.  We didn't realize that it was the same night as the MoTab Choir concerts so there were a lot of people there!  Nevertheless, it was still a fun time.  We bundled up in our snow clothes so we didn't really get cold at all, which was nice.  

This was their favorite spot.  Both kids have such a love for nativity scenes.  They are always asking to drive by nativities set our around our neighborhood.  The love to watch movies with nativity scenes in them-- particularly Mr. Kruger's Christmas and the Joy to the World movie put out by the church.  (Both movies were the seen more than any other Christmas movie).  They also LOVE to act out the nativity.  We've done it over and over at our house.  Also, they love to sing songs about the nativity-- Away in a Manger, Picture a Christmas, etc.  It really is very sweet!!  I love that they can feel the importance of why we celebrate Christmas.

This is the giant red tree that they only light every other year.  I wish I had gotten a better picture to show the beauty of it, but there were just way too many people around.  I love to stand under the tree and look up at all the lights.  Beautiful!

We stopped in the Tabernacle for a bit.  My kids love to watch the MoTab choir with me each Sunday morning on Music and the Spoken Word.  So it was fun to see where they sometimes sing.  The tabernacle was getting full with concert overflow from the Conference Center, so we didn't stay too long.  We did run into one of Brent's friends from the single ward though.  We had a nice chat with him and his wife. 

We saw part of the nativity presentation.  Again, too many people.  But we did hear some interesting comments from people around us.  One dad next to us told his son, pointing to the wise men, "These were some rich dudes that brought him gold and frankcense and some other thing."

Another mom pushed her kid to the front, and after pausing for a few moments left saying, "Never mind.  A couple of years ago this was a live nativity."  I don't remember this ever being live.  Whatever.

We had to make one last stop to see Mary and Joseph again.  I think Kirstie could've stayed there all night just looking at it.

We stopped in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We didn't want to wait for the elevators to go all the way up.  Instead, Brent and the kids took the stairs just up to the 2nd floor and looked down from there.  

Other highlights of the night include: street musicians (the kids liked the bagpipes, I liked the brass quartet), parking only costing $1, and stopping for fries and water at Wendy's on the way home.