Mesa Temple Christmas Lights

Had dinner with my family last night and then we all headed to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights.  It was pretty nippy outside.  Grant loved the lights.

Grant & I drove by the temple again tonight and he started clapping when he saw it.  He was so excited to see the lights again, even if just from the comfort of the car.  He also gets excited when he sees the lit up candy canes and christmas tree in our front yard.  If he could talk, he would say, "Wow, these cool lights are in OUR yard!"

Some fun things to do here in December

1. The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization is having their annual Christmas concert at the Mesa Arts Center on Sat. December 4th.  If you love a good Christmas concert, this is your ticket!  I went to their Memorial Day concert and was blown away with how huge the choir is and how amazing they are.  

2. The Tempe Marketplace is having a tree lighting and ice skating show at 6:30pm this Wednesday and then it will SNOW at 7 and 8pm!  Then starting Friday night through December 24th it will SNOW there every night at 7 and 8pm.  Sounds like fun to me!  I will be there at least once.

3. Have you ever been to the Annual Christmas Train Tour put on by AZ Big Train Operators?  If you have little boys this is a must see this year!  Actually everyone will love it.  This will be the 3rd year for us to go.  Just click on the link, scroll down and click on the link for the Holiday Train Tour and take a look at the maps of where the trains are.  An absolute must see is the Sirrine's house on 24th St in Mesa.  You will be blown away with how many trains they have and how their whole back yard is one big train track wonderland!  Amazing!

4. Every year Fountain Hills lights up their down town with thousands of luminarias.  It is beautiful!  Starting at sunset on Dec 22, 23rd, and 24th.  Load up the car and take some hot chocolate!

5. Like Christmas lights?  Then you'll LOVE visiting the Mesa Temple Grounds.  Thousands of Christmas lights light up the gardens around the temple.  Each night there is also a 30 minute concert at the south side of the Visitor's Center.  Enjoy this starting THIS FRIDAY and going on through December 31st.  This is another great place to bring hot chocolate with you!

These are all on my list.  We'll see if we do them all.  Do you have some fun things you like to do at Christmas time?

Right Stuff

Did you listen to New Kids On The Block when you were growing up?  I was just looking up some music and thought, "I wonder how that song of theirs went."  Pretty good laugh.  I can see why they did not last.  My sisters and I used to make up roller skating routines with the girls down the street and put on performances for our moms.  We always used New Kids On the Block.  Those where the days!

In other news...this is my first post from my new MAC mini.  Keith set me up with my early Christmas Present last night.  I do not know what I am doing!   But he promises me that I will like it.  So far I have learned how to open the internet, open a new internet window, change the wallpaper, and adjust the volume.  Oh boy!

Little Mug Shots

Working out in Dad's tennis shoes

Helping Mom get ready

Swinging a baseball bat
 (the bat is up behind the sombrero)

Keeping Paper Under Control

Remember my post not that long ago about organizing?  Well that same gal over at Sunny Side Up has a new post on attacking the paper monster in your house.  It's genius!  Paper is one of those things that can definitely take over if you don't have a way to keep it under control.  Take a look at her idea...you'll be glad you did.  Really. 

I really like how she used the space under her stairs for organizing the paper in her house.
Then when she closes the door, it's gone!  Magic!  :)

I also really like her idea of having a notebook that acts as a one stop shop of a to-do list.  There are always things we have to do, but what about things we want to do.  They don't belong on the same list.  I like her idea of putting all those things in one place.  I have the perfect notebook waiting for me to do this...tomorrow.

Halloween 2010

Here's our Chicken Little.  Amazingly, he actually kept the hat and glasses on!  The only part he didn't like was when we put the orange tights on him.  That was all kicking and screaming, but I promised him that I wouldn't put him in tights ever again, and then he was fine.

We went to our ward's Halloween party on Saturday.  I think we came home with more candy than we brought!

We headed to Keith's parents house for Halloween night.  Grant was half chicken, half ASU football player.  He got to go to two neighbors houses and he loved it!  I think he totally gets the whole trick-or-treating thing. I even threw on a wig for fun that night.  Keith did to, but you don't want to see pictures (we didn't even take any) because it was pretty scary.  Really, it was.

Check out the picture of Grant one handing the root beer.  Keith's mom makes homemade root beer every year and Grant was obsessed with it!