The first week of December was a doozy. There were events happening every night. This new Richard Paul Evans book arrived on Sunday at the first of the week. I had Monday mostly empty so I took the time to read, read and read. I really enjoyed the book and it was nice to relax that day before the business of the week hit in full force.
The next day was the Festival of Trees. I had originally planned to go with Sarah and Kendra but Kendra couldn't make it and Sarah was going later in the day so I ventured off by myself to chick it out. It's not quite the same going by yourself but I had a nice time. The trees were beautiful but my favorite is the gingerbread houses. They had some amazing ones.
I took a picture of a few different trees but am only posting two. Honestly, so much work goes into these trees and I love looking at the little details and especially reading about the people that inspired each tree, most of whom have passed from this life.
This gingerbread house is the Home Alone house.
This one was my favorite this year.
It was a Victorian village scene.
So pretty!
So much work goes into these.
People have such creativity and talent!
The next day/night was Rick's and my annual Christmas date.
We started out at the German Christkindlmarkt at Heritage Park.
We had such a fun time at this outdoor market.
It had many shops and food vendors to peruse through and we had a good time looking at all of the fun stuff people were peddling.
We knew that dinner was coming in just an hour so we didn't enjoy the different foods like we could have but we did stop for a german pancake made fresh right in front of us. It was light and yummy!
Afterwards, just down the street was our dinner spot. Of course, it was Five Alls, one of our favorites. It is under different management now and is not as good as it once was but the atmosphere was wonderful!
After dinner we stopped at The Marriott to check in. I loved the view from our room. We did not get upgraded to a suite this time but we DID overlook the Gallivan Center which was AMAZING! I love the l9ghts and seeing the families ice skating! So magical!
Next we made our way over to the Eccles Theatre for our annual Kurt Bestor concert. It never disappoints! We loved all of the music and the wonderful atmosphere! So wonderful!!
We ran into our friend, Pastor Traci Hardell. She and her husband her were sitting right in behind us.
We were wowed by the music, as always!
Kurt had an amazing violinist as one of his guests and she was so talented! I can't remember her name, though.😕
After the concert we got to meet the man himself and get a picture. What a night!
Our Christmas date is such a fun tradition! I love it so much!
The next day was a day to prep for the night. We made some necessary stops to get food and what not for the Phelps Adult Party that night at DeeAnn's home. Our group was somewhat smaller...Brad and Ruth were traveling in Denmark and of course, Darrell and Robin have passed on but Brent and Lar were able to come from Tennessee and Ken came for a bit of it, as well. We enjoyed dinner, games and present giving!
The next day was full with our Phelps Family Christmas dinner. DeeAnn's family was in charge and we had it at the Church Street building. They decorated very nicely and everyone brought food. There was SO. MUCH. FOOD! We all enjoyed visiting and eating and then we had a nice program. We started with our grandkids ringing bells to the tune Joy to the World. They all did well.😀
Next Skylar and Sarah's family sang their fun version of Christmas Bells.
(I didn't get a picture....I was enjoying the performance.)
Lastly, Rick finished up our part by beautifully bearing testimony of the Savior.
Here are some random pics of our cute graandkidddos...
It was a fun a busy week starting off the festivities for December and this wonderful christmas holiday!
