25 Days of Christmas--Day 15--Sing-a-longs

Our church has an annual sing-a-long that is a lot of fun. Each choir has a song and we all perform and then everyone joins in and sings the Hallelujah Chorus at the end. It's a fun event that really gets us in the mood for Christmas. Some songs are familiar and some are not and they're all arranged so beautifully. 

25 Days of Christmas--Day 14--Temple Square

We love to go to Temple Square and see the beautiful Christmas lights. We'll often meet up with extended family, grab dinner, and freeze and we walk around and admire the beauty around us. It's a tradition we all love and look forward to.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 13--Christmas Lights

We used to take the kids around town and see the Christmas lights. The newspaper used to publish the addresses of some good light displays. Sometimes, I still drive the kids around a little, but we don't make a night of it. We should, because it was fun. Sometimes we would get some hot chocolate and crank the Christmas songs as we'd drive around.

As for our house, Jon doesn't like to do anything big, so we just trim the eaves of the house. Bedums would LOVE to have some big blowups or deer or something, but we don't. Again, maybe someday...

25 Days of Christmas--Day 12--Christmas Tree

I love Christmas trees!! We got a darling little fake tree for our wedding from my siblings. Several years ago, with four little kids, we outgrew it and needed/wanted something bigger. We passed it along and started getting fresh, real trees. When we finished our basement 5 years ago, I bought another fake tree (6') for downstairs and that's our fancy tree--red and gold. The real tree is decorated with colored lights and all of the ornaments we've collected and the kids have made over the years.

When I was younger, I loved to sit on the heat vent with a blanket and look at the tree all lit up. I would still love to do that, but our vent is covered up by the tree in our front room and we can't even put any chairs in there when the tree is up because of the piano and huge bookcase. Oh well...

25 Days of Christmas--Day 11--Books

There are some books that I love to read each and every year and I'm always adding to that list. Some of my favorites are:

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It's also known as "Christmas with the Kranks" in the movie version.

It's a fun story about a couple who decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise instead, since their only daughter isn't coming home for the holidays. But their plans frantically change with a single phone call.


I love this story about a girl who wakes up early on Christmas morning and finds a strange man under her tree. She's sure her sister set things up and can't figure out who he is or where he comes from, but he was on her list... It reminds me of the Hallmark movie "A Boyfriend for Christmas." Just pure fun!!



This is a newer one that I've only read twice now, but it has cute, darling, holiday romances that make you giggle and sigh. Three novellas by three very different authors in one great book. Loved it!!

25 Days of Christmas--Day 10--Children's Books

I love children's Christmas books. When we first got married, we got a couple of books for kids and have added to that collection each year. Some are thrift store finds and others are brand new. Others are favorites from our own childhoods. The kids love to look through these and enjoy them each year. Some are about Santa and some about Baby Jesus, but each has a good message or is fun and fuels the excitement of the season.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 9--Me Movies :)

Day 9--Me Movies :)
What are "me movies?" Why, they're movies that I love and I love a good romantic comedy. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Holiday in Handcuffs. A girl kidnaps a guy and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Sleepless in Seattle. Who can resist this type of love story?
While You Were Sleeping. A lonely girl poses as a girlfriend and can't seem to tell the truth.
And most ABC Family or Hallmark Christmas movies. :)