Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! In this picture I think we are watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Although we always start decorating around Thanksgiving time and play Christmas music right after Thanksgiving, I always feel like the First Presidency Christmas Devotional is the real start to the Christmas season. I always feel the spirit so strongly during it and it sets a good tone for thinking about Christ and His birth all the time for the rest of the month. 

This Christmas seemed a little different due to our quarantine. We all had to stay home with only seeing each other for the first couple of weeks of the month. So that meant we had to cram in some of our shopping and other preparations right before Christmas. But, it also meant we got to spend a lot of time together as a family doing different Christmas activities at home. And that was really nice. I think it felt a little more spiritual that way.

I really like how Agnes and Asher are all cuddled up here.

A couple days before Christmas Julia had her dance recital. For the past four months Julia has been doing dance lessons two nights a week (one night is ballet and the other night is jazz). She has really liked it and even pays for it all on her own. She was really excited for the recital, but also a little nervous. Due to COVID-19 concerns, they had to do the recital in their dance studio rather than on a real stage somewhere. They also had to wear masks while they performed (and practiced), but they could take them off for pictures. Here she is in her costumes.

The Abels came over and spent Christmas Eve with us. It was really nice having a few more actors for our nativity. Tianna also brought over a ton of costumes, which they kids preferred much more than the typical towel outfits that we have done in the past.

Here are the children on Christmas morning, really eager to give and receive presents! We let them come out of their rooms at 7am, but said we wouldn't open anything up until 7:30. I was up a little earlier than that, so we ended up watching The Christ Child until it was time. 

Later that morning we went over to the Abels' house for a Christmas brunch. It was really yummy and fun to spend some of Christmas day with family.

Then, the next day, we started on our trip down to Arizona. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Utah. I didn't get any pictures, but we got to visit with Tyler and Hyewon's family briefly and then spent time with Nathanael and Mary-Anne's family. Our children loved playing with cousins and Nathanael and Mary-Anne shared some really yummy food with us.

The drive down to Arizona on Monday went pretty smoothly. We left just after 5am and I think all of the children fell asleep in the car for the first hour or so. The kids ate a lot of their Christmas candy on the way and listened to some audio books, drew, and played computer games. We arrived there at about 4 - just in time for dinner and an evening at the swimming pool.

Here are pictures of one of the hikes that we did while we were there. The hike ended at some cool petroglyphs and rock formations. Rebecca and I loved seeing all of the cacti and the children loved climbing around on all of the rocks. After, Grandma and Grandpa Swift treated us to some delicious ice cream.

The next morning, my Dad, Jim, Rebecca, Julia, Ethan, Christian, Elliott, and I did a harder hike up Superstition Mountain. It was cold for much of it because it was cloudy out and we were in the shade of the mountain while the sun was rising. But it was still very pretty. And this hike was extra fun (and hard) because we had to do actual climbing up boulders and rocks for much of it. It was difficult, but we made it to the top and the view was beautiful. It was about 3 miles each way.

The top point of the hike is in the middle in this picture.

I guess during non-Winter times of the year, this next part of the trail is slick with water. The rock was all smooth in this area.

At the top. It was a little scary having our children up there by the edge because there was a straight drop off. But I think they were a little scared too and never got too close.

At the very end of the hike the sun finally came out. It felt good to warm up some.

We did so much more on our visit, but I forgot to take pictures. It was fun just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Swift (and the Abels) and see where they live during the winters. We also got to visit my Grandma Rucker and Grandpa Swift who both live down there. We also went to the pools every day, played pickleball and bocce, played lots of games, and ate some yummy food. We hope we can go visit them again sometime soon.