11th Day

Holly: Reminds us of the crown of thorns that Christ wore.  The berries represent his blood, and the green leaves stand for Eternal Life. 


Activity: Train ride to Salt Lake City

My Mom wanted to take the kids up to Salt Lake to see some window display inside the Grand America Hotel.  We were originally going to drive up.  Then my Dad suggested we take trax.  That way we wouldn't have to worry about traffic or parking.  Brilliant idea.  
It's always a little nerve racking to take 6 kids on any kind of field trip.  I never know what kind of mood any one of my kids will be in.  The slightest ripple from one child can turn into a tsunami with the others.   Today was a good day.  They were awesome on the train ride, to and from Salt Lake.  Jaren felt the need to run ahead in the Hotel, which lead to Grace running after him.  I can't leave the safety of my baby in the hands of my not-so-aware-of-others 13 year old.  I abandoned the others to catch up with Jaren.  I insisted he wait till the others caught up.  We discovered that Hannah and Isabel were lost.  But only for a minute.  By the time we realized they weren't with us they came around the corner.  Luckily, Hannah is calm and logical under pressure which balanced out Isabel's worry.  
The Window Display was AWESOME!!  It was the ABC's of Christmas and throughout the display the kids were able to pick out what each letter of the alphabet represented.  A pastry shop ended the display where they handed out shortbread for each completed ticket.  I'm glad the display was inside.  Two of my kids decided they didn't need coats, or conveniently  "forgot" theirs.  
Definitely  a highlight for me during this Holiday break.




Hannah waiting at the Trax Station.



It was cold!
Their little teeth were chattering!



Look Closely!
You can see the new Draper and Oquirrh Mountain Temples.
I'm sure on a clear day they are both very visible.

Isabel and Grandma

Grace's Big Smile!

 Grace holding her Ticket

It's so hard to take a good photo while eating.
Throughout the display they had some amazing gingerbread houses.



One of my Favorites.



All the kids loved this one.



I dragged the kids out to the court yard to this ginormous tree. There was no getting them to hold still.  They were trying to be ice skaters.




One with Mom.