Christmas Eve is here!

Merry merry Christmas to you and yours!

This year has been more magical than any other so far. James has been so excited for Christmas to come, but other than "a big digger" he hasn't told me anything he wants. What he is getting, however, I hope he'll love.

Santa has been talked about daily, and while James is excited and a touch unsure, Juliet is terrified. Whenever we say "Santa is coming!" she puts her little hand on her cheek, tips her head and says "worried". Oh my.

This year we didn't do either of the traditional cookie days. My aunt and uncle and cousins are traveling, and since my Grandma's stroke family activities are a lot harder and take a lot more work. My mom and I decided to pass on cookie day this year, and E's family decided that as well.

That said, we've been having such a great time celebrating the season. We went to Temple Square early this year, right after Thanksgiving as a spur of the moment activity. Because we were not planning on it, I didn't even have my big camera, however thank goodness for iPhones, I was able to capture the fun.

James doesn't come to Temple Square to see the lights, oh no, he's all about the fountains.

These two kids of mine, I adore them.

And this man, I adore him too.

And another day we went to Trolly Square only to find a wonderful (free!) Santa without a line. Wha? It was the last Saturday before Christmas and it was the middle of the afternoon. The fact that there was no line was a Christmas miracle. James was so worried to see Santa he just kept peeking through his hands. Juliet was giving Santa a worried face. I just love this photo that E captured. My kids are so shy with new experiences. 

We told James that if he could sit on Santa's lap he could have a candy cane. Juliet wanted NONE of it.

This Santa was so sweet and amazing. He asked James what he wanted and James said "a bounce house". Santa laughed and said "that would take up your whole front yard!"

At Trolley Square you can take as many photos as you want (did I mention it's free?!) and you can even get up close, which is something pretty special. Look at sweet Santa's glasses, love them.

And one of our other favorite (free) Christmas actives is visiting Grand America hotel. We've been going since James was Juliet's age. 

The Christmas windows are so fun to see. This yeti window made Juliet quite worried. She is so sweet how she can tell us. Darling baby girl.

Life size real gingerbread house! Took 1200 lbs. of flour. (Different outfits because we went twice, and this was from the other day, obviously.)

Her little french braids are my favorite hair style for her.

Merry Christmas!