As I look over the pictures from this week, I'd say my takeaway is that Christmas is definitely here! It's all kicking off with Grayson at preschool. They made these elf crafts! The great news is that he did get to bring it home after they decorated the classroom door for a time. Also, he gives the best smiles for his school pictures. In fact, when we try to get family pictures, Monica asks him to "smile like you do for Ms. Megan, and it works!
Oof! Texas is a rough place for a snowman, and this guy seems like he's having an especially tough day! It has cooled off here, but that's lows around 40, so it's never been that bad.
When I got to the train to head into work I actually found myself on the Hogwarts Express! It's fun to find the trains decorated for Christmas, though I'll also say that I think they only do this with one of them, so you've gotta get lucky to get the Christmas car.
Monica had her Christmas choir concert on Wednesday. We dropped Grayson off with the Ellers and I took the girls to go watch. It was really good, and everyone had a great time.
We were able to meet up with Monica after the show and congratulate her. On the way home we got routed away from traffic and took some random country road home. That would have been pretty fun in the day, but it was dark, hilly and windy. Fortunately it wasn't too much for Brooke, but it wasn't her favorite car ride either. When we got to the Ellers, Grayson was having a great time and they showed us the fun hot wheels they were playing with. It took quite a bit of time to get Grayson to put his shoes on and get out the door, but fortunately everyone had a great night.
Winry did a Christmas dance performance. She nailed it.
On Friday, Monica picked up pizza and a babysitter, we filled some plates, and took off! We went to a Harry Potter Forbidden Forest event. Here we are enjoying some dinner along the way. I had the idea to listen to the various forbidden forest scenes from the various books and jumped around through the books while we were driving there. It ended up being a great idea, because we saw so many things while walking around that we had just heard about!
And here we are inside! Oh, while we were driving they had signs out to help guide traffic once you got close. There was a sign that said "Harry Potter, turn here." Inside the entrance there were food stalls with English themed food items, and of course, the entrance to the forbidden forest.
There were a lot of set piece items from the books. Statues of things like Grawp and Hagrid, or this terrace with mistletoe, which I can assure you, was most definitely full for nargles!
Half way through, there was a refreshment stall where we stopped for a butterbeer. It was delicious! It also had a light up flashing ice cube in it. Oh, I forgot to mention the rain until now. Well, up until this point, if it was raining, it was a very light mist and not a bother at all. But once I had a drink to water down it was time for the rain to pour! It didn't actually water our drink down, but it was quite a bit of rain for a little while.
I don't think the rain kept up the rest of our time walking through. I think it was just for a few minutes. We eventually came to a place where we could cast a patronus. I got a phoenix, and Monica got something with 4 legs... I think it's a dog. All in all it was a fun night, and I'm glad we went. We talked about it on the way home, and our consensus was that we wouldn't go again unless it was cheaper in the future. Oh! and on the way home we had to stop and get gas, and I ran into the McDonalds there and got fries, and they were great! No regrets. Someone had dropped a few on the ground when they got gas, and I saw them when I got out of the car and they looked too good to not get my own, and Monica encouraged me to go in because I really wanted them.
On Saturday, Monica went out with the kids to work on putting up some more Christmas decorations. Brooke helped hang our big ornaments out in the tree and got to spend time on the ladder to do so.
On Saturday we had an Elders Quorum temple trip, and I headed down. There was a nativity set up in front of the temple which was super fun to see! It was great to go to the temple.
Grayson and Brooke both had talks in primary on Sunday. I helped them write their talks in the morning, and sat in primary to help Grayson give his talk, and listen to Brooke give hers. It was a lot of fun to be in primary again, and I definitely miss it. Hopefully I'll get to be in there with the kids again soon.
Sunday night, there was a Christmas carol concert at the church. Monica sang in it and we all went and enjoyed it. Well, I tried. I ended up in the hall chasing Grayson around and trying to keep him calmer and not too loud. We had a bit of a rough night out there, and left as soon as it was over. The girls had a good time with Monica. After, there were treats in the back and they hung out with the Ellers.
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