Making Days Merry and Bright

A couple of things that I was so excited about this season were being able to frolic in tons of snow with our little girls, and to feel an overwhelming Christmas spirit, where you are so excited you can't stop your toes from wiggling.

Utah has kind of let us down in the snow department.  It has not been a very beautiful December, unless you love a sky covered in smog so thick you can chew on it and dead, yellow grass everywhere that snow should be.  I was getting used to all of that and had accepted it, but then we were able to escape for a day.

Adam, my sister Erika, and I went up into the mountains and enjoyed a day of skiing. 

Just to be above the smog was incredible and I felt like I could finally breath.  That would have been enough.  We were not expecting a lot regarding the skiing because we thought the snow would be terrible.

We were pleasantly surprised by a perfect fresh layer of snow from the night before, and mountains of powder near the top of Snowbird.  It was like we were floating on a sea a Cool Whip.

It was a cloudy in the morning, and then the sun broke through.

The sky was bright blue the rest of the day, it was glorious.  There was no one on the mountain, we had no lines and no obstacle course of people to maneuver through.  We didn't want to go back to the shadowlands, but it did have to end at some point, but we are glad we found a bit of snow.

The thing that topped my Christmas spirit chart this year was going caroling.  It was the most touching thing that our little family did.  My cute sister-in-law and brother set it up and we went to a little home that cared for not only elderly people, but for many with disabilities. 

We were a small group, but it didn't matter.  As we sang Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger and other festive songs, the residents chimed in loudly with their cheery voices. 

I couldn't think of a place better to spread some holiday cheer than right there with those sweet folks who see the same walls day in and day out.

Buddy the Elf was right when he said, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."

When we walked outside after, real magic had happened too.  It was snowing and Caroline and Olive were thrilled!  Olive is not in the picture because she was trying to catch snowflakes.

She had to have caught a few because she was definitely providing plenty of surface area for the flakes to land.

We snagged her for this picture, but she did not give up.  She wanted to enjoy the snow while it was coming.