Holiday Traditions

Tonight we are confirming the last reservation for one of my favorite holiday traditions.  Every December 22, we pack up all the kids and head off to Salt Lake City for a couple of nights before making our final stop at Grandmas Christmas eve party. The kids like to call it Christmas in the Big City because any city is bigger than the farm town we live in.

This tradition started about five years ago after my family and I were invited to go ice-skating in downtown Salt Lake with one of our close friends. It was seriously a magical night that seemed like it was right out of a Christmas song. We skated around the ice with the city lights in the background, Christmas music playing overhead and then warmed up near the open fire pits around the park. It was truly the feeling of Christmas and I knew immediately it was something we needed to do every year.

Tonight we’re getting even more excited for our trip next week as we are looking through photos from last year. One of my favorite moments from last year was seeing my two older boys holding Wil’s hands as we strolled through Temple Square. They were pointing out certain Christmas decorations to him, making sure he was warm and just being so incredibly loving with him. It’s a fun memory I will never forget.

If you have never been to Temple Square at Christmas time you definitely need to make the trip. The amount of individual lights on each tree is incredible. The Christmas lights turn on every day at 5:30 pm and stay on until 10:00 pm.  Along with the lights, there are handmade paper lanterns that talk of “peace” in many different languages, a variety of ethnic nativity scenes on display.  Traditional Christmas songs play in the background as you wander through the grounds and there are also live performances from local bands, choirs, and artists that are featured in various venues.

This year we decided to have the kids draw names for each other and are planning on shopping at the downtown mall before going ice skating. I was originally going to have the kids get their gifts online but they were adamant about getting each other’s gifts at the “Big City” mall. I’m not sure how we are going to keep them from seeing each others gifts as we shop in the same mall that night but it makes me happy to know that they are so excited to shop for each other.

I can’t wait to share photos from this year’s trip. Be sure to follow us on Instagram to see all the details during our trip. We are also planning on doing a live video this year as we walk through Temple Square.