Mommy-Kid dates

We've taken the past couple of months to spend one-on-one time with our children. It's great to have that special bonding with each child. With having lots of little guys around the house, some can get lost in the mass and shuffled with the group. Brian took time over the summer to do fun activities with each, and then I took a turn. I wanted to get my dates in before surgery... so they ended up getting smashed in between the holidays, but that just provided opportunities to do fun holiday things at a personal level. Here's what we did:

Jackson: The night before Halloween, we went to a local Halloween carnival. We enjoyed games, making crafts, watching a movie and popcorn, and trick-or-treating in the dark! We even went on a ride in a haunted elevator together! "spooky"! He got loaded with crafts, toys, trinkets and candy! We later drove around to look at decorated homes and talked about nothing in particular as we drove. Good special bonding moments! priceless!

Our Second date was to see the "Light of the World" production in Salt Lake at the conference Center. This was SO WORTH IT!! The timing of this just 5 days before Christmas was very nice as it got us both centered back into thinking about Christ! We had lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, ran to the conference center to avoid the rain, and played puzzles on my iPhone before the show started. It was a very special event and I felt the spirit many times as we witnessed the theatrical and musical portrayal of Christ's life (birth and resurrection). I hope he did too! It was really an amazing production...I highly recommend it to anyone! Only $5!!

Zoey: We went to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. It was fun to catch dinner together at Cafe Rio (with other witches from our clan--Grandma Gray, Carissa, Taraleigh and their girls). She got her face painted, a broom and an owl! We danced and played until the spooks came out and we were ready for bed.

Our second date was Christmas Craft night with the Relief Society. She got to make wooden trees, snowmen, snowflakes, and pick an ornament! Her room will be very festive this Holiday! We enjoyed dessert at Menchies frozen Yogurt. It was a great date! She's a sweetheart :)

Eli: Eli and I went to a movie at Wynsong and saw "Big Hero 6". He liked it but got a little scared from the "bad" guy. He was treated with popcorn during the movie and Chick-fil-A for lunch. He didn't even have room for dessert!

 Our second date was a ride on the Heber Creeper's Polar Express! This was a purely splendid evening with him! He had never ridden a train before and this event was just magical. We had hot cocoa, listen to a fiddler, sang Christmas carols, talked with Santa's elves, and saw the big man himself! He even got a special bell and ticket to keep :)

I know these dates take a lot of time, planning and coordination, but they are worth EVERY bit! The dates are very special to me to have these one-on-one moments with my kids and the memories I'm making with them. I'm always reminded of how much I love them, how special they are, and how different and unique they are when they are alone! I'm very lucky to have such great kids (yes...even if they are like normal kids which have a tendency to display those annoying habits from time to time)!