the second day of christmas

we had a mock-christmas-morning since noah and kristi and their kids had to leave on the 23rd.
 
we had a gingerbread making party and contest
(do you think my award by my dad the judge says anything
about his encouragement for me to get married already?)
  
we had a birthday party for kristi. love her so much.

we beheld this sunset on our way down to temple square.
while a lot of the photos in this post have been edited, the one below is actually how it really looked.

we braved the crowds at temple square to see the lights. a christmastime tradition never to be missed.

we even made a christmas-tree-pyramid and sang some carols,
just like we did a few years ago on 5th avenue in new york city.
 
days that are quite nearly christmas for four days before the real deal? i’ll take it.