My Christmas Tree

We got to cut our very own Christmas tree this year!

We drove out to Duchesne Friday night and stayed at Grandpa and Grandma's. Then, the next morning, Nana, Aunt Chels, Uncle Dallon, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Sam came. We drove up to Rock Creek, near Stillwater Reservoir.

The best part was definitely the snow. Mom was sad, because she wanted to have TONS of snow up there so we could go sledding. I didn't really know what all that meant. I'd seen snow fall at Nana and Papa's before, but it melted before we could go and play in it. Today, I walked on it for the first time! It was amazing! It crunched and my feet sank down a little bit. I was so excited. I wanted to run around in it all day! (holding Mom's hand, of course!)

Mom said we had to take family pictures first, before I got too tired. She let me put Duxford on the sled and pull him around! That was really fun. I think Duxford liked it.

I also played in the snow with Nana for a little bit. She showed me how to throw it and even eat it! That was really cool. We found a big log that had cougar tracks on it, too!

Uncle Dallon showed me the saws!

I helped Daddy pull Ian on the sled for a little bit, too.

After the snow and Mommy got the pictures she wanted, we got down to business--searching for our tree!

Daddy and I found the perfect one. It's nice and little, just like our tree last year in Cambridge. I held on to the saw while Daddy helped me cut it down. That was so cool! When it fell over, I said: "Ohh!!" Then, we carried it to Nana's truck and she drove it home to Provo for us.

I am so glad we got to go cut our tree with all my Bruton cousins. My Schofield family had to go right after they cut their trees, but we had lunch with the Brutons and then drove back to Grandpa and Grandma's.

This is definitely a tradition I want to keep for forever!

Christmas Village at Nana's

Nana, Mama, and I put up the Christmas Village today! Nana wanted to start putting up some Christmas things at her house, and Mama and I were in total agreement. So, we pulled the two big tubs of village out of the downstairs storage and got to work.

First, we unwrapped everything and laid it all out on the ground. Then, Nana and Mama arranged the houses on the ledge where the village will be until after Christmas. They used books to make hills, and then got some pretty white fabric to be the snow. It looked perfect!

My favorite part was definitely the lights, which we did next. There were lots of cords for me to hold. Nana took the lights out of a few so I could carry the cords around as much as I wanted. Nana and Mama tucked the lights that were working into the houses and made them come alive! It looks like there are real people in the houses and the church, all waiting for Santa to come and visit them.

After the houses were all arranged, we placed the trees. This was my next favorite part. Nana has a pretty tree that has little holes for Christmas lights. She let me do almost all the lights all by myself! She did one or two and Mama did a couple, but I got to do most of it, turning it into a Christmas tree! It is in the center of the town, where the shops are. It made me think of the beautiful Christmas tree that was in Market Square in Cambridge last Christmas.

Mama and Nana put the people on after that, and then Nana let me help put the snow in the village. I wanted to put lots of snow down, because I thought all the people would like to go sledding. I can't wait to go sledding for the first time with Mama and Dad!

I put big handfuls of snow down!

I liked these trees because they already have snow!

Nana bought this house for Papa---it's a little Italian village, with Gelataria!!

Mama says this looks like Daddy, her, and me! I think she is right!

There goes Santa!!

Mama says that the Christmas village is one of her very favorite Christmas decorations. I think it will be one of mine, too. I love to come upstairs every day and look at the lights. I tell everybody that comes by that I was the one that put the pretty lights on the Christmas tree. Maybe Daddy and Papa will let me help put the lights on our real Christmas tree!

--Little Brute

Raking Leaves at Grandpa and Grandma's

This morning, we drove out to Grandpa and Grandma's in Duchesne. It was kind of a long drive, because all I wanted to do was get out of my car seat and run around in the trees. But once we got to Grandpa's, I got to run around and play with the toys.

The best part--was raking the leaves!

Cousin Ian came down to help us, too. So Uncle Stephen, Grandpa, Daddy, Mommy, Ian, and I raked all the leaves in the front yard into a huge pile.

I loved helping. I carried the rake around everywhere. Even when we had all the leaves in the pile and were playing in it, I didn't want to let go of my rake at all. I jumped in with it!

I wasn't so sure about the leaf blower at first, but then Daddy showed me how fun it can be and blew some of the leaves at me--that was so funny!

We all jumped in the leaves a bunch of times. Mommy dove in!

Mommy and Daddy threw me and Ian in the leaves so many times! It was so much fun. Ian especially liked it. He said "again, again!" and wanted to be thrown in all day.

I'm glad we came all the way out here so we could rake the leaves and see our family. I had lots of fun running around the house with Ian and playing with baby Luke, too. It's always fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

--Little Brute