The Niven Clan: December 2010

Christmas Was Here!

Here are some of the things we've been up to during the holidays.....

Free Macey’s Christmas activities....

Niven Christmas Family Home Evening.....

Ethan loves Bryan’s cousin Lachelle. Whenever we get together he follows her around. She’s really cute with him and even sent him a Christmas card she drew of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. He keeps telling people he has a teenager for a girlfriend, ha! ha!

We had a fun time sharing talents, singing carols, and enjoying yummy food.

One of the boys favorite things during Christmas now is the Lego Advent Calendar. Thanks Jeff & Barbara!

The last two years we spent Christmas in California with Bryan’s parents. This year was the first time we celebrated Christmas Eve with our little family, but then on Christmas my sister Jamie invited us over for dinner with my grandparents, twin sister Tara and her husband Matt, Tara’s kids Gavin & Bailey, my brother Jake, and Jamie’s family. Sadly, Bryan got sick on Christmas Eve and wasn’t feeling too hot during the holiday.

On Christmas Eve the boys got new pajamas.....

And thanks to our amazing families our tree had TONS of presents under it.....

And the boys were especially excited when I wrapped up a present of a baby and told them we were going to have a baby!

And one last picture of a note Ethan wrote for me.....

Merry Christmas!

It’s been really busy, and hopefully I will have time to catch up on my blog after Christmas, but for now I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Ethan's School Winter Program

They used to call these Christmas programs, but now it's called a winter program. I wonder if they will start calling a Christmas tree a winter tree? ......Here are a few pics and a video from Ethan’s school program. He knew most of the words of the song, but he didn’t sing them at all! He got more into the dance, especially at the end when he got to slide on the floor!

Provo Tabernacle

The beautiful Provo tabernacle was ruined December 17, 2010 by a fire that started in the building.

I was so sad to hear that the Provo Tabernacle was totally ruined by the fire. We had been planning on going to a Christmas fireside just two days later, which they had to move to Utah Valley University. I’ve dated this entry as the date the fire happened, but it is now really January 16, almost a month later. Just the other day I drove by the tabernacle during the day and it’s just so strange how you can look right through the empty windows and see the inside of it completely broken, burnt, and ruined. So sad! I don’t think they’ve decided yet on whether they will rebuild it or what, but I am anxious to hear what they decide.

Free Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride, Riverwoods

The Riverwoods in Provo did some remodeling of their shopping mall and brought some new stores into the mix...(I’m still praying that Apple will open a store there so Bryan doesn’t have to commute so far; it would be the perfect location!) Along with their remodeling, before Christmas they had carolers from the Hale Center Theatre and free horse-drawn carriage rides. I don’t know if the word got out, because it wasn’t very crowded, but we sure enjoyed ourselves on a free family outing. I keep forgetting my camera everywhere I go, so we just have pics and video from our iPhones.