The lights at Temple Square

Tonight we took the girls to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square for the first time. It was beautiful as always. The last time we saw the lights there was when Dan proposed to me, which was 6 years ago (Dec. 8, 2002). We were also married there in the Salt Lake temple (June 03'). So it definitely holds a special place in my heart. I'm feeling nostalgic now, so let me share the story of when Dan proposed...


My parents & I went to a Family Christmas party that night, which Dan couldn't attend because of a "church meeting" he had to be at. He was supposed to meet us at the square afterward to see the lights, but he called me to say that the meeting was running over & he wouldn't be able to meet us after all. I was disappointed, especially because he sounded so bummed on the phone.Of course the whole meeting thing was a complete rouse. Nevertheless, I believed everything he told me, I didn't suspect a single thing. I am still amazed by that to this day because it is SO hard to surprise me for anything! So I arrived at the square with my parents & apparently some sort of Spanish Conference had just finished & the place was SO crowded. Meanwhile, my dad is on the phone saying, "Yeah, I'm wearing a red jacket. We're coming around the corner now..." I was like, "Who are you talking to?" He just said we were going to meet up with my uncle & cousins (who were at the party earlier). Again, I had no clue whatsoever, I totally believed everything. All of a sudden Dan walked out from behind a statue, wearing a tuxedo & carrying a dozen roses. I honestly still did not realize what was going on! I just thought, "Oh good, he was able to meet us after all!" and I asked him,"What are you doing here! I thought you couldn't make it." Then he got down on his knee, pulled out the ring, said some really sweet stuff & "Michelle, will you marry me?" I answered, "Of course!" At this point, a huge crowd of people had gathered round & started clapping & cheering. They shouted, "Kiss, kiss!" It was very funny & I could not believe that Dan had actually truly surprised me like that. It was amazing, definitely the most romantic thing ever!

this is right where Dan proposed 6 years ago (unfortunately I can't find any pictures from that night!)

sledding

Yesterday we went sledding in Elk Ridge with my best friend Lora & her husband Mark. We got to see her new baby too, Porter (SO cute!). She was in town for the Holidays, visiting her parents. It was great to see them again, I hope they move closer after they finish school in California!

Christmastime!

sending out their Santa letters at the mall

the line for Santa was WAY too long, so we just took a picture by the decorations, since we already saw him at pre-school

grandpa & grandma Kondel spent the holidays with us

Our mixer has gone into overdrive, we have been baking like crazy! Slovak pastries, fudge, rice krispie treats, sugar cookies, cinnamon rolls

El loves to make sugar cookies

we each pick out an ornament for Christmas, this year I picked out this set that is just like the one we had growing up (remember mom?)

Dan bought the girls these nutcrackers when we went to see the ballet (another tradition since I was a kid)

before the chaos...

Christmas eve (Em put on a ballet leotard & swimsuit inside out & topped it off w/ Wilby's sweater)

new pj's & robe for Christmas eve

Goofy & Donald to add to the collection

frosting cookies for Santa

and some carrots for the reindeer

Christmas morning we were waiting for the girls to get up, but ended up having to wake them up at 8

Grandma & Grandpa Bond got the girls this awesome dollhouse (thanks mom, they LOVE it!!)

Santa brought bikes (hopefully Em will grow into hers by summer)

they also got a big box of dress up costumes (gotta love the post Halloween sales)

princess snow globes

adorable hats made by Grandma Kondel

Grandpa K. fell asleep after dessert & we put a baby blanket on him

silly faces w/ Grandma K.

El is pretty much obsessed w/ her baby niece, Kiana

we were caught in a blizzard Christmas afternoon/evening, here's Kass getting ready to go out in the scarf we got her (best baby-sitter ever!)

playing El's new princess wii game the next morning

and Wilby loves his new blanket from G & G Bond

El's pre-school Christmas program

Santa made a visit to El's class

El's teacher, Miss Heather

here are some video clips of the songs they sang. They sang everything that they've learned so far this year ( I didn't post all of them). It is pretty crazy because they are all shouting!

some random video clips

sorry about the dark lighting on some of these

catching up

Well it's been a while since I've been able to post pictures & download my camera. Our hard drive died & our back-up hard drive died within a week of each other. Thankfully Dan had saved the pictures somewhere else. So I have all the kids baby pictures & stuff. We're only missing a month or so from October I think. It has been horrible & I did not realize how much I relied on my computer! Dan is still fixing a lot of stuff, but made it possible for me to download the camera & access the picture files. Thank you Dan!! I was not very patient the last few weeks! So here is the first of many posts that I am catching up on. These are just random pictures from the last month.

Wilby being pushed by the girls in their doll pram

this is what Dan found one day when he went to wake Em up from her nap

she had taken off her diaper & all her clothes, put on underwear & went to sleep in her doll crib

he loves to sleep (& pee) on this rug in the kitchen

look at those puppy dog eyes!

this is the first snowman I've built, it was harder than I thought it would be!

Dan made fun of me when he saw it because it looks like I'm teaching the girls to smoke. I was jsut thinking of the song, "with a corncob pipe & a button nose!"

my little snow angels

Emma having fun with stickers @ my expense

Wilby's Christmas sweater ( I don't believe in dressing dogs, but we wanted him to have some kind of Holiday thing & this was the only thing we could find in his size)

he had it off in about 10 seconds

new chew toy w/ squeaker inside (El calls it a cheeky toy)