Grand

As many of you already know, the holidays are hardly complete without a visit to Temple Square.

This year, we headed North early and stopped by the Grand America to check out its Christmas displays first. My little brothers had a great time on their scavenger hunt to find the penguin's star in all of the window displays, and we were all rewarded with fresh cookies when they completed the task.

Then, we rode a Trax train a few blocks down the street for our main event.

No matter how many times you see the Christmas lights at Temple Square, they never get old. They're just so pretty and happy and all of those wonderful things. The weather was perfect for a nice, long stroll under the lights.

One baby nap later, it was time to head home. We had a bit of a wait for our train, but Jakey kept us plenty entertained. He's good at that, you know.

Gingerbread

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses with my family. We Grafs take our gingerbread houses very seriously and typically make an elaborate replica of our own home. It's quite the fun ordeal. This year, we mixed things up by creating a little vacation cottage instead. It turned out so charming that we're now wishing we had a real retreat just like it -- gumdrops and all.

As usual, our whole family -- cats and all -- was represented in cookie form. Below, my parents watch Heidi and the little boys as they ice skate in the back yard. In the side yards are April and Alex playing ring-around-the-rosies with Tasha, and Christian and Matthew having a snowball fight. Out front, Nicole and Jordan are (predictably) kissing under the mistletoe.

And then, of course, Matt and I are taking Jake on a walk through the snow.

I think it's our best edible creation yet.

Fire on the slopes

We're always on the lookout for new, fun things to do, and the Torchlit Parade at Deer Valley easily fit the bill. For about forty minutes, the slopes lit up as expert skiers carried torches down in various impressive patterns. It was a cool little show.

After the skiers snuffed their torches, we stuffed our bellies with free cookies, cocoa and cider. Then we made our way to Park City's Main Street for a lovely stroll and another late-night snack.

Jake kept leaning back as far as possible to get a good look at the lights strung above the streets.

Onto Brigham City

After unwrapping presents, we hopped in the shower and then hopped on the road to spend Christmas Day with Matt's family in Brigham City. We made it just in time to attend church with Matt's parents. Jakey was a hit with the neighbors.

The highlight of our Brigham visit was the creation of this music video*. Laci was the mastermind, I was her assistant, and we all had a blast being as cheesy as possible.

*Only three disclaimers required. 1: Somehow the sound got slightly off when uploading? Just pretend the lips are on. 2: Matt woke Jake up so he would cry without my knowledge. 3: Matt's brother's family in Minnesota filmed the curtained verse in the middle, so that will be added in the future.

We had a lovely, laid-back Christmas Day with Matt's parents and were joined by all of his siblings and their kids that night. We made sure to get plenty of Jake and Maggie pictures, since the two littlest cousins are just one day apart!

Jake made the rounds with all of his aunts and uncles. Here, he's hanging out with Nate, Laci and Kristen. As you can see, Jake and Nate are rocking the same hair style.

Matt made sure to get plenty of quality Daddy time, too.

We were spoiled with not just one but two days of presents.

We spent our nights playing games until the wee hours of the morning. Is that a dragon or a llama? You be the judge.

And what's a trip to Brigham City without a Davis brother guitar session? Jake was mesmerized by Matt's singing.

On our last day in Brigham, Matt's parents treated everyone to lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. 

Oh, and remember how I don't usually take many pictures in Brigham? Well, taking pictures of Jakey and handing my camera off to my nieces changed that real fast. Hence the slideshow below. Enjoy! We sure did.