Twelve dates of Christmas: On our ninth date of Christmas...

...We had a Christmas Wrapping Party. Whether it was actually a party could be argued. I tend to make everything into a party to make it more appealing. Laundry folding parties. Paper organizing parties. We are all kinds of fun at our house :). Our Christmas Wrapping Party was a total success, in that all the presents got wrapped and BD got a treat at the end. Wrapping the gift is my favorite part of gift giving.

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our eighth date of Christmas...

...We did a hot chocolate crawl in search of SLC's finest. We only made it to three places because after three cups of hot cocoa we were surprisingly hot-chocolated out. Who knew?

First stop, Nostalia Cafe. We ran into BD's car pool companion and he spotted us our first cup of the night, bonus. The atmosphere is pretty up-hippity, but they scored points for having the puuuurfect temperature of hot chocolate. Meaning no tongue scalding. They use real milk steamed with a sweetened cocoa powder, but the real upside was a shot of butterscotch. Overall a decent cup.

Next up we hit Caffe Niche. Hands down, they won the contest on presentation: a wide latte mug topped with whipped cream and a pretty chocolate syrup design. It was extra frothy too! I do love froth. Our waiter made a point to tell us they use Ghirardelli chocolate sauce. And actually, you could really taste a strong chocolate flavor. Overall, very very good.

Our last stop was Hatch Family Chocolates, which we expected to be our favorite and it indeed was. Their new digs are nice, but I actually think I prefer their former more cozy, impossibly crowded location. Nevertheless, the hot chocolate is pretty awesome. Zero points on presentation for a plain white paper cup and plastic lid, even for sit-down customers. But the taste was "silky and smooth" according to BD. I think I spotted a Guittard Chocolate syrup container behind the counter, evidence that they use a high quality product. Regardless, it was really delicious, perfectly warm, extra creamy, and ultra chocolatey. Ding ding ding!

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our seventh date of Christmas...

...We spent a beautiful evening at Sundance with NetDocuments. It's sort of like a second family, well, because lots of BD's co-workers are actual family! Right now, BD has the amazing privilege to work with his dad, and all his siblings. Yep, all three of them. Can you imagine? To top it off, he also gets to work with his uncle and numerous cousins. Oh, and also his best friend. Yeah. Plus, there are partners and other long time employees at ND that have known him practically his whole life, so they feel like uncles, or maybe just really big brothers :). I love to remind him how lucky he is!

Kissy face? Sure, let's roll with it.

Normally, we have a long and late night drive ahead of us after anything we attend down in the UC (Utah County, for those in the know). This time however, BD surprised me with a night at Sundance so we could stay put and extend our lovely evening up the canyon in a cozy cabin for two. He even started a real crackling wood fire that lulled me right off to sleepy land. He is simply the best. I repeat, THE BEST. This Christmas dating thing has turned out better than I could have imagined.

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our sixth date of Christmas...

...We celebrated Dan's December birthday at Moochie's along with the whole Duncan clan! The man loves his Philly cheese steaks, and you can't blame him, they are pretty darn delicious at this little local sandwich dive. BD's family is growing so quickly, we don't even fit at one table any more. Happy Birthday Dan!

The Birthday boy Dan & his beauty Alli

Everybody else + Jana's sister visiting from Virginia. Something about a wedding coming up ;)

No comment.

These two cousins love to give kisses, but it's impossible to photograph!

After the heartburn had settled, we then ventured over to The Grand America's toy store Jou Jou. It did not disappoint. The littles loved it sure enough, but so did the adults just the same. I was mesmerized at their amazing children's book collection and giddy about the unique toys and stuffed animals. If I'm ever having a bad day, I'll know straight where to head to cheer me up in a flash. The boys got sucked into a handheld game and it kept them occupied for a surprisingly looooong time. I need to tuck one of these into my purse for shopping excursions. That game, plus a little snack, could buy me an extra hour.

Big kids.

BD finally gets a win! ...as Ryan looks on in envy.

I should also mention the gelato from La Bonne Vie, because, um...YUM. Sweet tooth is back!

My favorite moment of the night, watching Ellie and Cody completely enchanted by the display windows. Cody kept looking back at us, like, are you guys seeing this?? Also, can you even handle Ellie's chubby thighs? I simply cannot.

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our fifth date of Christmas...

...We took a wintry Sunday drive up Wolf Creek Pass. This is BD's happy place. 

 

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our fourth date of Christmas...

...We fancied up for an evening at my work Christmas Party at Zermatt in Midway. It's not often that we attend events that request cocktail attire and the pleasure of our company to order pretty drinks from the bar, but it's real fun when we do!

And after two late nights in a row, this party animal could not keep her eyes open to save her life the following day.

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our third date of Christmas...

...We bundled up for the Nativity in the Glen, which is fast becoming a favorite neighborhood tradition. 

We walked down the candle lit path into Bethlehem,

 heard a choir of angels sing, 

 saw (and smelled) camels, donkeys, sheep, and goats, 

 smiled awkwardly from the side, 

witnessed the wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, 

 and beheld Baby Jesus (or baby cheeses, whichever). 

 It was beautiful!

Twelve dates of Christmas: One our second date of Christmas...

...We put together Christmas packages for some dear friends in Brazil. Sometimes I still can't believe that we were able to go on that trip. I also can't believe nearly one whole year has passed since then. When I think about all the incredible, inspiring, and sometimes horrifying things we saw, I am reminded of how lucky I am. But nothing tops the people that we met. I am forever humbled by the love and friendship we encountered while there. My memories of those sweet people will be with me forever and I hope we get to see them again. In the meantime, we send them our love with things like peanut butter.

One quick memory: Jailson took us to his home, and Brad told me that he lived in a really nice place which was more or less near a favela (shanty-town) but not in a favela. When we drove onto the bumpy dirt road leading to his building, I could see that his apartment was set aside from the dense favela and away from the main traffic road. However, my perception of the neighborhood didn't fully convince me that we were in a really nice place.

Jailson, with a fair amount of pride, gestured to a stray donkey grazing in the tall weeds and said "see, even the donkey thinks it's peaceful here." It was as if he had said, this place is so wonderful it is even good enough for donkeys. But all I could see was that a stray donkey was grazing on weeds in what was supposed to be a really nice place! My perception of the world as I saw it and my perception of the world as it really was received a huge wake up call that day.

Twelve dates of Christmas: On our first date of Christmas...

...We ordered Chinese take-out and decorated our Christmas tree(s). We tend to prefer spending Friday nights in, it's just our thing after a long work week. I became a little sentimental while unboxing our three little trees this year. Years ago we had purchased them in a trio from the clearance rack at Shopko on the day before Christmas because we suddenly realized we didn't have a tree. Such a newlywed thing to do, pshaw. I grew up always having a real pine tree in the house for Christmas, but living in an old high rise condo you learn to adapt to a few things like quirky electrical problems and elderly intolerance for pine needles in the elevator. I do love these little trees. Now our house feels warm and bright (and also smells like cashew chicken).

**Thank you to Naomi of The Rockstar Diaries for the Twelve Dates of Christmas idea which has provided a creative way to be intentional about our marriage this month. I'm thinking this is a new holiday tradition (but don't hold me to it). Sometimes I love blogland so much I want to hug it, this is one of those times.