Christmas at Temple Square

Do you ever picture the perfect family night out? I thought we should take the girls to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. I envisioned awe-inspiring adventures and great memory making time with our girls.

We picked the night, the first Sunday in December...not too cold yet...we were planning on being in Salt Lake City anyway...why not?

What we didn't know is that the first Sunday in December is the Christmas Devotional/Fireside held at the Conference Center on Temple Square. We learned about this while visiting Steve's parents before going to Temple Square. We could have postponed our plans, but it is a lot of work finding 6 pairs of warm boots/shoes that match, 6 pairs of gloves and/or mittens, a minimum of 3 hats, long pants (opposed to the short ones the twins had been insisting on wearing all week) and coats for all. Not to mention a wagon and blankets.

Steve's dad got roped into driving us and dropping us off so we wouldn't have to find parking. First on the agenda was to see the life-sized nativity. Usually there is music with the Tabernacle Choir singing and a narrator telling the story of Jesus' birth. But since the devotional was in process, there was no sound. Madison and I wanted to take pictures as the various sections were lit up, but Steve was worried the twins would get bored and needed to keep moving. He thought I heard him say to meet him at the doors to the Visitor Center when we were finished. I thought he said he would be right back. Anyway, we got separated.

Just when I told Madi, there was no way we were going to find them, we heard Savannah's very familiar cry. You know, the one she uses in public when things are not going her way. We were inside the Visitor Center with the Christus statue. Steve had the twins out of the wagon and we spent the next several minutes chasing them up and down the escalators.

Here is a cute picture I took of Madi by a tree in the Visitor Center. Right after this picture, Savannah managed to unplug something and the tree was no longer lit. :(

We went up to the Christus along with about 200 other people, then decided we should go back outside....just as the devotional was getting over...oops. There were people everywhere, just outside the Visitor Center. We managed to get into the flow of people traffic and just kept moving. We decided we should go to the Plaza where it may be less crowded and luckily that was a good move.

By this time, I was ready to go and had given up on the picture perfect night out with the girls. But we persevered and the night ended pretty well. The kids did enjoy the lights and we managed to still have 3 girls, 6 pairs of warm boots/shoes that match, 6 pairs of gloves and/or mittens, 3 hats, long pants, and coats for all. Not to mention a wagon and blankets.

Recipe for Hair Goop

I've had a few requests for this recipe, so here it is:

Proclaim Curl Activator Gel (32 oz)
3 Cocoa butter sticks (1 oz)
Proclaim bees wax (4 oz)

Place cocoa butter sticks in a large glass bowl along with half a jar of bees wax. Microwave until they are liquid.
Add about ¾ jar of curl activator.
Mix vigorously with a spoon until the mixture looks like vanilla pudding (smooth and thick).
Add remaining curl activator.
(If you don’t microwave the bees wax well enough, it will clump when you add the cold curl activator. If this happens, put the whole solution in the microwave for 4 minutes, then begin to mix again. Then add the remaining curl activator, once the mixture is mixed well and cooled. Apply to wet hair and style using shingling process described on curvesalon.com.

Good Luck!

Homemade Hair Goop

I just LOOOOVVVE Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercreme for Sierra's and Savannah's hair. It is a moisturizer and it works really well and smells good too....but it costs $32 for 8 oz. In December they have a 2 for the price of 1 deal making it $32 for 16 oz...plus shipping ($16.35). Since we are trying to keep a tight budget so we can afford to travel to Ghana and complete this adoption, I decided to try a recipe I found that is supposed to be very similar to Miss Jessie's buttercreme and curly pudding (another product I have bought that defines curls).
















So I spent just over $10 at Sally's and bought the ingredients. It made about 40 oz. of creme...it doesn't smell as good as Miss Jessie's, but so far I like how it is working on their hair...nice and soft and not brittle. If any of you with black children want to try it, let me know...I have plenty to share! :)

(Miss Jessie's in front...my concoction in back.)