Christmas Village and Gingerbread Cookies

Abe and Kenya were going to be spending Christmas down in Las Vegas with Kenya's family (as well as in California where her brother would be having a basketball tournament and where Kenya's parents would graciously be paying for them all to go to Disneyland and California Adventure). But, bless their hearts, they still wanted to see some of this wild family over the holidays, so, after finishing finals they drove up to Ogden to meet us at Christmas Village and then continued on with us back to Logan for a few days (where they helped wrap Christmas gifts and even helped build Christmas-gift nightstands for me).

I had been thinking how, the last time we were here, our youngest four were all so little, that I was in a state of anxious counting and keeping tabs at all times to make sure we didn't lose anyone in the crowds and how it was nice to, this time, feel like our younger ones were a bit more savvy and able to keep with us of their own accord. 

And then we lost Hans.

It was about ten minutes of all of us searching--the panic setting in more and more as we (or at least I) began to wonder at what point we should start wildly screaming for him and calling the police. He had, apparently, thought he was following Summer and had run off quite a ways before realizing he wasn't with us. What a relief it was to find that boy!!!!!

And Daisy, at my several days urging, relented and made gingerbread cookies. Bless her heart!

(Extra bless her because I gave some to one of my ministering sisters and she texted later that she'd been wishing for gingerbread cookies this Christmas but didn't want to make them. Thank you Dais!)