Girl Scout Christmas Party and True Blue Cupcakes

Today was crazy and I'm so tired, so you get short tonight since I have an 8:00 basketball game for Baby Doll. We started this morning in the foods room at the high school at 7:00 AM. Crafty and her leadership team for Cupcake Club had committed to making cupcakes to sell for $1 each at the cafeteria during lunchtime.

By 8:25, the girls had completed 96 cupcakes and they were headed to class. Thank goodness I had Prima Donna with me to help. She stayed at the high school and I went back home to lay down for an hour. It was interrupted sleep, but at least it was sleep.

I was back at the high school by 11:00 to help them set up their table and get things going. When I picked up Prima Donna at 1:00, they had sold about 1/3 of the cupcakes and they had donated the money to True Blue Charities.

Most of what I did during the hour or so I was home was put together everything we needed for the Girl Scout Christmas Party. Our troop party started at 2:45. The girls painted cute wooden snowmen and made Kit Kat Christmas trees. We had a cookie exchange and then we presented the girls with a gift and sent them on their way. The day wasn't over yet.

There was still dance, basketball practice, dinner, cleanup...

Making Christmas Cupcakes

I could tell you about all my chasing around today, but instead I will spare you the details and just tell you about our Cupcake Club meeting. We have taken to making 96 cupcakes for a typical meeting. This time we wanted at least 3 for everyone, so that seemed about right.

Crafty made all the cupcakes on Wednesday night, but it was my job to gather the rest of the supplies and show up at 2:15 at the high school. Dog Walker had to work, so Baby Doll decided she wanted to come along with me.

After we got set up, Crafty split the kids into 4 groups. She and Baby Doll got to be their own group. Crafty is still nervous and shy about being in charge of a meeting, but she is getting better. We got everyone making frosting and Baby Doll and I passed out all the rest of the supplies.

We did 3 cupcakes today, a wreath, a strand of lights, and a Christmas tree. It is so fun to watch the kids take a simple idea and make it their own. They were all so cute and so different. My favorite was the tree because we had a fresh strawberry for them to put in the center for a support. They all used different tips for the needles, then they added decorations and a Laffy Taffy star on top.

We finished up just in time for me to get home and quickly change my clothes for my sweetie's work party, but I will save that story for tomorrow.

Joseph Smith Memorial Building Tour

After the Christmas Carole Singalong at the Vivint Arena on Monday, we hoofed it the several blocks to Temple Square. We thought about hopping on Trax since we were in the free fare zone, but so did everyone else and they were so crowded we decided we would be much more comfortable walking.

Grandpa wanted to go straight to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which is where he serves his mission.  The kids were pretty excited to see this beautiful building most of them had never been in before.

We saw where they have weddings and where they do family history work. I don't know why I didn't think to take a pic of the huge map of the world with lights showing all the temples! We saw the beautiful chapel that still has active wards every Sunday, and the stairs to the Legacy theater, but the 10th floor was my favorite.

On one side of the building they had huge windows that showed the mountains, but it was dark so they were difficult to see. The other side overlooked Temple Square and although the Christmas lights were amazing, they were nothing compared with the beauty of the Temple itself.

It's easy to see why Grandpa loves serving in this beautiful slice of Utah history a couple of days a week.

Playing Santa

Remember on Sunday when I told you about the Choir Concert? Well, afterward we were cleaning up when I happened across a conversation with my dear friend, Steve James. It just so happened that he was doing a charity concert at Columbia Elementary on Monday night and he had not been able to find anyone to play Santa Claus.

He seemed pretty desperate so I mentioned that on quite a few family occasions and at one ward party, my sweetie had played that role and he already had his own Santa suit. The only thing was that he would have to ask my sweetie himself. I learned a long time ago not to commit my sweetie to anything he didn't have any say in.

Steve hustled back into the gym and chased him down. I continued to gather programs and trash; the chapel was almost clean, but I wanted to give them time to talk.

When I finally wandered over to where they were chatting, my awesome sweetie had agreed.

Fast forward to Monday...

We drove to the school, parked, and entered the building. I could tell my sweetie was a little nervous. They were expecting up to 1000 people. We slipped into the faculty lounge and he made the transformation into Santa. Shortly after that we were joined by the Grinch. The show was designed so the two could become friends.

When the time came to perform, my sweetie ho-ho-ho'd his way to the stage like a pro. He waved to the children, high-fived, and danced around the stage. It's a good thing he was a Cubmaster for so many years and was used to entertaining an audience!

When they were finally finished, he changed back to his normal, amazing self and we headed for the sing-along like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

It was a good day. :)