Star Wars VII

Brian and I saw Star Wars VII at the Megaplex opening night. It was a fun night. I won two tickets from America First Credit Union. They even threw in popcorn, drinks and pre-show prizes.

When the Star Wars title flashed on the screen and the signature music started to play, everyone in the audience cheered--great energy and the movie was good. It reminded me of the original movies but with better technology.

I grew up with Star Wars--the action figures and dreams of having princess Leia hair. But, when Sophie and Ian were around ages 4 and 6 and I deemed them old enough to be introduced to great classics like Star Wars, I realized I had never actually seen the movies all the way through.

That seemed odd because Star Wars seemed so familiar, until I realized was only one when Episode IV came out and barely seven when Episode VI hit theaters. I remember going to the theater to see Return of the Jedi with my dad, my uncles and a group of my cousins. We were suppose to go to a 7 p.m. show, but it was sold out. Those kooky dads took all of us kids to the late showing instead. I think I fell asleep.

It was fun to discover the Star Wars movies with my children almost ten years ago. We have enjoyed watching all six episodes together many times since--although, my three older children were only introduced to Episode III a few years ago because it is PG-13 (Katie has to wait to see that one and Episode VII, which is also PG-13).

It has been fun to see all of the hype around the newest installment. Brian took the kids to a 3-D showing the following week.

This December was pretty relaxing. Mostly because I didn't fill my mind with a lot of expectations. It was a wonderful feeling to finish my Christmas shopping before December. After that, I decided to take things a day at a time.

There were a few Christmas parties--the ward party with amazing food and gorgeous snowflake decorations; Brian's swanky work party at Zucca that included his staff plus board members making it a large crowd; and a more intimate party with Brian's staff of six plus spouses, a fun night eating homemade soups and being silly playing left, right, center.

We attended two Christmas plays -- Elf at Sophie's high school and A Fairly Potter Christmas Carol at the Ziegfeld. Sophie liked the latter so much that she went a total of three times. We've been to Christmas Village and the kids have played in the snow. We have visited Santa and ice skated outdoors. The kids upheld their annual tradition of watching A Muppet Christmas Carol with my mom. We have really ended up doing quite a lot of Christmas activities even though I didn't make a list and check it twice to make sure we got out and enjoyed all the season has to offer. It ended up being a good balance.