Utah Vacay

The rest of our Utah holiday vacation was completely enjoyable.
3rd Annual Girls' Day (babies Beckham and Ryan were also invited.)

 Veggie lunch

 "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

 Nap time

 Maisie's biannual hair cut.

 Our New Year's Eve party in the great room.

 What?  A kissing selfie.

 Thursday was roller skating.

 Late-night chats with Jib and Dearest.

 First time at a Sushi House.  Delish!

 Bowling followed.  This is the only picture of the event. I did capture my 91 year old Grandfather on film getting a spare and dancing afterwards.

 Driving home through the Grand Canyon valley filled with inverted air and then snow on the ground at home.

Utah, I love you!  Until summer when we come again.

December 28th

Church was fantastic today. Brother Purdy played the organ, I chatted with Erin in the hall, and I sat beside Grandma Goodell in Relief Society.

 Evening hours spent almost winning dominoes.  I sat and played a game!  Which means we laughed, ate treats and simply loved being together.  Austin's expression tells you he was losing, badly.

My 34th Birthday

Yes, I'm old.  But I'm quite happy about it.  I spent the day being loved and loving all my family.  Austin took me snow shoeing and the freshly fallen snow was powdery, and the atmosphere was still.

I spent the afternoon wandering around Tai Pan with Ashley, Mom and Grandma.  We looked at everything we wanted.  Bliss.

 Home again to a lovely meal and birthday festivities with all my peeps.

 Haley and I often celebrate juntos.  We missed Gabby this year.

 My glorious folks.

 Our babies are three weeks apart in age.  We are six years.

 Sibbies at the party.

 Part of the gathering.

 One of my favorite pictures.

Today feels good.  I could easily list 34 reasons to love life and feel blessed.  Tonight baby is ready to be put to bed, but I must come back and record.

December 27th

We drove to Utah today.  We started at 5:15 and arrived a little before 2.  Kids had snow clothes on in less than 30 minutes and were thrilled to play in the snow.  An hour later Austin and I went to Kneaders with the folks and their folks and Camps.  Off to the movie and home four hours later.

Both Maddie and Eddie barfed while traveling through Jacob's Lake.

 The only photo of our date night outing is the back of Grandpa's head at the theater.  Fitting, because I spent more than an hour of it in the hall with Ryan, which I've come to cherish because it's one-on-one that we don't get every day.

Thrilled to be safely tucked away in Highland.

December 26th

The aftermath was minimal today.  The children played with "old" toys and Wii games.  They spent most of the afternoon outside with their baby Nerf guns.  I washed laundry and packed.  Austin was very helpful and filled in all the cracks so I could pack and prepare all day.
The darling dollhouse has been brought back to life with a few new batteries and a big sister to lead the way.

 This boy kept me awake ALL night last night.

 He finally cut his first tooth!  Almost nine months old and just barely teething.  He could have chosen a different holiday to be miserable, but then again, my other babies teeth between 4-6 months.  So he's still a good nice baby that I hold all day and feed all night.

 Don't let his smile fool you.  He is sick.

 Wii time.

 Packing time.

What?  One week of our break is already over.  Time passing so quickly is killing me.

A Very Merry Christmas

Today I felt the magic.  All day!  Santa left 10 tubes to float the Verde River (which we tried out in the 46 degree pool).  He then spent about $30/child.  That was it.  We didn't have mounds of gifts to open, store and then stare at the rest of the year.  We had a book, a Nerf gun, one small gift from Santa and one box of cereal.  So great!  The children were happy, completely content, all day playing games together and reveling in the practically tangible feeling of love.  Love of each other and love for the Savior and from the Savior.  Merry Christmas!
The line up.

Tubes.

 A few stocking finds.

 My darlings spent their very own money and bought me a sewing kit with much needed accessories.  THE perfect gift!

 Ok.  The two little boys did receive a PB rocking brown bear.  Ed did not hop off his ride all day.

 The final picture of the morning.

 Nerf gun wars.  Luckily Santa brought Aunt Shelly her own gun so she could participate.

Catan while Eddie napped.

 Trying out the canoes and the annual Polar Bear Plunge.

A beautiful holiday together.  Oh, we did feed the missionaries a delicious dinner.