Utah (Part 3)

The 23rd of December - nothing like a little last minute mall shopping with lunch included!

And yes, the 23rd is also a crazy night to do Temple Square and the lights!  We met Brian, Alisha, Jayce, Halli and Mayci and had a lot of fun despite the crowds.

We ended up at the Joseph Smith Building where there was hot cocoa of course!


Christmas Eve at Grama T's was very memorable...

Mostly because this happened -

and this - 

The chocolate fountain incident we will never forget!!

The outrageously priced cheesecake was pretty amazing too and the company was entertaining - especially when Mike opened his gift of oversized underwear!

The kids also had fun tracking Santa's whereabouts on the computer all night!

So the next morning, look what we found on Santa's plate of eaten cookies - what?!?

Along with this sight -

Wow! Wow! and Wow!

Later Christmas morning we went to Grandma Jeanne and Papa Rick's house...

The Johanson's came too and we opened presents, played games and just hung out together.

Then, we were off to spend the evening with dad at the Johanson's - more food, gifts, music and great company!  Probably the busiest, most happening Christmas day we've had in a long time!  Loved it!

Utah (Part 2)

We decorated gingerbread houses at grandma T's with Dylan and family. Why haven't we ever done this before? Very fun!

Avery's finished product...

Caleb's...

and Presley's..

Cookies too!  Caleb wanted to set things up like a museum on the table...

Dad wrestling with the enormous Oscar,

and an attempt of a portrait with both dogs.  Jack came with us on what we'd like to think is his very last trip to Utah!

We had a Christmas family home evening at Grandma Jeanne's house.  Lot of music and pictures and of course, fun company!

The cousin gift exchange was really fun!  It was great to see how they enjoyed each other's excitement as they unwrapped their gifts.

Kenton wrapped Caleb's gift in layers and layers of wrapping paper and tape - it was well worth it though when he finally got to it!

Newest addition to the family - Cal was just a month and a half old, just starting to coo and smile - so adorable!

Utah 2013-14 (Part 1)

First official trip to Utah for Christmas - I guess that's why we brought so much?!?

We got to see a favorite cousin the day we arrived! 

 And the next evening, the girls and I went to a performance of the Nutcracker that Annalyn and Erin were in.  More favorite cousins too!

Look at them!It was so much fun to see them on stage, so animated and excited!  They did a wonderful job!

The next day Sandy got dumped on and the kids spent several hours playing in the snow in Grandma T's yard.  Oscar was especially entertaining when he ran around in all the white stuff!  The pink gloves we went hunting for the day before were put to good use!

It was such a snowy day, we were a little worried we wouldn't make it up the canyon that night to go on a sleigh ride at The Homestead with the Johansons.  But, we decided to brave it and it turned out they hadn't gotten enough snow to be able to run the sleighs, so it was a horse-drawn carriage.  Still fun though, especially just because we were together...

And look who we got to see afterward!

We decided to stay at the resort and eat at their restaurant, and boy, were we glad!  Just look at these rolls!  What a super fun night it turned out to be!

Holidays are here!

Apple Turkeys!  Here's Caleb and Jared, his best buddy in his third grade class this year.  I went to help everyone decorate apples to look festive - we had a good time!

Finished!  Gobble, gobble!  My favorite thing was how the cheerio eyes turned out!

Another fun project and this time for Thanksgiving Day.  Who's cuter, kids or pilgrim and indians?

And this project wasn't festive, but it was a good one!  Caleb's first real project for school, showing all the factors of the number 72.  He did an awesome job!

We went to the annual nativity celebration at the stake center - these were favorites...

We took Serena and her mom with us and everyone had fun dressing up - even Caleb!  What a fun tradition!  I've been taking pictures of him dressed up in nativity costumes at this event since he was three!

Presley's new look -