Home for the Holidays

It was Christmas #2 (in a row) without Chris home, so we decided to make the trek out to Utah again for the holidays.  This time we arrived with sickies (me included), and passed it around.  (See Kate below with her "TV eyes" as she calls them.  The cold settled into her eyes and she looked miserable.)  I was seriously sick from a couple weeks before Thanksgiving until Christmas.  The kids would each be sick for like 3 days and that's it, but they were able to rest and sleep it off whereas I had to keep chugging.  I think while I was in Utah I was finally able to get enough rest to get better!

Of course, this Christmas was going to be different than previous ones at my parent's house, with Jess and my Mom not there.  I was nervous that when I arrived there would be a gaping hole and loneliness to the whole thing.  And we did miss them a ton - more than I can describe, but despite that, I could feel their presence in a very real way while I was there.   It was still my family and it still felt like "coming home."  The house was just so my mom; it's like she and Jess were still there.  I was very grateful for that.  Also, I want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to Matt for putting up all the Christmas decorations!

So, despite the sickness and missing those who weren't there, we still were able to have a lot of fun being together.  Matt and Kate went out in the back to make snow angels and, since the snow was too crusty to make a big snowman, they made a miniature one instead.  Love the leaf hat and tie.

We had our traditional Christmas eve dinner in front of the Christmas tree with all the traditional dishes - thanks to my Sister-in-law Tiffany and all the months of hard work she put in to making these awesome cookbooks of all my mom's recipes for everybody (even bean things & spaghetti were included! ;)>).  I love how she included pictures to go along with the recipes and quotes from the family.  (Spence & Tiff, we sure missed having you there!)

Christmas morning was fun and the kiddos seemed pretty happy with their loot.  Notice how everybody loves their new jammies.  Also, -  HOORAY FOR MODERN TECHNOLOGY! - we were able to Skype with Chris on Christmas (and a few other times as well.)  This helped to complete Christmas for me, having him be a part of it and gaining strength from his love and support.  I'm grateful for the sacrifice he gives.  I can only imagine how hard it is to see everyone celebrating Christmas while he has to work that day - and every day, for 6 months straight.  I am married to a truly amazing man.

In addition to the cookbook, there were a few other special gifts given this Christmas.  When my mom died my dad helped me create a charm bracelet from some of her jewelry to remind me of her, such as a tennis racket, the doorknob from the Salt Lake temple, and the booties for my four children from her grandmother's necklace.  For Christmas I got a few charms added to it - a waterski, a ski boat, and a U of U pennant.  Also, someone anonymously left on our doorstep a gift bag for my Dad and each of my siblings (one was even sent to Arizona for Spencer.)  Inside we each found a fleece U of U blanket and a letter addressed to us from my Mom and Jess telling us that they loved us, missed us, and were thinking about us this Christmas.  I am very grateful for such thoughtful guardian angels who bless our family.

After Christmas, we were able to go see Chris' family by going out to dinner and heading up to the mountains for a few days.

The kids loved sledding behind the snowmobile and Aly actually learned how to drive the snowmobile this year and LOVED IT (with adult supervision, of course).

Kylie and I had a fun sledding turn as well.  However, we fell off and so we were done after that.

When we got back to my parent's house, we went from frozen water to a swimming pool!  The South Jordan community center pool was amazing.  It had everything from slides (including a large water slide) to a lazy river to a whirl pool, which my kids called a toilet bowl (see below).

Princess and the Frog??

"The Toilet Bowl".  Brings a new meaning to "Dropping the Kids off at the Pool". . .

We still were able to go out for our Sibling dinner, which was an awesome time for us just to get together and laugh and talk.  Luckily the restaurant wasn't crowded, because I think we stayed there for like 2-3 hours!  And since the kiddos were sleeping over at Laura's, afterwards Matt and I decided to go see a movie.  It was a lot of fun.

For another night of fun we took the kids to the nickelcade.  It was my kids' first time going to one and I don't think I'd been to once since high school.  They loved it.

And then, there was New Year's.  Laura (the fun, party aunt) didn't disappoint with her New Year's activities.  There was something to do in each balloon and they would take turns popping a balloon every hour or so.  

There were hula hoop contests, bubble gum blowing contests, movies and popcorn parties, resolutions and decorating of hats.

And don't forget the ever popular candy bar game!!

 . . . getting ready to run outside and bang our pots and pans and do fireworks!

During this trip I was also able to attend the temple with my Dad, which was really nice.  It almost didn't happen, since the day we went to go (New Year's Eve) it was closed so we went to breakfast instead.  Thankfully we were able to go the morning of the day we flew home.

Here are some snapshots of us at the airport waiting for the plane.  Kate came home looking pretty beat up.  While running on Grammy's treadmill, one of her cousins (who shall remain unnamed) changed the speed and she scraped up her chin.  Then, while helping take down the Christmas decorations, she hit herself in the eye with some garland.  Add to that her cracked lips and she just looked rough.

Lise was busy frantically reading to make up for all the lack of reading she had done on the trip . . .

 . . . Kylie was playing (very seriously) with her ponies . . .

. . . and Aly and I were playing cards.

As far as flying goes, this was probably one of the best flying experiences I've had with children.  It could be because we were flying at normal hours and not arriving at midnight or leaving at the crack of dawn.  I'm also hoping that I've finally gotten to the point where my kids are old enough to handle themselves while flying.  I did have the girls do jumping jacks during layovers, but I was able to sit with different kids for each flight (Kylie was actually willing to sit with Aly and Lise for a leg of it!) and it went pretty well.  So, despite the things I dislike about flying home for Christmas (packing all the cold weather gear, getting sick, and figuring out how to do the presents back and forth, to name a few), it turned out to be a good trip and I was grateful to be with family and "home for the holidays."