It had been many years, but since we would be dropping Aly off to begin college in January, we decided to bring the whole family and do Christmas in Utah.
Kylie was super excited to fly on an airplane. Last time she flew she was 3 years old and didn't remember it (which also happened to be the flight she threw up on me, I believe.) But I'll tell you what - flying with older children is a dream. Everyone can carry their own backpack full of stuff, bring a book or whatever, they can each go into their own bathroom stall (a major bonus!) and all you've got to do is provide some fruit & crackers to keep everybody's blood sugar up and you're set!
And it's a good thing we had some good travelers because our flight didn't get in until 12:30 am and we didn't get to sleep until 2 am (3 am Florida time). But we made it! Just in time for Christmas Eve and all the festivities.
So we had the scrumptious Christmas Eve dinner with Steak, Sarah Salad, Creamy Potatoes & Peas, Spicy Rolls & Grape Juice - yum, yum, yum! There was also homemade ice cream and cherry cheesecake for dessert.
It was really fun to be together with everybody!
Tiffany made sugar cookies with the younger kids - It was a mess and they had a blast! We also had fun trying out all of grandpa's new games like foosball, air hockey, and table shuffleboard. And of course, there were a ton of board games going on upstairs.
Christmas morning was nice - nobody woke up too early. 😅 Santa just brought some treats to fill up people's stockings and a $25 gift card to Amazon. He really came through for us on not making us overpack our suitcases! 😉
The girls got a little extra something from grandpa - a water bottle, Perlers, a card game, and a laundry bag. Gotta love it.
Christmas afternoon we headed down to Sarah and Andy's for Christmas dinner with them. Another super scrumptious meal! We also did a white elephant gift exchange while we were there and -oh boy! - was it a doozy. Anything from a hairy belly fanny pack to a poop smelling candle to a fart bomb to deodorant to a cat hair crafting book to an awkward family photo game. Let's just say there were lots and lots of potty humor gifts involved. And everybody was loving it.
The girls always like to get dressed crazy while we're at Andy and Sarah's as well. Don't ask me why.
Once Christmas was over, we got to spend the next few days just hanging out having fun. There was a pretty intense round of the candy bar game with all the kids. So much fun and so much sugar!
The adults got to go out on their Sibling dinner. We went to this restaurant past Draper up the canyon which was pretty cool - The Ridge. The fog really added to the ambiance of the place.
We also took a new set of family pictures for my dad to hang above his mantle. What a good looking crew!
Love the picture with all the grandkids, and of course we had to have the classic funny picture!
I was also able to sneak away for breakfast with my friend who happened to be visiting in Utah at the same time. It's a small world!
Before we came out on the trip, we had asked the girls for some ideas of what they would like to do while we were there. One of them was to go to temple square and do baptisms for the dead. So, we headed downtown, but since it was 2 days before the Salt Lake temple was going to close for 4 YEARS, there was a 4 hour wait to do baptisms. Instead, we walked around the grounds looking at the Christmas decor. (We never made it back to the lights - sorry Aly! - I was too sick to make it) Then we headed down to the Jordan River temple and did baptisms. It was so awesome to get to participate in these ordinances as a family. I loved getting to be a witness with my daughter while watching Chris baptize another one of our daughters. One of the highlights of the trip.
Another daughter wanted to go see where High School Musical was filmed. The school itself was closed for the holidays, but the outside was pretty cool as well.
And another daughter (or two) wanted to go ice skating. I loved how Kate and Kylie purposefully chose matching sleeveless coat outfits just for the occasion.
The girls had a great time. They were a little tentative at first, but then they really took off! Camren joined us as well, which was cool. I was also happy that Chris would ice-skate with us. It's not really his thing, but he did really well with minimum falling.
My Dad even got out on the ice. Kate was the strongest skater (maybe because we call her Kate the Skate? 😋) and tried to help him out, but unfortunately he took a nasty spill and was done. I was just glad he didn't break anything!
Overall it was a smashing success. The girls had a really great time. We could barely get a couple of them to come off the ice!
Another fun treat was going to dinner and to see "Seussical the Musical" at the Hale Theater with Marilyn and the Andy O'Gwin crew. The special effects of this play were amazing. I love plays! And, funny story, one of the highlights of the show actually ended up being when they had technical difficulties and the crowd started doing the wave. Love it. The girls also got the chance to spend the night with their cousins, which is always super fun. And Chris and I got to go to the temple with Marilyn, which is always a treat. Just loving all the downtime to hang out with family!!
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| The kids playing "Awkward Family Photos" the game. Classic. |
A couple things not shown - while Lise, Kate, and Kylie were with the O'Gwin's, Chris, Aly, and I went to see the new Star Wars Movie. Woot, woot. We were able to see Sean & Missy & their crew at a family dinner. Always love catching up with those guys. We also kinda sorta started rewatching all the marvel movies with our new Disney+ subscription. The girls also went to have a sleepover at the Warren's house. Lots of fun with cousins and lots of just hanging out. That is what chillin' over the holidays is all about.
And, last but not least, New Year's Eve! We played it low key with a bunch of games, 7 layer dip, movies, and banging pots and pans! Happy 2020 Everybody! We made it!!!
It is always so great when we get together with family. I love, love, love to see my kids having fun with their cousins and me and Chris getting to hang out with siblings. Good stuff!
AND! We did actually get a little bit of snow. At least, enough for Lise to make a small snowman. Success!!
But, all good things must eventually come to an end. Goodbye Utah! Until next time!!!
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| BTW, the flight home was a redeye and Kate and Kylie ended up pulling an ALL NIGHTER watching movies!!! Seriously?!? What is up with these kids. We ended up paying for it later, but at least they made the most of the trip till the last second possible!! |
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