This year was our year to be in Utah for Christmas. The weather across the pass was bad during the couple of days we were planning on going, so we finally decided to drive down through Vegas and come in the other direction. It took another 4-5 hours, but we didn't have problems with snow. (We did however have snow on the drive anyway! In a matter of a mile we saw 3 different accidents.)
We arrived to Bountiful on Tuesday evening and had dinner and concretes with the family. Wednesday, we went sledding at the golf course near their house. It was COLD!
They had gotten quite a bit of new snow so there was a lot of fresh powder which made it fly in your face when you were sledding down the hill.
I went down and crashed at the bottom. I came up and couldn't see because there was snow covering the inside of my sunglasses!
Calissa and Dad
Conner and mom
A quick selfie in the car on our way back.
That night we went to a Christmas lights driving display called "Christmas in Color." It was in Kearns. It was a mile long (you wove back and forth through it). They had a radio station that you listened to while you drove. The lights were timed to the music. It took us about 45 minutes to drive through and was so much cooler than I thought it would be. So glad we were able to go.
Press play and turn up your volume!
Christmas Eve day Trav, Azure and RK went skiing. They had a fun, but cold day! The kids and I stayed around the house and hung out. I actually relaxed and read for a while.
We had a yummy dinner of pork loin and a great program by Grandma and the grand-kids. Everyone was gone by 8:30 pm. I think it might be a record. We had the kids go down to bed around 9:00 and enjoyed an early night on Christmas Eve!
Christmas morning we read the Christmas story, had family prayer and then came upstairs to see if Santa had come. Calissa was SOOOO excited that Santa had brought her a Chromebook laptop!
Conner was excited that Santa brought him a new iPhone!
We were all excited to wake up and have a white Christmas!
It snowed Christmas morning. It was so beautiful!
The best part of Christmas however, was being able to Skype with Parker! He called us about 11:00 Utah time and we were able to talk with him for 1 1/2 hours.
He's so happy and doing so well. He bore his testimony to us in Dutch. I can't believe how great he speaks it ... or at least how well he fakes it! :) We are so proud of him, his service and his positive attitude!
Conner and Calissa showing off their gifts later in the day!
Christmas night family came over and we had dinner and the kids and adults opened their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. The kids got portable chargers and money with the Christmas story interspersed.
The adults got their usual bag/box of treats and these homemade tuffets. (You know ... Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet ...)
Saturday we went to see my brother, Kevin's family and then to see my Grandpa and take him out to lunch. Then, we all went over to MiQuelle and Jordan's for games and dinner. We also watched the movie "Battleship."
Sunday, we went to church, had dinner, and played more games. Monday, we hung out around the house, had dinner, and went to the movies that night. Calissa and I saw the Chipmunks movie and Conner and Trav saw the final Hunger Games movie.
Tuesday morning we got up early and headed for home. Conner said he wasn't asleep, but we did hear him breathing loud (snoring).
We had snow for the first 3-4 hours, but we made it home safe. We listened to the latest Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites book and celebrated Christmas that night with my parents.
