We decided to do something different for Christmas this last year, so we made the big drive to Utah to spend our Christmas vacation with our families.
It was a long 5 days of driving (3 on the way there; 2 on the way home) for what seemed like a short 5 days spent in Utah, but everyone had a great time, and I think we'll always have really fun memories of the trip.
We left the Friday before Christmas. We drove about 8 1/2 hours up to Wichita, Kansas, where we stayed at my sister Marian's house for the night. I'd never been to her house since she moved there from England, so it was really fun to see her family and her beautiful home. We put the kids to bed, and then Daniel and I stayed up way too late talking to Marian and Chad. In the morning the kids played for awhile with their cousins, and then we ate breakfast and got back on the road.
On Saturday we drove across Kansas and into Colorado, where we stayed at a hotel outside of Denver. The kids were great travelers the whole time (with the help of gas station treats and movies) and were so excited when we started to see glimpses of snow outside the windows. For the rest of the drive to Utah, they pointed out every patch of snow we saw. Tristan and Oliver are the only ones who had really seen it before (we moved to Texas when Rachel was just one), and it was funny what a big deal it was to everyone. They also loved the hotel in Denver (it had a Christmas tree and great waffles for breakfast). Daniel and I realized what cold-weather wimps we've become when we hit the cold Denver weather, though.
We made good time on Sunday, and got to Daniel's mom's house in Orem before dinner-time. The kids were so happy to see their grandma, and we were soon joined by Daniel's siblings for a big get-together. I loved seeing the kids get to know their cousins again.
On Monday morning, the girls and I (plus Henry) made an early morning trip to the mall to redeem the gift-cards to Build-a-Bear that Rachel and Lizza had gotten from Grandma Nini for Christmas. They about died with excitement as they each got to pick an animal (pink unicorns), stuff it, and dress it.
After the mall, we all headed over to my parents house (they also live in Orem, only a few minutes away from Daniel's mom). The kids were excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and also excited (mostly) about meeting their new dog, Yankee, that they have gotten since we've moved away. Elizabeth was the most nervous (Yankee is as tall as she is), but tried to be brave. She would go back and forth from giving tentative hugs and running away screaming. Henry was a little nervous at first, but quickly became obsessed, and followed Yankee around the rest of our trip. Oliver got right to work building little snowmen in the yard.
We couldn't go to Utah without taking the kids to our old favorite, the Bean Museum, so we headed over there on Monday afternoon. We were joined by one of my sisters and her family, as well as some of Daniel's family, so there was lots of cousin fun (meaning there was lots of running around in probably not quite museum-appropriate behavior). Henry was in heaven with all the animals.
On Monday evening Daniel and I went up to Sundance with his siblings and their spouses to have dinner with Daniel's dad and his wife. The food was fabulous, and it felt really cozy to be eating in a warm cabin with all the snow outside.
After dinner we collected the kids from their babysitters (some had been at my parent's, some with Grandma Nini) and put them to bed, and then headed back to my parent's to have a game night with some of my family. Only one of my sisters (out of 5) still lives in Utah, but one other sister was also in town for the holidays. We had a great time with them and their spouses, and it made me miss our regular family game nights that we used to do.
Tuesday was Tristan's ninth birthday. I can't believe I have a nine-year old! We hung out at Grandma Nini's in the morning, and then we went to Cafe Rio with some of Daniel's family for a special birthday lunch, because Tristan is crazy about Mexican food. He got to order his own burrito, and he couldn't believe how big it was (see his special "look at the size of this burrito" pose below).
Tristan didn't really want to do a cake and candles, so for a special birthday treat he got to stay up and watch the BYU bowl game on Tuesday night. He didn't make it very far, because he was so worn out from all his birthday fun:
On Wednesday we played over at my parent's house for most of the day. My boys were super excited, because my two younger brothers who still live at home were finally out of school. Tristan and Oliver have really missed having their uncles around to play with. Oliver also played outside in the snow with Yankee for several hours. It made me happy to see how much Ollie loved the snow - he just could not get over how fun it was. We also had my sister take some family pictures of us, in case I managed to get a Christmas letter sent out this year (I didn't. But you can see the picture that would have been sent out below):
On Thursday we went sledding with some of Daniel's family and my brother David. Everybody had so much fun! I thought the kids would get too cold, and that for sure I would have to leave early with Henry, but they were all still going strong after a couple hours, and they probably would have kept going all day. Rachel and Elizabeth were nervous about it at first (after Rachel's first ride down the hill she said it made her stomach feel like a roller coaster), but after a little while they were zooming down the hill all by themselves. Tristan and Oliver thought it was one of the highlights of the trip, and even Henry loved it.
After sledding we went home and changed, and then headed up to Alpine to Daniel's dad's house for a Christmas Eve party. It was nice to be part of that tradition again - his family does it every year, but it's been four years since we've been there. The kids were thrilled with their new pajamas and toys.
On Christmas morning our kids slept in until 8:00. I couldn't believe it! (I found out later that Tristan and Oliver actually woke up around 7:00, but had forgotten it was Christmas, so they just stayed in their beds reading books and listening to Nirvana on Grandma Nini's ipod until I went up to get them). We had left our main presents for the kids at home (to be opened after we got back), but I had brought our stockings for them to open Christmas morning. After stockings and breakfast we headed over to my parent's house, and everyone got new books.
We said goodbye after lunch, and then went to pay a quick visit to some friends of ours who moved from Texas to Utah last year. After that we went back to Daniel's mom's house for one last get-together with his family. We opened presents around the tree and then had a big Christmas dinner. After we got the kids to bed, I attempted to do some initial gathering and packing (it seemed pretty impossible, as we were going back with way more things than we had come with), and then we stayed up and played games ("What Were You Thinking?", and the name game, two of our favorites).
Saturday morning I fed the kids breakfast while Daniel magically fit everything into the van, and then we were on our way. We drove about 9 1/2 hours to Albuquerque, where we spent the night. We then drove all day Sunday and got home late Sunday night. Everybody was so glad to finally be out of the car!
Daniel and I stayed up and set up Christmas presents for the kids, so the next morning when they came downstairs we had another little "Christmas morning".
The boys had all of last week off of school, so it was nice to have a whole week once we got back for everyone to just hang out and enjoy their new Christmas stuff (except Daniel, who had to work).
They started school today, so I guess it's time to get back into some sort of a schedule. Happy New Year, everyone!
