New Year's in Ut

Happy 2016!  We had a fantastic trip to Utah over the holidays, visiting family and just having lots of plain old fun.

The first day we went to church with my parents and after church Asher was given the rest of the banana cream pie.  What a way to start the trip and yes, that crazy kid ate it all and happily.  That night we visited Temple Square and besides being ridiculously cold, it was magical.  The lights were beautiful and snow blanketed everything.  We all warmed up while looking at exhibits and art.  The kids thought the old tabernacle was fascinating too.

While we were there we also hit the aquarium, which was packed with people but really cool...the otters were everyone's favorite I think.  We visited the Thanksgiving Point Children's museum too...again, packed with people but the boys always enjoy this place.  In-n-Out (YUM) was a must, as was Ikea for a few odds and ends.  We also ended up either visiting or calling every sporting goods store withing 20 miles searching fruitlessly for boys snow boots so we could go sledding.  Scheel's was a fun trip with the must-do ride on the huge indoor ferris wheel with Grandma and Grandpa, but even they couldn't hook us up with our much needed boots. So sad!  In the end, a friend of my sister's lent us some boots...what a lifesaver!!  Sledding was #1 on my kids' list of things they wanted to do, and at first it seemed like such a simple request.  We thought about buying some boots for the boys before we left but figured that Utah would be a better place to buy them.  Nope, because everyone in Utah actually needs them.  That will NOT be happening again, just for the record.   The sledding trip was great though.  There was a park nearby with a hill that was good for littles and our more adventurous big kids too.  Beckett even tried a trip or two down the hill on Koleson's little snowboard!  The boys love their cousin time SO much, and the love sledding SO much so the whole evening was a win win.

The actual night of New Year's Eve, we ate a bunch of treats and food at my parents house, and really just hung out talking, watching movies, laughing and sort of working on a giganto puzzle (only finished up the edges and a little chunk before we left, darn!).  The biggest shocker was that the boys (and the majority of their cousins) stayed up til midnight!  What?!  Clever Beckett made New Year's hats for everyone in the form of paper bowls with writing on them (check out photo below).  I think he made 20 of them.  Totally the best!

While we were there we also celebrated our Asher's birthday with everyone (another post).  What a wonderful trip full of snow, playing, memory making and relaxing.  Here's to a New Year with new adventures and memories ahead.  Can't wait!

Asher's 10th

Happy happy 10th birthday to my Asher!  He was really anticipating this one since it put him squarely into the double digits.  Best of all he was touting his new status as a "pre-teen" to anyone within earshot.  We all cracked up over this one.  He is really, really, REALLY excited to be a pre-teen.  And now I'm also a little scared.  Anything with the word 'teen' in it strikes a little ping of fear into me. Ouch.

We were in Utah for his big day this year, and so we celebrated with extended family too, which is always a treat.  Asher chose to go to Chili's for lunch.  He had fond memories of doing it a year or two ago and loves that the staff comes and sings!  After that it was presents and a chocolate chip cookie cake (again, Asher's choice) at Grandma's house. Yum!  He had fun opening presents and blowing out candles, especially since some of the cousins were there.

That night all the boys went to a Jazz game for Asher's big day.  FUN.  This boy is a sports NUT so it was total awesomeness for him to hit an NBA game.  They had a great time too.  They came back with a t-shirt, and a ball that they somehow won. Impressive!  All in all they had a fantastic time at the game and now I think we have some converted Jazz fans, ha!

 

Happy Birthday to our Ash-man.  We sure do love this boy and can't believe the amazing person he's growing into.  This boy is kind hearted, loving, funny, smart, athletic, creative.  He's also an awesome big brother who plays with his younger brother and helps out all the time.  Lucky us that he's ours.  Love you lots buddy!

Christmas Bliss

Christmastime!   So many great times this month.  I love Christmas and all it offers.  I love the religious heart of it all, the spirit of giving, the time taken to do things with family and friends, the memories made, the smells, the foods, the music, the traditions.  I love it all.  This year is Dawson's first Christmas, and although we kept him away from the tree for the most part, he loved the lights, ornaments and presents...a lot!  Next year will be crazy!

This year we made it out to the River of Lights at the Botanical Gardens.  We all cozied up, drank cocoa and strolled through the luminescent gardens filled with lit up shapes of all kinds, and I mean ALL kinds, not just Christmas-y ones.  Santa was there too, so the boys let him know what they wanted, gladly accepted a candy cane and they humored me as we snapped a picture.  It was a great night, minus the mysterious missing mitten.  We got off the bus and couldn't find that thing anywhere!

Corey had a nice chunk of time off with us all so we went to the Zoo , had some fun in a little snow that fell, decorated the tree and drank cocoa, did our traditional advent box calendar with the boys, put together a 500 piece puzzle together ( a new tradition that I just love!) and most importantly celebrated our Savior's birth together.

Christmas Eve we read the nativity story with the boys and sang some songs, then set out some gingerbread we'd baked up for Santa, opened up new pajamas and sent the boys off to bed.  Christmas day was filled with lots of fun....cinnamon rolls and cocoa for breakfast (and loads of stocking candy the boys kept popping into their mouths), opening gifts early in the morning (although we made Beck wait til 6:30 to wake Asher to go down), a little nap, playing with new toys and spending time together.  It was a wonderful day.  Merry merry Christmas!