.this year we got the opportunity to spend christmas in utah with andrew's family. i had called andrew's uncle (dave) and begged him to come too, instead of thanksgiving (which they do every year)...after lots of begging, they agreed. it was a lot of fun.
.sunday. santa came! we asked him to stop by our house early and bring some small presents. he did. he brought a backpack and suitcase for each kid, and filled our stockings with candy. after church we celebrated christmas with our little family, and than facetimed with my mom and dad so they could watch brooklynn and parker open their gifts from them. the kids LOVED their gifts.
.we arrived to utah late monday evening. we were suppose to get in around 11:30pm, but due to delays we got in about an hour later. the kids were AWFUL the first flight. parker wouldnt suck on his paci so he screamed and screamed about his ears. he didnt want to be in his carseat. he threw his paci. b didnt want to sit. she kicked the seat in front of us. she yelled. she screamed. AWFUL. the second flight was MUCH more enjoyable. it may have been how late it was, and them being tired. it may or may not have been the melatonin i put in their bottle/sippy.
.tuesday- i shopped with my sister in the morning, and hung out at home in the afternoon. andrew took off with his cousins and shopped as well. it was just a very low key day.
.wednesday- CHRISTMAS- the kids woke up, when gpa started playing music downstairs to wake everyone up. he wont admit that was his intentions. but we all know, when the music starts playing, grandpa is ready to open presents. the kids got spoiled, as did andrew and myself. the BIG HIT for b was her doc mcstuffins doctor set. she absolutely loved it. parker was SUPER attached to me for the first 5 days not knowing people, and being out of his element. so he was just straight up grumpy.
.thursday- we all woke up, for the much anticipated CALL FROM ELDER WESTENSEE. the call was CLEAR, he looked GREAT, he was happy, he was funny, we absolutely LOVED seeing him/and talking to him. he got to talk to him about 1.5 hours through skype, and we have the entire thing recorded (thanks to my nerdy hubby).
After we ended the call with Evan, we put Parker down for a nap, and left Brooklynn with gma and picked up our old neighbor from the rexburg ward, ashleigh. we headed over to Zupas to meet up with the Tucker family. I would be lying if I didnt say, i was nervous, and sick to my stomach the entire drive there. As I saw them walk up, my stomach dropped, and all i could do was hold them and cry. you could see the hurt in their eyes, but you could also feel the STRONG spirit of Ella, and the STRENGTH of this family. The beginning of lunch was a bit slow, not knowing what to say, what to talk about. But QUICKLY turned into laughter, and great conversation of the rexburg ward, of our lives now, staring at Stu Jr, I mean, Dylan....he is seriously one of the most adorable little boys i have EVER seen, and he reminds me SO much of Ella in blonde-boy form. We talked of our future plans, and my favorite...of Ella. I absolutely LOVED that they talked about her. You could feel her presence, and you just KNEW the love they have for her. They are such a SWEET SWEET family. As our lunch date came to an end, Ashleigh and I couldnt help but cry and whisper in Nicole's ear that she is strong, and that she is a WONDERFUL mommy. As I hugged Stu, I thanked him for being such an amazing home teacher. For the influence he was to our family, we are still in debt to him for. He was there when Andrew and I needed him, he didnt know that at the time, but he was. There are times Andrew and I would be in a heated argument and he would stop by to check on us, or call to schedule his home teaching (which he did EVERY.SINGLE.MONTH.) I absolutely adore the Tucker family, and I am SO thankful I was able to meet them, have them in my life, and be such an example. As we drove home, i couldnt help but just cry for them, but also cry because of the strong example they are to me, and for their strength and testimonies that families are, and will be, together forever.
.friday- i hung out at home, ran a few errands by myself, andrew and his cousin went snowmobiling and had an absolute blast doing so. we played games until late that evening with everyone.
the girls coloring together
saturday- andrew went snowmoiling again, and i headed over to my sisters for the day with the kiddos. we did a little shopping, but mostly hung out at the house, and let the kids play. we met up with andrew later that evening for buffalo burgers. andrew wasnt a fan. their fries were to die for. yum!
.sunday- got up for 9am church. came home and took naps, ate lunch/dinner. andrew and i took the kids, and met with ronnie and rkl and headed up to my aunt nae's house for a mcdonald christmas party. there wasnt as many as last year, but it was still fun to see everyone. i cannot believe how big they have gotten. ronnie and i rocked at "nertz" we headed home around 9:30 and than i left about 20 minutes later to pick up my baby sis and her hubby from the airport. (they were in pa for christmas with his family).
.monday- got up and got the kids ready and packed to go back to ronnie's house. it will be the last time all 3 of us (me, ronnie and bre) hang out with only 2 kids. they are both pregnant. bre is due in april, and ronnie in july. we shopped for maternity clothes for bre, and than headed home and got our "crafting" on. bre and ronnie made burp clothes and baby blankets, and than ronnie and I made headbands. (i have been in a headband mood lately). i headed back to andrew's parents house late, got the kids to bed, took a shower, and packed us for the next morning to head up to his parents cabin.
.wednesday- we drove up to bountiful with brooklynn to borrow ski stuff from my aunt. we also picked up my NEW boots....sorry behind this. (i know your anxiously waiting. lol.) i found boots i liked. they were on sale for like $30 a piece. i went to the store to get them and try them on...they wanted $80 a piece and didnt even have my size. i went home, found an online code, ordered TWO pair for $50 and had them shipped for free. and i LOVE them. if they would of had them in grey too, i would of got them too. lol. We hung out at home, and got ready for the next morning of skiing.
.thursday- snow skiing. this is all andrew wanted to do when we went to utah. well turns out, it didnt snow ONCE when we were there, and as soon as we left, they got slammed. but we got lift tickets to deer valley resort for $40 a piece (usually $110 for a day pass) and so we jumped on it. this is only my third time going and i was alright. but i hated going with the boys, because they would "wait" for me and that bugged me. over and over i asked them to just go and we would meet somewhere, but they wouldnt. so at one lift, i just took off, and left them. we met up eventually. i since it was only my third time EVER going, i didnt like going down stuff i wasnt comfortable with. i found myself stressed and grumpy when i did that....so i went down the easy stuff and just worked on my form, turning, speed, etc. i may have had little kids blow past me, but overall it was a blast. we skied from 9-4:30. it was insane. we met up with the rest of the family at Zupas (my FAVORITE) and than i met with my sister and went and played basketball for 1.5 hours. to say i was tired/sore the next day would be an understatement.
the guys
the guys and one girl
the guys.
.friday- uncle dave, aunt lisa, cousin derek and lindsey left in the morning for rexburg. derek FINALLY graduates in april and we could not be more thrilled for him. he is like a brother to me, and we do miss having him close and the random stops at our house when we lived in rexburg. debbie and i ran errands for half the day and left the kids with andrew. debbie took me on my very first IKEA experience. it was a blast. SO MUCH to look at. SO MANY ideas. SO MANY little gadgets. I got the kids some plastic bowls, plates, spoons, knives, forks, and cups. we hung out at home the remainder of the evening. watching the kids play.
.saturday- we woke up early and just played with the kids and hung around in our p.j.'s. i put parker down for an early nap, and we all got ready to go to jungle jims. it was a place i found online that said they are geared towards little children. so we thought we would give it a try. it was a LOT of fun, and the kids loved it. indoor. they had a mini rollercoaster, bumper cars, swings, carousol, airplanes (that go up and down). the kids LOVED it. everything fast was totally b's element. we headed to iceberg afterwards to get some ice cream. my sister met me at the westensee's to share the ice cream. than we headed out to make a couple returns and find me a byu shirt for the game. i hit up kohls and got 2 shirts for $13 bucks! wahoo. the guys met us at chick fli a cause i had 2 free meals. than we headed to the byu game. it was fun to listen to tyler and andrew talk about campus and how much it has changed. the game was a lot of fun. it was definately something I WANTED to do, and not andrew. but he went anyways, we had a good time, and i reminded him, he is married to a baller, who likes watching this kind of stuff. it was a great night, and lots of fun. thanks for taking us tyler.
.sunday- i got up at 7 to get ready for church, to realize it was now at 11. went back to bed. got up, got ready for church (for real) went to church. came home. started packing. headed over to my sister's to say good-bye. weird to think next time i see her, she will have a BABY. headed home, did last minute packing. stayed up until 12:30 (WAY TOO LATE)
she was WAY sick with a sinus infection and did not want a picture.
she was WAY sick with a sinus infection and did not want a picture.
.monday- woke up at 4:30. (running on 4 hours of sleep) out the door by 5:15. (noticed b sounded horrible- very "croupy") got to airport. prayed our bags werent over 50 pounds. got through security. got some breakfast. boarded plane. got kids situated. put parker in carseat and b on my lap. took off, and in the air. b is asleep and parker is just about to fall asleep and sw informs us that b has to be in the carseat and parker on my lap. i was NOT happy. why does it matter if i bought the freaking seat!?! woke up parker. thought for sure the plane ride would be hard. it was, just because i was tired. but parker did GREAT. got to our layover. grabbed breakfast (again) let the kids run around and play. loaded the plane. kids did FANTASTIC. both slept. landed, and back to reality.
