If I closed my eyes and imagined my "perfect Christmas", it would be spent with family, high up in the mountains, surrounded by snow. There would be a Christmas tree in the front big window decorated with ornaments my kids made, and we would sit around sipping hot cocoa and playing games.
This Christmas, I opened my eyes and found all of the above to be a reality. It was amazing. We stayed in a great cabin right next to the
Sundance Ski Resort in Utah with my parents, both of my grandmas, my brother Dave and his wife Erin, and my sister Jen. It was most definitely a memorable Christmas.
Here is how this Christmas became one of my very favorites:
The
Polar Express Train ride complete with the telling of the story, Christmas jokes, elves, visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, sing-a-longs, hot chocolate and cookies and our very own bell. It was so much fun (and we are all still in shock that we didn't miss the train).
Starting a new tradition of playing Christmas songs with
bells. We ALL enjoyed this (and thank you Dad for having the musical knowledge to help us all out!)
Spencer destroying every
icicle that formed...
Taking turns cooking (okay, we were supposed to but I think my Mom did most of it)
Gingerbread house making torture... I mean competition...
Finding a note from
Rudolph outside the window with his annual gift of Christmas pajamas...
Reading the
Christmas story with Claire as Mary,
Dallin as an uncooperative Joseph, and Spencer as a
shepard on caffeine... to top it all off, our baby Jesus was a stuffed penguin... apparently we were not very prepared or reverent.
The excitement of Christmas morning and taking all day to open gifts...
My cute
Grandmas with their perfect shared room down below (complete with a 5-star bathroom and very own fireplace). Having them both with us was the highlight for me this year. These are amazing, beautiful, hilarious, and wonderful women (check out my Grandma
Hinckley strutting in her new scarf and boots)...
The traditional building of the newly acquired
Legos (thanks Dave)...
Game after game of ping pong (apparently the grandmas had quite the tournament while we were on the Polar Express)...
Enjoying the beautiful
snow in our front yard...
Sledding (and having Uncle Casey come join us from Arizona)...
Enjoying the world's coolest
lightsaber (that won't chop off your arm)...
Having a wonderful
testimony meeting together on Sunday...
Visiting
temple square...
Spending time with lots of
cousins at a family get-together (and enjoying the many faces of Spencer)...
Seeing if the
snow tastes as good as it looks...
Dance parties to Christmas music...
Creating our new family mascot (and coolest Wii character ever) that had us
laughing for hours...
The ultimate
tubing at Soldier's Hollow...
Whew... what a fabulous week. Thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma Gigi, Grandma Lolo, Casey, Dave, Erin and Jen for memories that will be with us forever.
"May your days be merry and bright,
and may all your Christmas' be white."
We had such a fun night last night. The BYU basketball team was in town playing the SDSU Aztecs... we had to go since Dallin is such a huge basketball fan. We got a babysitter for Claire and Spencer while Peter and I drove with Dallin down to San Diego. We had a fun game of 21 questions and learned more about the BYU players courtesy of a BYU basketball iPhone app! Dallin was uber-knowledgable by the time we arrived.
a bunch of SDSU punks pretending to be missionaries. I just don't understand the frog and the banana. They must have heard some really wrong information about our church :).The game was close the entire time and there was so much adrenaline pumping in that arena... from the fans, to the players, to the coaches, it was awesome.
I loved seeing Dallin so happy, soaking it all in. He is most definitely a huge basketball fan. 
To top our exciting night off, BYU ended up winning and we walked out of that arena with huge smiles on our faces. A direct Dallin quote as we walked out: "this was the best day of my life". Nothing better than seeing your kids happy. 
GO BYU!!!
What is it about a piece of plastic with an attached rubber nipple that has my children so addicted. I totally understand addictions to chocolate or sleep, but to a binky... I'm not so sure.
So what did Claire choose as her prize for being such a big girl? She chose a baby... without a binky.
It's a new year which means new changes for our Sundays. We now start church at 2:30... not too sure how this will fly with the kiddos. I love that we will have all morning to spend together cooking and coloring, but sitting in a pew all by myself in the late afternoon with three tired kids isn't sounding like a thrill. Patience is still one of my new year's resolutions (it has been for 7 years now).
To top it all off, Spencer is almost in nursery... can I get a hallelujah! We have been attending nursery together for the past 2 months already (I call us illegal nursery immigrants) so the kid is already accustomed to the routine and loves being in there. I just have to wait until it's official and we get our nursery "citizenship" (ahem, March 21, ahem).
