Festival of Trees

The thing that's great about having sisters close is when you husband blankly stares at you when you ask them to go to the Festival of the Trees you still have someone to go with...lol. So I loaded up the kids..picked Nic up on the way..and met Kimber there and had a great time. For the most part all the kids were excited to sit on Santa's lap but I think Hallie was the most excited so she went first. She told Santa she wanted a dollhouse 

 Then Gracie went and said she wanted a puppy

 Oh when did our beautiful girls get so big?!?

 They were both thrilled with the candy stick they received

 Then we wandered around to see all the trees, the gingerbread houses and the other displays. They were all really well done.

 The kids all really liked this grinch display....probably because of the movie

 This was our "attempt" at a group picture

 This gingerbread house was probably my favorite thing we saw it was so amazing! The detail was unreal I can only imagine how long it took to complete.I also turned on a circle.

 Once we finished we took the kids to the treat corner and let them each choose a treat. After we wandered through the entire section we went back and got what the kids choose. Hallie wanted a caramel apple, gracie was asleep in the stroller, Luke got a chocolate chip cookie,  Rigs a pretzel rod, and as you can see from the picture below Kinley had a chocolate cookie with chocolate frosting and really enjoyed it....she was a mess!

 Rigs wore the "leash" so he could be out and wander with Hallie. When we were standing talking we looked down and he was on all fours barking. We seriously couldn't stop laughing.

I love great days like this it is refreshing and rejuvenating for me and my spirit. We had a very quiet ride home seeing as all the kids were asleep. Although its more of a circus with each kid we always seem to have a great time.

Start of a New Tradition

Matt and I decided to try something different this year and do a book each day counting down to Christmas. They are not all Christmas books just a bunch of cute and fun stories to add to our collection. We wrapped each book and placed them under the tree with the date they are to be opened. And it has been fun for them to open them and then for us to sit and read them. The girls have loved it! And I think this may be a tradition that really sticks.

 Hallie asks me quite often when Uncle Nate will be home to play with her again so we decided to make a chart. Each day she gets to add a sticker. We also highlighted the times we will get to see or talk to Nate. It has helped a lot and its been fun for ther kids as well.

 This is what my beautiful front room looks like. 

 I gave in and finally bought a Christmas tree that I love and Matt and I picked some new colors and we have both loved it

 On both sides of our built in are the home for our Christmas village I keep adding a couple each year. The ice skating rink with the bear ice skater was my grandmas and I remember as a kid playing with him at her house....makes it that much more special.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving seems to come faster and faster each year and this year was no exception. On Wed morning we loaded up and headed for the airport(I will be so sad one day when we can't fly everywhere...I hate driving). We made couple of stops and got to the airport in great time to get through security and to our gate. A lot of people ask if its stressful to travel with kids...I say not really maybe the 1st time but we fly so often to Vegas they know the routine and its usually pretty relaxed. Once we were boarded we got the kids set up so they could watch some little einsteins.....

 can you say zoned...didn't even get a glance when I asked them to smile for a picture. Matt and I took advantage of how zoned they were and watched a movie as well. Other than brief pauses to order drinks and snacks after a couple episodes we were landing in Vegas.

 We got there about lunch time and were the 1st ones to arrive. After naps we helped Grandma and Papa put up the Christmas lights. Gracie was in heaven she loved all the lights.

 Now Matt on the other hand may have not have been in heaven but was a great sport and helped alot. 

 I had to document this since he usually never helps put up our lights at home

 Gracie once again we more than willing to smile for the camera...oh what will we do with this beautiful little girl

 After dinner Nic and Kyle arrived with Grandma in tow and it didn't take long for the grandkids to involve her in something. She was so wonderful with the kids. She played and laughed. I feel very blessed that I as well as my kids are getting to see this side of a grandma I never knew.

 First it was nail painting

 On Thanksgiving day we did a lot of sitting around, hanging out, and cuddling. One of my favorite things is typically when we are together at time people would have a hard time trying to figure out whose kid is whose. We all just kinda take care of whomever needs something. Gracie loved her cuddles and back scratches from aunt kim

 We, of coarse, had to look through the ads but weren't really impressed at all this year with what there was out there. Matt and I were able to get the few things we were interested in ordered online and shipped to our house for free! No loosing sleep this year.

 But of coarse we did spend some time in the kitchen getting ready to eat 

 The kids helped taste test everything

 The weather was perfect and completely gorgeous. We played on the trampoline and ultimately decided to eat outside. I don't know if I have ever eaten Thanksgiving outside...at least not in perfect weather.

Later that evening we decided to also celebrate our "Christmas" since its our years with our "other" families. We were planning to do it later in the weekend but someone asked the kids if they wanted to open the presents and we had no chance after that. The nice thing was that the kids were very patient and opened their presents one at a time so we could all see what they got.

Luke got his stylin hat

Someone stuck this sticker to Luke's head and he didn't even seem to mind we all got a good laugh about it.

My grandma gave all of us a very nice gift as well as Santa pillowcases for all the little kids. She also made my mom and dad a hand stitched trico blanket. As kids we loved our blankets made of this...they were great to slide down the stairs and perfectly cool on a hot summer night.

After we opened presents we got the kids in their pjs and off to bed. Then the real fun started and the adults opened our gag gifts. They we inappropriately hilarious and we laughed so hard that we cried it was a good time. The next day grandma harris had brought some cookies for the kids to decorate we decided to do these instead of houses this year and I think the kids enjoyed them just as much of not more.

Hallie and her gingerbread boy

Gracie ate most of her candy before it even made it on the cookie. The decor that did end up on Gracie's cookie did still get eaten even while I was trying to take a picture...this silly girl!

After looking through the ads Thursday we decided to sleep in and about 10 the boys headed out to go shooting and us girls we were all up and ready for the day so we headed out to see what we could find. As you can see Gracie did a great job entertaining herself

Hallie decided she wanted to go shooting with Matt and had a great time as well

Doesn't she look ready for anything fun!

Her and Rigs hung out in the back of the truck and ate snacks while everyone else had a turn

Now for the downside of our Thanksgiving...sickness! Friday night Maddi came home from babysitting saying she was sick. We all initially thought she just wanted to be home with us but when she threw up before she even got through the front door we knew she really was sick. Saturday morning Ez got sick and we were hoping it was food poisoning from the chicken place only a couple of us had eaten at. Saturday night I went to bed early with the girls thinking I was just tired since no one was sleeping great since we were all sleeping in one room. At about 1am I woke up super sick with diarrhea and throwing up. I woke Matt up to give me a blessing and get me a few things. Things were pretty blurry between them and 6 when we had to be up to catch our flight to go home. I was really worried about how the flight would be but I just kept thinking I wanted to be home sleeping in my bed and throwing up in my bathroom. So I said a prayer and threw up on our way out the door. And we were off to the airport. We were able to get back to Utah without any problems and I actually felt pretty good til we landed and then it slowly got worse again. I was just grateful I had made it through the flight. I spent Sunday on the couch and Matt waited on me hand and foot...love him. We were all pretty worn out as you can see from the below picture.

Although being sick is no fun we did have a good time being together and eating some food. Im excited that my parents are now going to be able to come after Christmas so we can spend more time with them then. Love time with family and the sacrifices made to do so.

Slippers

Matt bought me these cute slippers last year for Christmas I wore them a handful of times before spring and summer hit and they were to warm to wear(they are fur lined). I had forgotten how much I really liked them until it started to cool off and I got them back out. Now there aren't many places I go without them on my feet. See they have hard sole bottoms so I can wear them outside and lately I have frequently been forgetting to change into real shoes when I leave the house...the picture below was one such day. But like I said at least they are cute.

Sibling Date Night

When Nic and Kim first moved up north we did really well at date nights and family dinners so we saw each other all together at least a couple times a month it was great. Then summer came and then fall everyone is busy but Matt and I really enjoy them so we brought them up again and found that everyone else was missing them as well so we picked the following weekend and it worked so everyone could come so we got babysitter and met in Salt Lake to do dinner and some shopping. We ate at a BBQ place that was really good and was really laid back. After we finished eating we sat and visited for probably about another hour and then decided we better give our table up. Its nice to have conversation with my sisters with no kids and the only one I have to focus on feeding is myself. And of coarse the main highlight of date night is getting out with my sweetheart that seems to always find time for me midst his crazy schedule.

After we left the restaurant we headed for City Creek to do some shopping and walk around. It was fun we bought a few things and then it was time to head home. I hope we always make it a priority to spend time together both as families, as couples, and as friends. I feel pretty lucky that I have siblings willing to go out of their way to get together...its usually never convenient but always worth it.