Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful Christmas! We love traveling to Utah to spend two weeks with our family each December. We get to have lots of sleepovers and quality family time. We saw 4 movies in the theater--our favorite family activity and the boys had a ton of fun playing with their cousins. 

Here we are on Pajama Day at school. Van was my little elf, delivering the teachers' Christmas gifts.  Everyone was excited about my Star Wars pjs since it was the opening day of Rogue One.

I finally got to meet my best friend Natalie's newborn son, Ian. He is the sweetest baby and has so much personality for a 2 month old. Natalie is such an awesome mom. I was able to have a girls' night with my friends the first night we arrived in Salt Lake City. 

We spent the first part of our trip with the Schow's. Nellie loves to play doggies and dinosaurs with Van.  She says the funniest things. Clara, Nellie's sister, warmed up to me by the end of the trip and gave me a long snuggle. I got to go to Lana's water aerobic class and we went on a double date to see Star Wars: Rogue One. I miss living so close to them!

We met up with our friends the Gardners and Robbie Dubois for a trip to downtown SLC to see all the Christmas lights. Here we are in the Grand America Hotel in front of a huge Gingerbread House. It was amazing!

Selfie in front of the Salt Lake Temple and a tree decked out in Christmas lights.  Our friend Rob, brought hot chocolate that we all enjoyed after the freezing stroll around beautiful Temple Square.

Garrett Family Christmas Party! We had delicious soup and salad. We were all missing Max, Brittany and Tyler's baby boy. It was exactly one year ago on the night of our party that he returned to heaven. His spirit is still touching lives. I'm so glad I could hold his hand and meet him last December.

Van was bummed that he didn't get in the dinner picture, so here we are together.

Isaac spear headed the making of a giant gingerbread house.

Ta Da! It didn't last very long, but it was sure fun to make.

There's the chocolate front door. 

William had fun building a snowman outside with Tyler and Ava.

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Mitch came to Roy and hung out with us. We went over to Roy City Hall to see the light display.  Van and Will sat in Santa's sleigh.  It was raining, but turned into snow by the end of the night.

Christmas pajamas! Van's came with a Rudolph nose.  We read Luke Chapter 2 and The Night Before Christmas. Then the boys went to bed. Will woke up about 3 times asking if Santa had come. 

Merry Christmas! Don't open your presents until Mom takes a picture of your excited faces!

Santa brought the boys a Wii U. It's something they have been looking forward to all year. We kept a running Wii U chart where they had to do chores and other things to earn stars. If they filled up their chart 4 times, they could ask Santa for a Wii U. 

We woke up to a white Christmas! As soon as Van opened his presents, he put on his snow gear and played outside. There was a big puppy romping around in the snow having the time of his life. When he saw Van, he ran up to him and knocked him down. Van was sitting there on his hands and knees crying. Then the puppy started pouncing on his back. Isaac came to the rescue and picked up Van and explained to him that the puppy was trying to have fun with Van, not hurt him. That's when Van asked to play in the backyard instead. 

Isaac made some antlers out of cardboard for Van.

After we opened our presents, we went to sacrament meeting at the Heritage Care Center. The sacrament hymn was I Stand All Amazed. I was overcome with emotion and cried through the whole song because it was the same song we sang to my Dad before he passed away. I have so many memories of him at the care center and I especially miss him during the holidays.  During the service, I accompanied Isaac on O Holy Night. The patients loved it.  After sacrament meeting, we went around and caroled to the patients. It felt so good to do that on Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Once we got home, we changed right back into our jammies and watched Beauty and the Beast. As you can see, Isaac and I took a good snooze during the movie. 

I couldn't resist a warm snuggle with my mom while we watched It's A Wonderful Life.  She does such an amazing job as Relief Society president of the Heritage Care Center. She's going to get released this year after 6 years of service. I know the patients will miss her love and nurturing spirit. 

Will and Van were thrilled to stay at Deacon's house. Will asked about 100 times,  "When are we going to Deacon's?"  We miss getting together with the Leasure's. We have so much fun at their house playing, talking and watching movies together. 

The day after Christmas, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Dana came over with STUFFED stockings.  It's a fun tradition that we look forward to every Christmas.

Each year, they put together ornaments for the kids. I love hanging the ornaments on my tree and seeing how my boys have changed over the years. After we opened our stockings, we went and saw Moana.

Grandma Lisa and Papa John came to deliver their gifts. Will and Van were ecstatic that they gave them Super Mario Maker--a game for the Wii U. William had been so disappointed on Christmas morning that Santa didn't give him that specific game. I finally had to say, "Get over it and change your attitude!" and he did. So, obviously, when they opened the present, this was the reaction.

Isaac helped the boys build a snow slide. Afterwards, they went sledding at the local park.

After sledding, they built a blanket fort. What a fun day!

We got to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Orme. Van loved watching the train move around the tree.  We were also able to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Bickmore and Great Grandpa Bill and Grandma Mary. It's amazing that our boys have 6 living great grandparents. They have such beautiful homes and always make us feel so welcome. They are my inspiration!

Uncle Walker surprised us the night before. We had no idea he was coming to Utah! We joked that he saved Christmas this year. 

I can't pass up a selfie with Naomi. She's such a sweetie pie.

It doesn't look like the boys like their Uncle Walker in this picture, but they really do.  The boys had a great time at Grandma Lisa's house playing Nintendo and eating delicious hot breakfasts.

We spent New Year's Eve in Las Vegas with Steve and Dana. We were all wiped out after such a fun two week vacation. No one could stay awake until midnight. I was sound asleep by 11:00. I woke up this morning after 9:00. I felt like a new person on the first day of the new year. Our drive home to Tempe was so pleasant today. Van took an hour nap in the car. The desert landscape was beautiful. William said, "Mom, I'm sad to leave Utah, but I'm happy to go home." I agreed. I said, "Yup, it's sad to leave family, but exciting to be back in our own house and beds."

We are hoping and praying that in 2017 Isaac will complete his PhD and get a job as assistant professor somewhere nice for our family. Please keep us in your prayers! Have a happy new year!