Friday, January 31, 2014

Fun in the Snow

One of the first few days we were in Utah, it SNOWED!  The snow was perfect for making snowballs and snowmen.  We decided to head out one morning to play in the recently fallen snow.
  As a family, we had a fun snowball fight!  We even let Millie get in on the action!  Next, we made a snowmen family. 

Emmy and Brandon  were in charge of  making the snowmen different colors.

Making the snowmen was so much fun! We had such a great time laughing and a having  a good time with our family. 

Gingerbread Houses

Another fun thing that we did while in Utah was to make gingerbread houses.  We divided up into teams and went to town.

Ben and Papa were a team

Brandon and Hyrum were a team

Lucy, Sean and Tracy were a team

Millie, Cort and Emmy were a team

Everyone's houses turned out very nice. Each of the teams worked very hard on their creations.

 Of course all of the kids, especially Lucy, were eager to help their team.  I even helped Ben and Papa with their houses.



We had a great time as a family making gingerbread houses. 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Lights at Temple Square

On Sunday night, after we had a marvelous dinner at my Aunt Lisa's house in Salt Lake, we headed to Temple square to enjoy the lights.
I have decided long ago that there is something simply magical about Temple Square.  The lights were breathtaking.

 We had the opportunity to go inside the Tabernacle.  There is definitely a special spirit in that beautiful building. 
It was really neat to go into a building and read all about the Salt Lake Temple and the sacrifices and effort that it took to make that majestic temple.



 By the way, my dad was happy, he just forgot to smile when I took his picture. 
After viewing the lights for a bit, we went to a local store and looked through their windows to see their all candy ornaments. Those ornaments were amazing. You could tell just by looking at them that a lot of time went into making them.

It was such a fun night to enjoy spending time with our family.  

Christmas Ornaments

 Making Christmas ornaments was another fun thing that the kids were able to do in Utah.  The kids mentioned to Millie and Grandma before we got to Utah that they would like to make ornaments again so  Millie and Grandma planned it all out and the kids had a blast.
The kids were excited to find the perfect spot on the tree to hang their ornament.

Grandma's Christmas Party

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is my Grandma's annual Christmas party. 
Delicious food was made and devoured.

 It was wonderful to catch up with everyone on what was going on in their lives.  

Christmas scripture stories were told by my dad and grandpa. 

Talents were shared.  Ben and Emmy sang their song I Want to be an Elf.  Hyrum was courageous and sang by himself Have a Holly Jolly Christmas in front of everyone.   

More carols were sung as we welcomed in the night's important visitor...Santa Claus.
Each of the kids at the party were invited to go up to Santa and tell him what they would like for Christmas. 
Once again, Hyrum said an IPOD

Ben said Football Cards

Emmy said a big jar of blueberries.

I was so proud of Lucy. I could tell that she was scared, but she sat on Santa's lap for a few seconds and told Santa that she would like a doll.  I was shocked to see her behave this way especially after the night before which was our Ward's Christmas Party.  

The kids loved finding fun things in their bags that Santa gave them. 
Lucy absolutely has LOVED her mask.  She even was sporting her mask today.


 I absolutely love spending time with my extended family. Living away from family for so long has made me realize how important family is; especially a family like the one I have. My family has given us constant love and support. My cousins, aunts and uncles play with my kids and ineract with them.  I am beyond blessed for the family that I have.