Christmas Take One

We made our trek back to Utah/Idaho by van. How did it go? Better than I thought! We started our trip 4:00 pm central time and ended up in Salt Lake City the next day around 2:00 pm Mountain std time. We decided to drive for a couple reasons but the main reason was Chris' work and not knowing for sure if he could go and when he could take off. By the time we realized the time frame we were working with we didn't want to purchase tickets at the offered price. Jared and Miles were literally Angels and Spencer struggled a bit. He woke up a lot during the night and wanted a parent right by him making it more difficult for the one resting to really rest. And during the day Spencer just isn't entertained by movies for as long as we'd like but he wasn't so bad to make me think we'd never do it again. It really wasn't too bad.

Once in Salt Lake it was fun to spend time with my parents, who are currently serving an LDS mission there, and we got an extra bonus of spending time with Camille and her husband Mike. I must say it was nice to get some quality time in with those two. I hadn't had a lot of time with Mike and it was fun to get real and personal:) (I probably confirmed everything my family has told him about me: oddball, blunt, random, weird... fill in the blanks siblings!)


I so love it that my parents are serving their mission in Salt Lake. If not we wouldn't make an effort to go to Temple Square during the Christmas Holiday. Even though this year's lights weren't as extravagant as years past it was still beautiful and the spirit of Christ's birth is felt and evident everywhere.


We had a mini Christmas morning where we opened gifts and had my mom's yummy quiche (tradition in my family) and then a yummy dinner. Jared and Spencer loved the frog blankets they got that turn into pillows. The corners have little pockets and they put their little hands in them and spread them wide and run, jump, and fly.

At my parents' apartment they have a pool but you can't go in it until you're 4. Well Jared was pretty excited that he could go swimming this time (we go during Spencer's naps) although he thought that since he was 4 now he could swim all by himself. Yeah, that's not quite what the rule meant.

This year when we got ready to leave we didn't have to say good-bye for long because my parents got to go up to Idaho for the holidays to take care of some things at home. Yeah for us we'll always welcome more love and there's nothing quite like grandmas and grandpas. We'll take our double dose thank you!

First Stop Salt Lake City

It worked out well that we flew in to Salt Lake Friday night since my parents have the weekends off from their mission. The boys couldn't wait to see them after the flight and we anxious to play with their toys and go to the park. Below are some pictures of us at a park near by their apartment.

We were exhausted on Saturday. Spencer was down for the nap and the rest of us followed his lead.

Mom and Dad

The little pond at the park was FrEEzinG!

Grandma running with the boys

On our way to church. Don't they look sharp in their white shirts?

Family photo in front of Salt Lake Temple

The boys loved exploring the flower and different fountains.

Jeanine came down the same weekend and it was fun to have her there as well. Nice Smile Jeanine :)

Ensign Peak

Sunday afternoon my mom wanted to take us to Ensign Peak. We thought it'd be a fairly quick stop but were wrong. The only bad thing about being wrong is my dad wanted to wait in the car so he waited for a long time.

At first we thought the top was just a little hike to the top of a rounded hill. But we were wrong. Here are some pictures of the first stop:

The boys had fun with the grasshoppers.

Going up the hill we didn't know if we'd all make it. We weren't really dressed for it in Sunday clothes, crocks, flip flops and sandals. Jeanine was awesome though. She wanted to give up so many times but forged ahead. At one point we thought we were almost to the top but rounded a corner and saw the peak a good ways off still. I thought for sure Jeanine would stop there but she proved me wrong. I was also impressed with Jared. This hike was at least a mile long total and Jared walked it all! I held his hands a lot more to help him not slip and fall but he walked it all. There were only a few times he asked to be carried. Spencer on the other hand rode on Chris' shoulders more than 80% of the way.

Proof we all made it!

The less pleasing view from the top taken by Jared.

On the way down

Priceless... Mom took this without us knowing.

When we got back to my mom's it was after eight and Jared was beat. He laid there while we put his diaper on and dressed him. He was practically asleep before we laid him down. Well worth the hike in more ways than one.