Christmas in Utah

We had so much fun in Utah. So so SO much fun, 

and it felt like we were there for about 8 minutes.

I was so excited to meet new baby Lewis. He's adorable.

He eats, sleeps, cries, smiles, and just looks cute all the time. Love him.

Michael was excited to see Lewis too, but Sprocky the hyper dog was too excited to see Michael.

That dog reaches maximum energy by just being in the same room as him,

we're still just not sure why.

Jaren and Lydia are so much fun. We have really missed them.

Lydia's favorite part of the day is deciding what to wear,

and her favorite thing to wear is any skirt,

which is why she finally ended up in Michael's coat on our walk.

You just can't tell her a little skirt isn't a good idea, on any day at any time.

Jaren thought the frozen pond by their house in Lehi was pretty dang cool.

He walked out a little ways with this karate boy that we met.

Lydia and Sprocky both whined until he came back to safe ground.

Isn't winter beautiful? 

Especially when it's pre-Christmas and we all have a little more patience with it :)

 

This little girl loves my phone and funny faces.

We couldn't leave Utah without seeing friends and Cafe Rio!

Michael met a lot of mission buddies for lunch,

while Rachel told me and Ali all about her semester in Israel.

I have missed this girl! She lived in DC with me, and did London just after I did.

She just barely got back from the Jerusalem Center, so it was so fun to hear all about her time there.

That night we went to a family party at my aunt's house, 

and laughed and laughed during some fun games.

At 2pm that day it sounded like a good idea to get my whole family 

tickets to the 10pm showing of The Hobbit.

I was so.so.tired. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes in the movie,

and my dad has never been so disappointed in me. Luckily he loves me a lot.

 Look at those MOUTAINS. Oh man, I miss them.

We drove to Woodland Hills to visit Michael's grandparents, and I was amazed.

Amazed at the mountains.

Amazed at how beautiful Utah winters are.

And COMPLETELY AMAZED that there is no construction on I-15 right now.

What?

I just thought that was part of life. 

Michael was doing like 95 down that six-lane beauty because we just didn't know how to handle it.

 On Christmas Eve Jenny made her incredible homemade gingerbread houses.

Lydia supervised closely and handled quality assurance.

Last year our g-bread house suffered a severe cave-in that involved the roof and multiple walls.

We spent way too long trying to repair irreparable damage, 

so this year we came out swinging. We had to redeem ourselves.

Unfortunately, we passed our bad luck onto my parents. Their house never saw completion.

BUT ours was a success! At least the half that I'm showing you was. 

Don't ask about the other side of the roof...it's not important.

We put the men in charge of the turkey this year.

I did that whole turkey thing two years ago, 

and I just don't know if I ever want to hold a raw bird again...so nasty.

They were good sports. Logan was even heard saying, "I want to go all out for this turkey."

They also sounded like they successfully delivered a baby when they finally found the neck.
"There she is!"

"We got it, there you go!"

"It's so big! Look at that! We got it!"

Lewis was exempt from turkey duty. He chilled on the couch.

Christmas morning was SO much fun. Michael and I slept in Jaren & Lydia's room,

and it was hilarious. There is so much energy packed in five- and three-year-old bodies.

Everyone loved their presents, Santa nailed it.

Except now he knows to bring a train set to Michael next year...

Jaren was good at sharing his, so it was still a good day.

Sisters. I'm so happy she lives in Utah now!

As fun as it was to have her on Skype on the couch on Christmas mornings,

I prefer the real thing.

Of course we got each other the same Christmas present.

We saw this random hilarious movie almost five years ago,

but somehow we both thought of getting it for each other this year and tracked it down online?

Creepy.

M&M, first Christmas! We got each other bikes!

Except mine is still out there somewhere..., probably in Craigslist land.

We'll find it.

The yearly pajama pants. Lydia was LOVING being one of the girls this year.

Jenny has sewing skills.

 

The Miner boys, just chilling. That's kind of all we do on Christmas, and I love it.

The next morning we woke up to a winter wonderland outside! It was the best.

So Jaren, Lydia, Michael and I bundled up and headed out there. 

We mostly just threw snowballs at Michael, who would then aim the snowblower at us.

Then we'd chase Sprocky and make her come home.

Then we'd throw snowballs at Michael some more.

Then he'd chase us.

It was a great morning. I prayed that the snow would cancel our flight, but...didn't work :)

And that was our Christmas with the whole Miner family!

We had so much fun, and of course it flew by.

Jenny & Logan & co. are planning a road trip out to Indy this summer,

and we can't wait.

We came home to cars covered with snow,

and a sad, empty fridge.... sigh.

BUT, just two short days later, we headed to Evansville for New Years!

More to come on that :)