The way home

We left to come home on the 31st of December. We left around 2 in the afternoon and headed to St. George. We decided to go the southern route so we could stop and see some friends in St. George. We stopped at the Nielsen's first. They use to live in Oakdale by us and they are the coolest family. I'm so glad that we got to see them (minus Kirk who had to work that night). The kids had a great time playing with them and I had a great time visiting with Brittany. Thanks for letting us stop by and see you guys. We had so much fun!

Playing Mario Kart with the kids

Dax dressing up

Jacob and Afton

All the kids. (Elle, Lucas, Hannah, Dax, Afton, Logan and Jacob)

Brittany and I with Logan and Hannah.

After visiting with the Nielsen's, we headed over to Ryan Burbidge's (whoops I mean Burb's) house. Afton and Dax had fun with "uncle" Burb. We stayed there for the night and left around 9 a.m. the next morning to finish our long drive home. The kids actually did really well. They all took a really long nap together which was very nice. They started to get a little restless towards the end of the drive so we pulled over for a Wendy's frosty and they were hyper the rest of the drive home. It was great! It really wasn't too bad. They did really good for being in the car for ten hours.

Being silly and eating licorice on the drive.

Logan taking a nap and Jason being really cool.

After Logan ate some red vines.

When we stopped for lunch, Logan liked dipping his french fries in his baby food. Yummy!

Sealing

Before we came to Utah, Jason and I both signed up for the new Family Search website. We got registered and were able to see some of our family work that has been done and some that hasn't been done. And I found out that my Grandpa Wayne (my dad's dad) was never sealed to his parents. He also had a sister that hadn't been sealed either. So I thought this would be a great present for my dad for Christmas. I printed out the request forms and had to take them to the Family History library in Salt Lake. Once I took them in I got the blue and pink cards to have the work done. So I stuck it in an envelope and gave to my dad with the rest of his present. He had no idea that his dad was never sealed to his parents, so he was grateful that I was able to find this out and have the work ready to be done. On Wednesday, December 31st, bright and early in the morning my parents and Jason and I went to the Timpanogos Temple to do this work for my Grandpa. It was a really neat experience. My dad was proxy for his dad and Jason and I were proxy for my grandpa's parents. It was really awesome and I'm so glad that we were able to be there to do that with my parents. It was a really special morning. We also got to do some more sealings and for the very last sealing, the sealer, suggested that my dad and I do one together. I hadn't ever thought of that, but I'm so glad that the sealer suggested it. What another great experience. It really was a great day!

Sleepover at Grandma's

My mom is one brave lady. She offered to have the kids sleepover at her house. Well, I don't know if she offered or the kids talked her into it, but she's still one brave lady to have all those crazy kids sleepover. I guess she had Jessie there to help her out and she was the lucky one who got to sleep with the kids. Afton, Abby, Dax and Emma were the ones that slept over. And I heard they didn't go to sleep until almost midnight. Crazy kids! And they got to sleep in tents. How lucky!

Dax and Emma

Afton, Abby and Logan

Afton and Abby

Before the sleepover started, Tred was also there. I don't know what it is, but when he and Dax get together it's total chaos. I guess it's a boy thing. But they're constantly fighting and running and being crazy. As usual they were trying to fight one another and it's really funny because Tred is almost as big as Dax. Tred is two and a half and Dax is four. And he can take it really well. He's one tough little kid. Anyway, they ended up finding these balloons and started fighting each other with balloons in their hands. It was hilarious! We got a kick out of it. It actually turned out a little big better. Before they were trying to hit each other with their fists, so the balloon thing was a little bit safer. They loved it!

Skiing

On Tuesday, December 30th, I got to go skiing with my very best friend Brook. Her husband works at Snowbird, so he hooked me up with a pass which was pretty awesome. Thanks again Jonathan! I was so excited to go skiing because I hadn't been for like two and a half years. Being pregnant and nursing just gets in the way sometimes. Jason was going to come, but Logan was still sick so he stayed at his parents with him. So it was just me and Brook and occasionally her husband would tag along with us. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too busy so it was a great day to go skiing. And I had a blast! I love skiing and it brought back some good memories from my earlier days when I use to go more often. And I had a great time with Brook. We use to go all of the time together so it was lots of fun. Although, I am out of shape so we had to stop and rest quite a bit. And my muscles were very sore the next day. Not as bad as I thought, but still sore. But hey, Brook and I skied the whole day. That's pretty good for two almost 30-year old moms. I thought maybe we'd be done after a few hours or so, but nope we just kept on going. And I'm glad that we did because I had so much fun!

The view is awesome. It's so beautiful there!

Taking a break to eat our lunch.

Snowy Fun and Temple Square

While we were hanging out at my parent's house one day, the kids went and played in the snow. They have a huge backyard and there was so much snow the kids were really excited to play in it. Afton, Abby and Dax got all dressed in their snow clothes and headed out to the backyard. They said they were going to make a snowman, but that attempt lasted maybe lasted a minute. They just had fun playing in it and trying to run in the snow.

Salt Lake Temple

Later that night we went to Temple Square with Jason's family. And we couldn't have asked for better whether. It was like 40 degrees at 6 o'clock at night. It was perfect! No one was freezing. I think the last time I had been to temple square with all of the Christmas lights was before we were married. And it was freezing cold! So we got lucky. The kids had a great time. They enjoyed seeing all of the lights and we also went into the visitor's center and took them to see the Christus. They really liked that too. After Temple Square, we walked to the Energy Solutions Center and dropped off Jason and Ben at the Jazz game. This was part of Jason's Christmas present from Ben and Kari. Dax was so sad that he didn't get to go. His eyes were glued on the arena as we walked by. It was so funny! I was trying to talk to him, but he was in a completely different world. He was totally phased into the whole Jazz thing. After dropping off the boys we headed to the Gateway for dinner. Poor little Logan just was not feeling well still. He had a fever and was just not his usual happy self, so we didn't stay very long. But we had a great time with the family.

Jason and the boys

Our family and Kari, Ben and Kya

Rex and Sharon

Sick little Logan

He wanted to get out of the stroller so we let him and he was playing with the snow.

Sitting by the reflecting pond.

I love this Temple. It's so beautiful!

By the Christus

The whole family. We met up with my mom and dad and Jessie so they were taking pictures for us.

On the way to eat. The kids were a little hyper. Can you tell?

Homecoming and Party

On Sunday, December28th, my sister, Jessie, had her homecoming talk. All of the family came and she did a great job. She talked a little fast, but I heard it was much slower then her farewell talk. Afterwards, we gathered at my parents for some food. It was great to be able to see some of my aunts, uncles and cousins again. I had a great time visiting with them.

My mom wanted to get a picture of our immediate family. So I had Kari snap some pictures for me. Thanks Kari!
(Back Row: Jason & Logan, Rickie, Jessie, Darla (my mom), Rick (my dad), Jason & Bridger, Brianne, Shelly, Cody. Front Row: Dax, Afton, Abby, Tred, and Emma.

We also did a little birthday celebration for Dax. Since we left back to Cali before his birthday, we thought we'd do something with the family while we were there. It was nothing too big. He just opened presents and then we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate ice cream and cake. He really wanted a Utah Jazz cake so we got a Jazz cake and he also got a lot of Jazz birthday presents. He was in heaven! He got a couple basketball hoops, some clothes and toys and an awesome Utah Jazz poster with some of his favorite players on it. He's got it hanging above his bed right now. Dax is so funny about the Jazz. He is into them as much as Jason. He knows almost all of the players and their numbers. Jason was quizzing him the other night and we were both shocked at how much he knew. He loves to watch the games with Jason. That's about the only thing he'll sit down and watch. That and Dora. I think he's their #1 fan, well right alongside Jason.

His awesome poster!

He really wanted a Jazz cake and it turned out really cool.

Poor little Logan wasn't feeling so well.

He fell asleep in Jason's arms.

Afton and Dax love to dress up in my mom's costumes.

This was one of the little hoops he got for his birthday. He played with it almost the entire night .

My brother Jason is a Laker's fan so he likes to give Dax a hard time about the Jazz. They both tell each other that their team is the best and which players are better. It's pretty funny. When we were eating cake, Dax told Jason that he couldn't have any because he is a Lakers fan. I guess he was pretty serious, because he saw Jason take a piece and he stood up in his seat and yelled at him to stop eating his Jazz cake. It was hilarious!

Iceskating

While we were in Utah, Afton really wanted to go ice skating. We were trying to convince her to go sledding instead, but she was adamant about ice skating. I think it's a little more princessy for her. Plus, she wouldn't have to get as cold. So we loaded up the kids and headed over to Seven Peaks to the ice skating rink. It was Afton and Daxon's first time and I don't know how long it had been for me. Let's just say a very long time. Kari, Ben, Kya, and Sharon came along with us. We got everyone's skates on, well except Logan. We just took turns watching him. I don't think he'd do that well on the ice. We had heard that you might be able to push babies around in strollers on the ice, but there was a big sign saying "No Strollers" on the ice. So we were bummed about that, but he had a great time running around the rink. So we headed out onto the ice with Afton and Dax. It was kind of hard at first trying to hold them and skate at the same time and not fall and keep them from not falling. Afton was doing ok. She would just kind of slide her feet along the ice, but Dax was all over the place. Then we noticed little kids on big orange construction cones. They were just standing on them while someone was pushing them or they'd hold onto them and skate. The cones would just glide across the ice and we definitely needed one of those. It took a little while before one or two became available, but we eventually got one and it was heaven. Dax had a blast riding on the cone and it really helped Afton too. I really didn't know how ice skating would go with the kids, but it was lots of fun. They had a good time and so did I. We're definitely going to be doing it again.

Kari, Kya, Afton and Me

Kya and Afton. Kya was so cute. We got a cone for her to ride on and she almost fell asleep while on it. She was pretty tired.

Dax and Sharon

Getting ready to go out onto the ice. We had to wait for the Zamboni to smooth the ice. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

The coveted cones! They really made it a lot easier for the kids.

This was the highlight of the trip. Kicking icicles off of people's cars. Afton and Dax would race each other to see who got to kick it off first. They were fascinated with these things.