Our Trip...Finally

This Christmas was so much fun! We were gone for almost a month so it is hard to separate all the exciting events, but here is a little bit of an overview. We first arrived on the 16th and I got to see my little sister for the first time in a year and half! She had been on a mission in Estonia for our church and got home on the 12th. It was so much fun to see her. The kids had such a great time getting to know their aunt Abby again and Carter became an instant fan! He basically followed her around for the next three weeks non-stop.


A couple of days after we got there Garrett and I went down to Las Vegas for a little overnight trip to visit his Dad, and step-mom Terry. His older sister and brother were able to come too and we all had a great time. Garrett's dad and stepmom got us the "Rainman Suite" to stay in. I've never seen the movie but apparently this is the room Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise stay at during the Rainman.


The next day we headed home so I could go with my mom, sister, Grandma, and a family friend to the Forgotten Carols. I have always wanted to see the play and it was great! The next couple of days were a bit dramatic because of the weather. It snowed three days straight in St. George, which is unheard of. My sister and her two kids were trapped in Portland and finally made it on Christmas Eve night. Ben and Molly had weather problems too and didn't make it until Christmas night at 11pm, so we decided to just celebrate Christmas on the 26th.

We all had so much fun being all together as a family for the first time since Abby left on her mission, so we didn't care about pushing off the festivities. We had our traditional Christmas breakfast which was amazing and then spent the morning opening presents.

Rylynn is proudly displaying our gifts from Estonia that Aunt Abby brought us home from her mission. I got some wool gloves and Carter and Daddy got wool socks. Rylynn got a little hat with bunny ears.

The kids table. AKA the messy table!

All wearing our Christmas jammies that we got on Christmas Eve.

The kids oohing and ahhing over the presents under the tree

Rylynn's Christmas mostly consisted of fancy nancy dress ups and princess.

Carter's highlights were balls and binkies!

Nana got a big surprise from Papa this year, a beautiful Ruby ring!

We were so excited to meet baby Skyler this Christmas and to celebrate Reagan and Skylar's first Christmases together. What cute nieces and nephews I have!

That night we had our Prime Rib christmas dinner and then the kids enacted the family nativity pageant. It was pretty entertaining this year considering we started about an hour and a half after the kids bedtime.

Aria helping make the Christmas dinner. The pomegranates got a little out of control.


Fun with Aunt Abby!

Rylynn got to be Mary this year which she was thrilled about! Carter kind of shifted parts throughout the performance.

The pink baby Jesus:)

Rylynn and Aria had so much fun together this year!

The day after Christmas we all had to get up really early to take a family picture by the red rocks of St. George. The only problem is that it was still freezing there and we had to take the picture where the sun was not shining so the kids were all freezing and not happy. I'm pretty sure my kids are crying in every picture, but oh well.

This picture just makes me laugh. Garrett got Carter ready while I was getting ready and the dress code was a white shirt and jeans, so Garrett decided to write this little note just to make sure that Carter's white shirt didn't get stained while he was waiting. He mostly put this sign on for Papa since he was notorious for giving the kids candy when we weren't looking.

We were worried he might end up looking like this!

After the picture we spent the afternoon playing all sorts of Christmas games that my parents were in charge of for their ward Christmas party. We had a christmas cupcake walk, which was a real favorite. We also had a bean bag toss on a santa board and an archery game through christmas wreaths. As always Carter is holding Aunt Abby's hand.

Carter was sleeping in a travel crib in the closet of our room, but one night we checked on the kids to find this. He is such a little snuggler!

We had such a great time with everyone! Part two will be our trip to AZ to visit Garrett's family, celebrating Carter's birthday, and a little getaway for me and Garrett, so stay tuned!