Two years ago, I went to Ohio with Zachary the day after Christmas. The trip was shockingly cold for Zachary. To combat the same issues I faced there, I decided to prep Zac well in advance for our trip to Utah. We talked about coats, boots, mittens, gloves, and (gasp) socks. We read book after book about snowmen and cold temperatures. Finally, he was ready.
...Until he walked out the door at the airport terminal and the 19-degree wind hit him in the face. He wouldn't leave the doorway.
Fortunately, he handled the cold well, but we were all a bit disappointed with the lack of snow. Oh well, next year?!?
First stop: Emily and Matt's house in Riverton. Zac was excited to play with his first round of cousins. The kids played their hearts out in the basement, we visited with Kevin, Kristen, and Allie, and we saw Scott for the first time in 3 years. We had a nice dinner and stayed home from church to see if we couldn't get over our nasty colds.
Aunts do nails. That's a job description.
We next headed to Cory and Kristen's house in Highland. Cory stopped in the hills to make a snow angel with Zac, which turned out to be a real highlight for Mr. Z. They also introduced us to a trampoline house (owned by infamous Bentley of "Bachelorette," spotted by Brady), Smashburger, a jalepeno/cream cheese doughnut (I dare you to find something more awful), Starbucks hot chocolate (...or so delicious), another trampoline, and plenty of good chats and good food.
Foam pit at the trampoline house:
Love that Ellie girl.
Waiting to get the bounce from Uncle Cory:
Our friend Whitney made this hat for Kate and I've been so excited to use it in cold weather. We didn't quite pull it down far enough for this picture!
Monday night, we met up with Erin at Thanksgiving Point. We explored the dinosaur museum and Zac was reacquainted with her. At the end our visit, he melted our hearts with this explanation:
Zac: "Hey, guess what?
Erin, kneeling down next to him: "What?"
Zac: "Baby Kate came out of Mommy's tummy, and I came out of your tummy."
Zac, immediately after: "And my toe hurts."
At the dino museum:
Knowing Zac's interest in dinosaurs, Erin got him an excavation kit. He and his cousins got to work making a mess, er, digging it out. Sorry about that, Kristen and Cory!
Tuesday night, we drove up to Heber to ride the Polar Express. Zac cried on the way up, because "I just want to play with Ellie!!!" We should have listened to him and skipped the train, but you learn these lessons through experience, I suppose.
My caption: "Mom, it's going to get better than this, right?"
At one point during the high school-provided entertainment, they asked passengers to come to tell jokes. Zac ran up to the front (uh-oh), and spoke clearly into the microphone, saying, "I want a sock monkey and dinosaurs."
Another classic Santa shot. Next year, I resolve to have fewer encounters with the white bearded man.
The next day, Kevin and Kristen met us in Orem after a mishap on the freeway--their window was hit by a rock and caved in on Kristen! We hope Cafe Rio was worth it!
That night, we went to Hale Center Theater's production of "The Christmas Carol." We loved it, but unfortunately, Kate earned her reputation as a Mommy's girl.
Thursday, the boys all moved Scott and Natalie down to Heber. The girls and kids hung out at Angela's house, and later McD's where we watched a kid throw up all over the play equipment. Yeah, 2 days before Christmas. We escaped that bug and learned our lesson.
Scott, a few days after the move:
Friday, Brady bowed out of skiing with me (due to sweet, clingy girl) and watched our kids so I could go with Kristen, Bryson, and Tanner. They were all nice to me, but I was terrible. I don't remember being such a wuss in the past. At one point, I got tears in my eyes staring down a blue hill. Kristen had to walk me through it--and I do mean that literally. The rest of the day, I coasted down green hills and decided that was good enough for me!
Christmas Eve day involved bowling, cookies for Santa, a lasagne dinner, and a nativity production.
You will notice that I include many pictures of our daughter--not crying--while being held by others. I am trying to brainwash the family into remembering her as a content baby.
You know, a baby like Walker (10 hours younger than Kate):
Kate went to Cory from the second she saw him. She could only tell Brady and Cory apart when they were standing together, and she looked from one to another before picking Brady correctly.
We really hoped Santa liked sprinkles and peanut M&Ms:
Rachel and Blake were a little more careful.
It appears that he took care of business, or at least took them to the elves.
Zachary with his cousin, Logan. He's been working hard on his "l" sounds for speech, and loves to say Logan's name over and over again for practice.
Christmas morning, we opened gifts from Santa prior to getting serenaded by Angela and Paul's unbelievably good ward choir. When Zac finally opened his dinosaur, this was the reaction:
Hands-down the best moment of Christmas. He also exclaimed, "FOR ME?" when he heard Santa included him in a letter to the C/K Edwards family. Ah! Christmas gets better every year.
Rachel getting Zac ready:
Kate's Santa present:
Cory took some family photos of after church. (You will notice if you compare blogs that we unabashedly stole pictures from them for our post.)
We had a yummy brunch at Angela's and a turkey dinner at Mom's to finish off the family-filled day. No surfing this year, but hanging out with family was every bit as satisfying.
Monday, we were able to visit with my Grandma and Grandpa Nufer, my cousins Michael and Michelle and family, with Robin and Rick, and finished off the night with an always-delicious meal at Kathie and Lee's house. We only took one picture of the entire day but had plenty of fun chats.
Tuesday was spent at the outlets, and then a BYU basketball game with the Ritchie boys and Natalie/Scott's family. It was awesome to scream inside the Marriot Center again. We followed the night up watching Jimmer during the King's game.
Wednesday, Mom watched the kids at Cory and Kristen's while we went to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.
Thursday, we decided to give skiing another go. Brady went up early with black-diamond Bryson, while Tanner and I came up at 12:30pm, leaving Zac with Mom and Kate with Ang (THANKS!). I felt redeemed after my lousy first skiing performance, skiing only 1 green run from start to finish and the rest blues. Brady and I had a blast together (although he was definitely faster than me), and it renewed my conviction that if we ever move back to Utah, we will have to do this a lot.
Friday, we spent the day with Emily and her kids in Provo, and later with Grandpa Richards and JaNae. It was nice to catch up, and to see Emily one last time.
Saturday, we spent the day packing our bags, eating at Dairy King, and partying at Ang/Paul's. Yummy food, fun games, and ringing in the new year at the actual midnight with our kids!
Paul read dozens of books to these kiddos:
It is always hard to come home after the holidays, but Brady got to come home to his Christmas present, which eased the holiday blues:
I'm sad I don't have more pictures, especially of our time with the Ritchie's and with Natalie/Scott and family. Zac fell in love with Brynlee and keeps asking if we can go to her house, too. We tell him that we'll have to do this again, sometime.
For Zachary's 4th birthday, he requested balloons, lots of friends, pirates and cupcakes--6 months in advance. He reminded us almost daily. We came through for him, and his long-awaited party finally came.
I LOVED the party planning. It's one of those things I didn't expect to like. I loved looking up ideas and games, prepping the activities, and even spending three hours on the treasure box. I even created a word doc with the party typed up like my official lesson plans. So, yes, I'm thrilled that there are so many birthday parties coming my way in my mommy future.
Brady gets credit for the treasure map.
Brady also gets credit for hosting 13...yes, 13 children and a baby at our house for the party. You would think with all the preschool experience, I would know better, but I figured we could hack it between the two of us and avoid leaving people out. Truth be told, it was great. Everything was fine and no one got hurt. But we were wasted at the end of it all! Next time around, the max is 5 plus Zachary. More turns for the kids and less chaos overall.
A big hit was "Pop the Cannonball":
Of course the big hurrah was the treasure hunt. The kids used their decorated spyglasses to hunt for backyard clues.
They finally found the treasure box, filled with candy necklaces, gold dabloons, and other party favors.
Lunch was a production, and we ran out of time before parents got there, but hey, live and learn. We'll get it right next year. Zac loves all his new toys, and he pulled in quite a loot.
That night, we took him for pizza and finally let him open the gifts from us. I love the Zac-reactions during presents.
I was so sad when it was all over, almost like the day after Christmas. I'm excited to do it all again next year, but thinking about my little boy as a 5 year old is too much to handle right now. I'm glad it goes one year at a time. Zac has made so many strides this year, and he continues to be such a sincere, tender-hearted child. He is still my go-go-go kiddo, but it's perfect for us. We love you, little matey.
