Christmas in Utah, Part 2

The day after Christmas, we met up with my family to go through the Mt. Timpanogos Temple with Eric.  He is going on his mission in February (Salt Lake City, Spanish-speaking).  After picking up our kids from Emily's house, we went to Kneaders (yes, again, Cory!) with Kev.  That afternoon, Brady did more truck shopping and we met up with Kathie and Lee to go to dinner.  We love these two, and they have taken care of us over and over again through the years.

Yay for iPhone pictures in the snow!

 The morning of the 27th, we headed over to Grandma Richards' house.  Zachary was dying to play in the fresh snow, so I let him (even though I left his coat with Brady, who had the car and was once again negotiating with a car salesman).  He loved it and didn't seemed phased at all by the clothes he had to live with for a few hours afterward.

 Kate is too little to make a decision to live with cold, wet clothes and I made her watch from the sidelines.  She was mad.

 We really miss Grandma Richards:

 Steve and Natalie's family and Mom and Dad joined us for this visit.

 We also had a chance to visit with Karl and Chrysta's family before they started their long drive home to D.C.

After a Cafe Rio salad with Natalie and Steve, it was back to the dealership.  Kate slept while Brady signed his name and now we have a new member of our garage.  Conventional financial wisdom does say that you should have nice cars and still be renting, right?  Ha!

 We rushed back to the house (most of the trip we rushed somewhere) to get ready for a family dinner at Tom and Brynn Nufer's house.  We joined all my immediate family members plus Eric's girlfriend, Taylor, for dinner and music.  Before we left, I ran in the (deep!) snow while the kids played outside.  Kate finally got her snow time in.

 December 28-29 were dedicated days to our first "Nufer Family Reunion."  On the 28th, we met in the morning for adult sports.  Kristen brought all kinds of play dough and the kids and a few of us played with them in the kitchen.  We had some lunch, and then the older kids went sledding while a few of stayed behind with napping babies.  Zachary had the time of his life sledding with his aunts, uncles, and dad.

 Grandpa helped him build his first-ever snowman.

Later in the day, we settled in for an intense Nufer trivia game (created by Dad), and a chili/cornbread dinner.

That night, I went to see Les Mes in a legitimate movie theater (our theater here is dreadful), and lost half my body weight in tears.  I left thinking Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman deserved Oscars, and it looks like that just might happen.  Eric sat on one side of me and I'm sure didn't know what to think... 

 The next morning, we gathered very early to take Nufer family pictures.  They turned out perfectly and I am excited to get mine in the mail.  We then gathered for a little talent show, and almost everyone performed a number, including a piano duet by Mom/Dad and Natalie/Steve, 2 original songs by Brady and Kevin, and a stunning piano piece by Kristen.

The kids had a ball rolling around on nursery toys and the trash can wheels.  I kept hearing Zachary give Joshua lessons.  He would ask scenarios like, "If you hit my sister, would that be a nice thing or a mean thing to do?"  Very funny conversations.

 Kate pushed this doll around for an hour, at least:

  Mom with Kaylee (Kevin's baby):

 Mindy and Emily's son, Colin:

The boys took off for Boondocks while the kids napped again.  Brady introduced Zachary to the glories of bumper cars and plenty of other little games.  Kristen watched my sleeping Kate while I ran long and reminisced about how fun it is to run in the cold...

Mom and Dad ordered the Nufer-tradition New Year's Eve dinner--Chinese food--and we ate before heading up to see lights on Temple Square.  It was freezing and we spent more time in the bathrooms than we actually did looking at lights!  We said goodbye to the Nufers that night, and it was wild to realize so much of our trip was over.

 Dad with Emily's daughter, Mikayla:

 Eric and his cute girlfriend:

Sunday morning, it was pack up (again) and head to Heber day.  We spent the day at church, and visiting with

Monday, the boys played ball for a couple hours, and then we spent the day trying to find something to do, and failed a few times in a row.  We got all suited up for Kamas pools, and it was closed.  We considered the Rec Center, but it was closing.  We tried to get manicures even, and that didn't work out either.  It was pretty funny.  Instead, we went and got hot cocoa.

For New Year's Eve, we met up at Angela and Paul's for another huge meal, lots of fun games, and family noise.  This was the one and only time I started to stress about what was to come (our plane ride home and our move).

Walk-the-Uncles:

 

 

 Brady and Brynlee (Scott and Natalie's daughter):

 Brynlee and Ellie (Cory and Kristen's daughter):

 Angela and Paul made a huge saran-wrapped ball filled with gifts.  Anytime someone rolled doubles, they worked to get out as many of those gifts as possible.  The kids went crazy for this game.

Blake (Cory and Kristen's son):

 Parker (Scott and Natalie's son):

 The kids were also very patient with Zac while he tried to play the Wii.

 I had a raging headache, and I was worried about leaving our kids with Mom the next day if they hadn't been in bed before midnight, so I was the party pooper and asked the kids to celebrate with Zachary at 11pm.  They kindly obliged.

 The last day of our trip, we went skiing with Cory, Kristen, Tanner and Kevin at Park City.  I was the weak link, but it was still fun.  I'm just not as fast as those people and I fell a lot.  It was icier than Alta and freezing cold.  Oh well!  It was fun to see how much Kevin has improved, and watching the others cook it down the slopes.  I think I will always be a fairly cautious skier (aka total chicken).

 We got home to very happy kids!  We packed up what we could, and then went to Cafe Rio with Mom and Dad and Cory and Kristen's family.

 Kate will really, really miss her buddy, Rachel.  They are both mouths-full, saying, "Cheese!"

 The last night with Mom and Dad was darling.  Mom made gingerbread while we were skiing, and the kids ate their cookies by the fireplace and listened to Grandma read them stories.  Precious moments I will never forget.  We live in the middle of nowhere, but my kids absolutely LOVE their grandparents.

 Getting on the plane was hard.  What a great trip, but oh, it's too bad we can't skip the vacation blues!!  We are so grateful to everyone who helped us out--watching our kids, getting our kids clothed for the trip, lending us cars and beds, making us delicious food, taking off work, and simply spending their busy holidays with us.  We love you all!