Kirk and I went fishing on Friday and left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. They stayed home all day and I don't know if Grandma and Grandpa or the kids had more fun. We had fun fishing too. It's always nice to get out and spend time together. We didn't catch a ton of fish, but it was nice weather and we enjoyed ourselves.
The next day Kirk went fishing by himself. We stayed home most of the morning. Lisa had a primary Christmas party she was in charge of and I took the kids over to make a craft for a little bit. That afternoon we headed up to Salt Lake city to see the lights at temple square. Our plan to eat at Cheesecake Factory ended quickly when the wait was 2 hours. We ended up in the food court at Chick-fil-a. Not quite as good, but much easier--especially for me. Cade and Cami loved the lights. As we started walking around Cami kept saying "Christmas lights" over and over. We saw my family there for a minute (My parents and Lindsey's family) and walked all over. Lindsey drove in that day from Colorado. I think we all had a great time.
Sunday we went to my parents house for a birthday party for me! My mom made an awesome chocolate cake and we played a little game and got to see everyone. Jill and Quintin came too. I always love seeing them.
Monday was my 30th birthday. Kirk sacrificed and stayed home from fishing. We went to the trampoline park in the morning with Lisa and Connor and we all had a great time.
Tuesday Kirk went fishing again. He had a great day and caught a couple of big fish. I finished up some Christmas shopping in the morning and wrapped presents in the afternoon. We spent lots of time playing with Daniel and Josh (2 of Cade's favorite people in the world). We got to see our friends Jason and Katie Scott. We haven't seen them for about 2 years and they live in Nebraska now. That evening was my mom's family Christmas party. We had soup and salad and talked a bunch. Cami did not enjoy being with so many people and ended up in bed by 6:30. She was much happier there. Cade did ok, but spent most of the evening with Kirk and I.
Wednesday was Christmas Eve. We made a bunch of mashed potatoes, a pie, a turkey, gravy and some cranberry sauce for the Smith party. We played some games and just hung out and then headed out to the party late afternoon. It was at a church this year and we had over 60 people there. It was a really fun party. We ate food and talked to family. They did the talent show after dinner and I hadn't prepared Cade with anything to share. He really wanted to sing Jingle Bells for everyone and Josh wanted to do "head, shoulders, knees and toes." Lindsey took both of them up. Cade sang great and then did the other song with Josh too. He did back out during the nativity play but I convinced him to go be a shepherd with me at the end. Then Santa came. Cami wanted nothing to do with him and hid her face in my shoulder and cried. Cade gave Santa a high-five but wouldn't sit on his lap. We got home and put the kids to bed and set out some presents.
Christmas morning was a little crazy. We woke up to a white blanket of snow. Daniel had been sick the day before and we let him sleep in until 8:00. Then we had some breakfast and opened stockings. With 12 (5 of them under 5) people in the same room, opening stuff it gets a little chaotic. But it was fun. We took turns opening presents, for the most part. Cade got to open a big present from Santa that included 5 trucks including an ambulance. He got a dominoes game, sunglasses, a fisherprice buldozer and a fisherprice radio too. Cami opened a stuffed Minnie Mouse, a blue ball, a fisher-price bike and tractor, sunglasses and a baby doll. They definitely got spoiled. My parents surprised us with a generous cash gift to buy something lasting for our home. We're saving it until we have a house we'll be in for a long time.
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| waiting downstairs for Daniel to wake up |
After opening gifts we drove to Provo to open presents with Kirk's family. Tom gave me a spa treatment. I've never been to a spa before, but I'm looking forward to going with Lisa and Kara. Kirk got a subscription to Golf digest and some new balls. They are also going to get us a new grill for our patio. I am super excited about that! Cade got some power tools, a playmobile police car/trailer/boat, a new game, some tractor sheets, and a new poster for his wall. Cami opened a playmobile bus and barn, a backpack, a fairy costume, some butterfly wall hangings, and a stuffed "skeeter" dog. They have loved these new toys and play with them everyday. We had a yummy ham dinner and skyped with Scott and Kara. It makes for a busy day, but it was fun to see both families in the same day.
Friday morning Kirk went fishing again. I went shoe shopping with Lindsey and my mom and Melissa. Lindsey, Melissa, my dad and I all went out to lunch. Alan and Kristi came over in the afternoon and Alan came with me out to Cabelas. My parents took Lindsey's boys and we met Kirk there. The boys had a great time looking at the fish and stuffed antler animals. They also liked playing in the ice fishing tents. We came home and had dinner with all 15 of us at my parents house. We got the car loaded for our drive home. We wanted to go home Sunday, but a storm pushed it to Saturday. The storm was supposed to hit the Blue Mountains in Oregon early Saturday afternoon so we left at 4:30 am to beat it. We made a quick stop at McDonalds and then the kids and I slept some while Kirk drove. We ended up in the mountains just as the snow was starting and got home at 1:30. I put Cami down for her nap and ended up waking her up after 3 hours. We got some pizza for dinner and opened presents here from our own family. I got Kirk a new float tube and flippers. He got me a food processor. I made Cade and Cami a bunch of dress-ups. Cade also opened a new backhoe. It was fun to come home to presents too.
We had a fun, busy trip--as usual. I always like going to Utah and it's even more fun when Lindsey is there. Luckily we had healthy kids the whole time. It went by really fast and as I write this it seems like a long time ago. Now we're back to life and work and playing with friends and looking forward to the next few months!
A few more pictures!
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| Cade was a wiseman in the nativity play. He needed some support |
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| Cami's wiseman hat |
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| And this is what Cami thought of Santa |
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| New favorite toys |
3 comments:
I was there for much of what you wrote about, but I still loved it. Thank you so much for doing your blog. I love the stories and pictures. You guys are awesome.
Love,
Dad
I am so glad that we got to see you guys! We loved all the fun things that we could do together!
Looks like fun! Our friend's parents own Cameo Heights Mansion. I hope you loved it!
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