The Holidays

It seems this year that the Holidays went by like a whirlwind.

We thought we were prepared by about mid-November but the season still crept up on us and we felt overwhelmed by all the things to do.

That being said, we had a great time seeing family and friends having fun things to do.

The week after spending Thanksgiving day at Amy's parent's house, we headed to Arizona to see Jim and Becky and to be there when Brayden was baptized. We loved the weather and only wished we could stay longer. While there we attended a community Christmas Party held outside in the chilly 60 degree weather after dark. We got to sneer at the folks who were wearing stocking caps and mittens as we walked around in T-shirts. We also enjoyed the irony of watching kids play in the trucked in slush brought especially for the event.

Vance had fun getting to know his cousins.

The trip wasn't bad for the kids----well at least when they were sleeping. Vance hasn't really learned to appreciate movies in the car. After about three hours he would let us know he was done. Luckily, thanks to Amy's sister Andelyn and her family discounts, we were able to stay at a Marriot in Las Vegas for a great deal and didn't have to deal with the casino mess. We ended up staying there on the way down and the way back.

Christmas began by opening gifts a little early at Amy's parent's house so that we could spend Christmas day in Laketown with my parents. Both places were a blast. Santa found us in Laketown luckily.

Grandma let the kids ride their new bikes around the kitchen table like a race track. Now they think they can do that at home, but it's just not the same when you kitchen is itty bitty.

Vance and Grandpa

The packed house on Christmas morning. So much fun!

Vance sporting his new jacket.

Ava's new dress.

Many of you probably got hit by the massive snow storm we got as well. At one point we had nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground. It was thick heavy snow too. Not the fluff we are used to. Andelyn helped the kids build a snowman and make snow angels.

Notice the hat. It was Grandpa Wilson's

Another highlight of our Holiday travels was a trip up to Jim's parent's cabin in Kamas. It was a true winter outing where it snowed hard all day and night. Getting up to the cabin required the use of a snowmobile so I pulled ours up there and had a blast riding them, pulling the kids around, and sleigh riding.

Kai is a pretty good driver, little heavy on the throttle though! Especially when he's pulling the family on the Klondike Sled.

Anyone who has ever worn hand-me-down clothes can appreciate this picture!

This suit used to be Amy's

There was tons of snow. This was the second story of the house.

Sledding at the sinks in Logan Canyon on Christmas day.
The conditions were absolutely perfect for sledding----and drinking hot cocoa.

After the new year, we celebrated Koben's fourth birthday. He is such a cute kid and was so excited for his birthday. Although he is little like in his parents in that he really overhyped his birthday in his mind in the days approaching it. When it finally came he was a little ho-hum about the whole deal. We let him go to McDonalds for lunch and have cousins come and play at the playplace. When it really came time to play he wasn't really interested and preferred to just lay on the bench or under the slide and play with his new toy. Oh well, he did enjoy himself though.

Amy Baked him a Spiderman Cake. I thought she did a great job and so did Koben.

Vance enjoying the festivities and the black frosting (smeared on his head)

Fitting in our Kitchen

One of our other travels this season was a trip up to Fairview canyon to go snowmobiling. Amy and I got a babysitter and went riding with several other couples from our ward who like to ride as well. The temperatures that day were almost unbearable (2 degrees) when your riding, but the scenery was magnificent. I took this picture to show just how high the snow was. This wasn't even at the top of the canyon. Only three weeks ago there was only about 20 inches at the highest point. We have really received a lot of snow since then.