We didn’t send out Christmas cards this year…. BUT if we had this would have been the picture.

I have been blessed in my life to have great friends. Growing up I lacked good true friends and so I prayed and prayed that friends would come. Well the Lord answers prayers because they have come and I couldn’t ask for better people in my life. While in Utah I had hoped to see many of them. But, alas, sickness confined us to solidarity. I was there for 3 1/2 weeks and only saw a handful of friends, most of which, were willing to drive to see me. (Thanks girls!)

First up, Oakcrest reunion. (Oakcrest is a church girls camp in Utah. I was a counselor in 2004)

Next up: My name twin and old mission roommate. I still call her by her maiden name. Old habits die hard.

College buddies are next:

I decided that I only choose friends who make me laugh. These two do a good job at it!

Finally Highschool:

While in Utah my dad had to teach for the Fire Academy down in beautiful and warm St. George. Of course we offered to go with him! My cousin Deven’s boss just happens to be a multi-millionaire and was gracious enough to let us stay in his house. (A house that he visits maybe twice a year!) We went with Deven and his cute family. I wish I could hang out with his wife, Julie, more often. She is so sweet and chill. I could definitely use some of that rubbing off on me. 🙂

St. George was the highlight of my trip!

One Sunday after church we decided to visit my dad at work and let the kids explore the fire station. My favorite memory from that day:

Papa- (pointing to the bed in the fire truck) “Hallie this is where kids who get hurt ride to the hospital”

Hallie- no response just checking everything out.

10 mintues later.

Papa- “Hallie want to go for a ride in the fire truck?”

Hallie- runs to me, grabs my leg and hides behind it. “I not hurt mom! I not hurt!” lol she thought that if you ride in the fire truck that means you are hurt and you go to the hospital. I think we may have traumatized her.  Hopefully not.

Ben’s little sister Alix’s wedding was the whole reason we went to Utah. We had discussed going to Utah for Christmas but decided against it because of finances. However, after hearing the news that Alix was getting married we knew we couldn’t miss it and pulled out the good ol’ credit card. 🙂 We were grateful that she chose to get married so close to Christmas because we were able to celebrate the holiday with our families.

While in Utah we were able to do a few really fun activities. (In between illness that is.)

First up- We took Hallie skiing. She rocked those tiny ski’s. We couldn’t believe how amazing she was. No fear what so ever. At first she rode between Ben’s ski’s but by the end of the afternoon she was going all by herself. Ben would send her down and my dad (who went with us) would catch her. She is a rockstar!

The other activity I was able to do was go flying with my dad. My dad is currently getting his pilot’s license and took me out on one of his long distance flights. We flew to Wendover and back. It was awesome to be in a plane my dad was flying. He is such a stud!

Talk about a roller coaster of a trip. Two days before we left I got sick with fevers, cold sores and an ear infection. I went to the urgent care and the doctor told me not to fly on the airplane the next day because my ear drum could burst. After praying and discussing the pros and cons of me not going to Utah we decided at 4 am to just go for it. (We left at 4:30 am) My ear drum did indeed burst and the only pain that this gets close to is labor. (Labor winning of course.) Anyway, our trip was off to a good start. lol

Once we got to Utah both kids got sick. Kyle especially. He had been sleeping through the night since 4 months-old but once he got sick he woke up several times needing his nose sucked out. Then once he got used to waking up several times a night I couldn’t just let him cry it out because we were staying with family. So I said goodbye to full nights rest and didn’t really sleep the whole 3 1/2 weeks we were in Utah. (With that said I do need to thank Ben’s parents for getting up with Kyle during the night so I could sleep longer that 2 hours at a time and also my parents for letting Hallie sleep in their room when we were at their house. Thank you!!) After Kyle started getting better my mom and I got strep throat. WHOA! Once again we were confined to the house and had to cancel all our plans. Don’t worry there is light at the end of the tunnel. We ended up getting better just in time to drive down to St. George for a long weekend. (future post) It was a very long trip full of lots of family time (since we were stuck inside) and good memories. I’m so grateful we were able to go.

Enjoy all the pictures:

Lots more posts to come!

This past weekend we went with our friends the Wendorff’s to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. We had been planning on leaving Saturday morning and coming home Sunday morning but on Thursday I got a surprise text from Ben saying he wanted to leave ASAP. haha (This is coming from the man who hates even leaving the house on the weekends.) He had been working on his final  all week and once he finished he said he wanted to get out of town. So….after rearranging some plans and stressing about cleaning and packing we left Friday morning. We stayed at the Historic Powhatan Inn again. It was a wonderful weekend full of family time!

Saturday afternoon/evening we headed over to Busch Gardens Christmas Town celebration. It was pouring rain but we had already bought the tickets so we decided to go anyway and pray that it would stop raining while we were there. No luck!

We had a lot of fun. The cold never even phased Hallie. I on the otherhand complained the whole time. Ben explained to Hallie that He and Hallie were strong when it came to the cold but Mommy was a wuss. I agreed! I have no tolerance for the cold!!!  Thanks Wendorff’s for inviting us! We can’t wait to go back in the spring and try out all the roller coasters.

I’m so grateful for church each Sunday. It really renews my spirits and gives me the strength and focus to face the coming week. I also love all the people I get to see at church. They really are my family away from home.

Plus, I get to dress my kids really cute! haha

Funny story:

At church Ben told Hallie that the song we were about to sing was a Christmas song about when Jesus was born. Hallie opened up her book and followed along with her finger then belted out, “Jesus being born. Jesus being born.” Over and over again at the top of her lungs. (Of course in her best singing voice.) I didn’t care if anyone else thought it was disruptive we thought it was the cutest thing ever!

Two of my friends came over last night and we canned our hearts out. We made salsa and raspberry jam. I had so much fun hanging out with them. I laughed so hard that I cried at one point. Good friends make the world go round.

Thanks Kami and Rebecca you two are the best! I can’t wait to do it again.