St. George Style Christmas

I didn't take many pictures of our trip to St. George, but it was great. And the weather was beautiful. The kids loved playing at Pioneer Park.

Quinn thinks she is old enough to run around on the red rocks too.

At the Beach

We took a little trip to Cali to play with cousins and go to the beach. It is the perfect vacation. Of course, it would be fun to have Kenyon join us. And it would be nice of Quinn wouldn't eat sand. But other than that...it was pretty great. We can't wait to go back.

Highlights include- trying out different beaches till we were exhausted and then going straight to my sister's pool to swim (and get a little sand off), finding millions of hermit crabs at Shaw's Cove, donuts at Newport Beach, making tie-dye shirts, painting rocks, making s'mores at the beach, shopping without kids, cupcakes from Sprinkles, playing with cousins, and being with my sisters (wish they all could have come).

My sister, Kristine, posted more about our trip on her blog. See here, and here and here.

Pre-Reunion Shots

A few other pictures from the trip can be found here and here.

Seattle's Tribute to MJ

On our second day in Seattle, my mom and I took the kids on a little trip down to the Science Center (at the base of the Space Needle). On that same property is that EMP (Experience Music Project). They had a little tribute to Michael Jackson going on. The pavement was covered with writings in chalk from everyone coming by to honor him.

Just so you know- I used to be a big fan. I had the trading cards, school folder, cassette tapes. Good times.

Amazing Race

Following a very relaxing and quiet Christmas morning (probably because I completely lost my voice), we went to St. George to meet up with all of my family. I love my family and I love St. George. It was a little cold the first couple days and then it really turned beautiful.

I volunteered (don't ask my why) to create an Amazing Race game for the family to compete in. Last year we did a photo race through St. George and we had a lot of fun. So thanks to the Internet and the actual show, I came up with 6 destinations in Washington County and tasks that had to be completed at each site. I divided the family into 3 teams and they competed in activities such as gulping down In-N-Out, performing at Tuachan, sketching famous artwork of Zions, racing to the marathon finish line. I wish I could have seen what actually happening at each place. But, I have pictures of the teams as they made it to the last pit stop.

On the 26th, we had a birthday party for my mom - HOLLYwood style. We had a red carpet, paparazzi, and a FroYo bar. Kenyon used photoshop to do some cool shots of my mom as a movie star. It was so fun and my mom was a good sport. She HATES any fuss over her birthday. However, my grandma always made sure that we made a special day for her.

We also fit in some tennis. I stink and really need some lessons. Kenyon, of course, did great even though he feels so lousy. Completely unfair. The kids also got to play a little. They love to play tennis with Grandma and Egan.



We only wish we were there for their New Year's Eve party. We have no party plans here.

Jealousy!

My nephew's wife, Dayna, posted these cute pictures of Teague on her blog. How fun to be in Fiji. We are all a little jealous. Can't wait to see more pictures and hear all the details. Seriously - don't you love that dimple. As painful as it was to get that, we are sure glad he has it. Such a happy kid - and cute cousin too!

Big Time

So my oldest boy - who is only 8 - gets to go to Fiji.
He will go with his cousins and an aunt and uncle. His cousin, Steve, plays for the BYU soccer team and they are traveling to Fiji to play the Fiji National soccer team. How cool is that? He gets to go - that is if he gets his passport in time. He is so excited. Of course, anyone who knows T - knows that his DREAM vacation is Greece. He had this awesome unit on Greek mythology and he is convinced that we need to take a trip there. I don't doubt that it would be a great trip, but just not really in the plans this year (or probably the next 10). He has even begged his grandma to take him there. He was telling me how excited he would be if he could see the temple of Athena or Zeus.
I wish I could make that dream come true. But the next best thing for him - Fiji. He can't stop thinking about it. He wants to pack today. He has a million questions so I can see that the next few weeks will be spent studying Fiji. Talk about jealousy at our house. We are all wishing that we could join him.


So today I checked T out of school to apply for his 2nd passport. He got his first passport when he was 2 months old so that we could move to London.
Of course, that has expired (I don't think that anyone would believe that they chubby little baby in the picture was him). We had to drive downtown but it was worth it because they seemed a little more efficient than the post office. T has made sure that we in every prayer we say that we plead that the passport makes it back in time for his trip to Fiji in 3 weeks! It is going to be close but I paid every possible expedite and overnight fee to make sure it happens.


Come on passport...make it in time. I love that he wants to travel.

Star Valley Weekend

Our friends the Spevaks took us to their friend's cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming. It was such a fabulous weekend. Super relaxing and fun. The kids loved snowmobiling. They were most happy riding behind in the sled. We ate good and played lots of games and just chilled - well not literally - we were warm most of the time. The weather was perfect just until it was time to pack up and go home. Someday we would love to own a cabin and snowmobiles. Good times.

A view from our balcony

Amazing!

We have just returned from the dreamiest trip. We were not ready to go and I would fly back tomorrow. Wait - I do have three kids. I better stay. I love warm weather, sitting by the pool, drinking pina coladas, eating chips and salsa, listening to the waves, no agenda, no phone calls, no laptop, and really fun company. Our friends invited us to Cancun with them and it was amazing. We stayed at the Aqua Cancun resort. The pools sit right at the ocean. It was unbelievable. Our room faced the ocean and every morning we woke up to the sun rise, the crash of the waves, and the call to tai-chi. Beautiful and peaceful. It just re-opened and everything was amazing. It was our first vacation that was pure relaxation. We did schedule a couple of excursions. One was to Tulum - an Mayan ruin on the ocean. It has a temple that overlooks the ocean. We wished that we had an LDS tour guide at this location. We talked to one LDS tour guide for a minute and we were wanting more. After Tulum we visited Xel-Ha - a natural water park. I learned how to snorkel. I was pretty nervous about it but it was fun until I ran into what I thought was a shark. Turns out it was a good 4 foot tuna that was swimming at my feet. The next day we went to Chichen-Itza - more Mayan ruins that were so impressive. The pyramid there is so huge and incredible, but that part that was so interesting to me was the temple of the warriors. There were 2000 pillars (only 1000 are still standing) that have a different warrior carved on each one. The belief is that it was a tribute to the 2000 stripling warriors. It was an impressive sight. We had an LDS tour guide there. He was funny. He kept saying "take it easy" and "don't worry be happy." I am not sure he really understand the correct contexts for those phrases but oh well. We had amazing food and entertainment from mariachi bands at two Mexican restaurants. We both had a massage and I had a facial. One night we went over to our friends hot tub. It was probably meant for two but we squished in 8. The hilarious part was that the hotel staff thought it would be ok to pour a whole bottle of bubble bath into the hot tub. Needless to say it was a very bubbly hot tub. Kenyon went to an amazing golf course and golfed around the crocodiles that made themselves at home on the golf course.

My mom flew in to take care of the kids and they seemed to have as much fun as us - just with snow. I hear the food was equally amazing and they have every new thing they ever wanted. She is a trooper and hopefully doesn't feel like she got taken advantage of. We were so grateful that she would spend that time with the kids - it definitely made it easy for us to get away.

Now we are ready to go back asap....