Bryce Canyon

Seth was able to leave work early the Friday before Christmas...so we loaded up the car and started our road trip to Phoenix.  After we had been driving for a few hours Phin asked if we were getting close to Jeff's house.  Then he asked if cousin Kate lives close to Jeff...because she lives a long way away too.  His questions made us realize that he thought we would be going straight to Jeff's.  We explained that Jeff lived a LONG way away and that we would staying in a few hotels before we got there.  I loved looking back on this first leg of the trip to see all three kids asleep. 

We stayed the night at Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon.  We had a room with two king beds.  The kids caught up on shows...while Seth caught up on some emails.

The next morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet before heading into the park.

This was the first day of the government shutdown...so we got into the park for free.  The visitors center was open and the ranger there recommended that we go all the way to the furthest section of the park and then stop at the viewpoints on the way back...because they would likely be closing the road due to the shutdown.

It was COLD.  So we enjoyed the first viewpoint as a family...then we took turns running the older two kids to the viewpoints.

Bryce Canyon is stunning in the winter...although I don't think I have ever been in the summer.

After seeing the major viewpoints we loaded back up in the car and headed to our next stop...Horseshoe Bend outside of Page, AZ.

Christmas...a few days early

We spent Christmas down in Phoenix this year.  Jeff, Kim and Carver were so kind to let us come and crash their Christmas party.  We spent an entire week having so much fun with them...more posts documenting all of our Phoenix adventures will be coming soon.  The Friday before Christmas the kids woke up to a few big presents that we didn't want to pack all the way down to Phoenix. 

Phin loved his Imaginext T-Rex.

Millie loved her Cinderella castle.

 Silas loved anything he could put in his mouth. 

This was one of my favorite days in December.  The kids played and played with their new toys while I packed, cleaned and prepped for our trip.  It took Phin most of the day before he realized that his T-Rex had lights and noises...etc.  Here are a couple of videos that he LOVES to watch of his T-Rex.

EARLY DECEMBER

The first Saturday in December we raked leaves at one of Nona and Papa's rentals for the day of service.  The kids were good helpers.  This was the rental that I lived in during graduate school and the years before I married Seth.  Seth moved into the basement apartment when we were dating.  Being down on DeSoto brought back lots of memories.

December brought...CHRISTMAS SWEATERS...

 and dresses...with princess hairdos.

We loved having the tree up all month long.

The kids loved wrapping up a gift for our neighbors.  Don't worry we didn't give them almond milk...this is just a tradition from Seth's side of the family to wrap presents in random boxes. 

The kids loved the 12 days of Christmas presents from Grandma Jo and Grandad.  Each day we read a small section about a title of Christ and opened a little present to go along with the title.

Seth also made a few batches of his homemade beef jerky.  Here is a picture of him and Millie getting the marinade for the meat ready.

The Young Women that I work with prepared 200 craft kits for Primary Children's Hospital one Wednesday night.

I spent a Saturday baking gingerbread and Almost Swig Peppermint Sugar Cookies.

Then we walked around the neighborhood and delivered the cookies to neighbors.

We have a whole box of Christmas books...Phin was especially interested in our keyboard book.

Here is a video of Phin's rendition of Jingle Bells...complete with Silas noises in the background.

I also pulled out some magic paint Christmas cards that the kids enjoyed painting.  They gave these to their teachers with a little treat.

Our local High School had a little Festival of Trees.  This is where Millie and Silas go to daycare...so the daycare had decorated a tree.  

We had our picture taken with Santa at the Festival...some of us were more excited than others.

Phin quickly asked Santa for a snowboard...which was his Christmas request the year before as well.

The kids loved the snow that we received in December...

as an adult I am not as excited as I used to be when it snows...it means there is shoveling to get done.

Our favorite spot to eat out continues to be Chick-Fil-A...here the kids are sharing an ice cream cone that we got in exchange for the kids meal toy.

We also got to spend an afternoon with Emily, Jane, Aaron and Spencer up at Nona's.

We ended up taking them to the Children's Museum and we had so much fun playing with cousins.