Thursday, January 21, 2010

Christmas in Utah 2009

(Note: Especially for family and friends that were apart of our Utah trip...our posts for this trip are three pages long so when you get to the bottom of this page click on older posts)
This past Christmas Break was spent running from party to party with family and friends in Utah. We 'LOVED' every minute of it and will not complain about the chaos even in the slightest because it's not always that we can be apart of these wonderful times with family and friends. I must say that I'm a little emotional writing this simply because I think this may have been the best Christmas I have ever had. The past three years we have spent Christmas in Houston for a number of reasons and though we have grown as a family and have created many wonderful memories with our Texas Friends it has also made me appreciate the times I am able to spend with our families in Utah. I feel very humbled and blessed to be apart of and loved so much by the families we have. I can't imagine life without them and spending this Christmas season with them was pure bliss. Thanks ya'll we love and miss you:-)

Dinner with the Wilson's somewhere down South

Oh man, Ash you're a gem for meeting us under such conditions. This day was crazy for our family. We had family pics. in Pleasant Grove which is 45 minutes south of where we live. The shoot started at 3:00pm and ended somewhere around 5:30pm. By the time we finished I don't know who was more exhausted the kids or us. But, we really wanted to see our good friends the Wilson's that we met while living in Arizona. Brandon and I weren't very familiar with Pleasant Grove but, managed to call Ashli and the kids (Randall was at the BYU game in Vegas...we were really nice and never gave him a hard time) and asked them to meet us at McDonald's in what we thought was Pleasant Grove. Ash drove from Springville and called us to say she was at the McDonald's in Pleasant Grove and we were not. We then turned to the girl next to us and asked without trying to feel too stupid, "Where are we??" It turns out we were in American Fork.
Needless to say Ash finally found us and we spent the evening hanging out and catching up. It's hard to believe that when we first met we only had Ethan and Jace between our two families. Now we have six kids and Ash is about to throw another one into the mix. Thanks for making time for us...we miss and love you:)

SIGMA Christmas Luncheon

Tara set up a Christmas Luncheon for our sorority on December 23rd and this is who was able to show up....Bonnie from Nebraska, me and Miss. Scarlet, and Tara from SLC. It actually was so nice to have it be just the three of us catching up on old times. At one point we were all roommates...oh the trouble we got ourselves into!! I know it was chaos for everyone right before Christmas. Hopefully next time Bonnie and I will be in SLC at the same time and we'll be able to see all the sista's.
Alyssa, Scarlet, Tara, Bonnie

Thomson Christmas Party

waiting for pics.

Tubing at Gorgoza in Park City

On Christmas Eve morning my sister Ashlyn, the boys, and B headed up to Gorgoza to go tubing. The original plan was to go skiing at Snowbird but, our first night in Utah I slipped and fell down my in-laws stairs...no big deal...I was just too sore to do any physical activities and in order to take our boys skiing for the first time we both needed to be there to assist. So, tubing was next on the list.

At one point Ash was talking to an old man and admiring is gloves. He turned to B and said, "She sure is cute...this one's a keeper". Brandon turned to him and said, "um, she's my sister-in-law." He wanted to say, "She sure is a keeper, she's my daughter." Instead the old man said, "well, she's still a keeper."
Ash, the boys had as much fun tubing with you as you did with them. We love you and are going to miss you soo much when you leave in March. Thanks for spending the day with them...you sure are a keeper:-)

Nielsen Christmas Eve Party

I LOVE Christmas Eve at my parents. They go all out by cooking all day. My dad loves to cook as much as my mom if not more. Most years he makes a Turkey, Ham, and Prime Rib (maybe Prime Rib is New Years...I don't know all the meats run together). This year they did Ham and Turkey and many many other yummy dishes. Probably my most favorite part about the evening is being together and how low-key everything is. We just hang out and relax. As for my dad, he probably relaxes once the dinner is done.

Not planned but, definitely plaid...


Even though I was using my camera I think they thought I was swapping heads on my i-phone...

Hanging out...
Scarlet and her great-grandma Nana

Jace and Martha (family friend)...
Steppy and Beano...
Brittany and Cha Cha...
Ashy and Fred (family friend)...
Scarlet and Uncle Breck...
Performing Kai's pre-school songs...


Scarlet so badly wanted to be apart of them...

Christmas Eve Sleepover at Beano and Stephanie's

Oh how I love that my brother Bryant and my sister-in-law Stephanie do not have kids yet. Why you ask??? Because it means that they spoil my kids rotten and want to have them every minute whether it be morning or night.
Uncle Beano had been planning for what seemed like months for the boys to sleepover. He and Steppy really were so thoughtful in making sure they rented XBOX games that were rated "E" and also games the boys had never played. With our permission they rented HOME ALONE and let the boys stay up until midnight watching it. Jace and Kai were so proud to say that they managed to stay up for the whole movie and even though there were bad words (like shut-up)they promised never to say them.
Bryant's favorite part of the evening was when he snuck outside and jerry-rigged a fishing line with bells on it right above the chimney. The boys were screaming with excitement at the thought that Santa and his reindeer might be on the rooftop. They woke up Christmas morning to find Santa Hats, there favorite treats (Kai-Cheetos, Jace-Cheeze-Its), Lego's, and a letter from Santa stating that the boys almost tricked him. He landed on the rooftop the night before thinking our boys hadn't been visited yet. When he got inside and found them asleep he realized that he had already visited the boys in TX on Dec. 20th. They were sooo excited to wake up to the surprises and the letter from Santa. Thanks Beano and Steppy for being so cute and loving our kiddos so much...you guys are the best:)
XOXO

Nielsen Christmas Morning Brunch

Christmas Morning at the Nielsen's=
Christmas Breakfast Casserole, Monkey Bread, Gift Exchanging, Hanging Out, staying in our P.J.'s all morning
THE GUYS
Dad, Kai, Chase (brother), Breck (brother), Brandon, Jace, Bryant (brother)

THE GIRLS

Ashlyn (sister), Alyssa, Brittany (sister-in-law), Scarlet, Stephanie (sister-in-law), Mom

{NO MAKE-UP or DOING YOUR HAIR NEXT YEAR BRITT AND STEPPY:-)}



My brother Breck loves and spoils Scarlet like no other...I think we have more pics. of these two together than we do of anyone else on the trip


I love this pic. of Breck and Kai in the moment...





I love her rosy cheeks this Christmas Morning...


Chase and Penny...

Had to get a pic. of Beano's gift to Steph. I thought they were cute until he said he had them made for her with the intention that she always wears them to the gym letting all guys know she's taken...He takes care of the boys when it comes to toys...



 
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