Ice Castles in Midway

We got a peek at the beginnings of this beautiful creation when we came up for our anniversary, so we decided to come back when it opened up so we could walk through it.  Totally worth it.  It was so cool! And pretty! And cold!
We went with my mom and dad…they live right down the street from this beauty.  There were a lot of people, but it wasn’t too crowded. It looked like the big crowds were coming just as we left.  Good timing.
         
    
This was above us as we walked out…so pretty. And a little scary. 
We drove by the Homestead on our way back to Zermatt and saw their ice fountain.  It looked pretty all lit up.

We had dinner with Mom and Dad and a nice visit.  When we left, the kids were asleep before we even got to the end of the first road.  It’s tough work to have this much fun!!

The Week

I know I’ve said it before, but the best part of Christmas is The Week.  This is the week between Christmas and New Years (aka my b-day) that Joe takes off work and we basically play for a whole week.  I’ll admit there are not a lot of homemade meals during this week, but this year, we did get some cleaning done and lots and lots of laundry washed.  Joe took over and was a laundry maniac.  It was awesome!
We also went and saw “Frozen” and “The Book Thief” and “Percy Jackson” (not the same day), we played Laser Tag, we played games and ate Chinese food at Grandma and Grandpa Heugly’s, we saw a friend get baptized, we had more family parties at Grandma’s clubhouse, we sent Dakota off to her first and second Stake Dance with cousin Mark and friend Keller, we had a Pulsipher game night at our house and Conner slept over, we got to see Char and George, we went to see the Midway Ice Castle, and we even went to the dentist.  It was a very fun kind of busy!  And that’s not including my birthday….
     
No cavities from any of the kids, by the way!
Hurray for The Week!!

Christmas Day

I love the tradition has that Sue takes each family’s picture on the major holidays.  It’s fun to see how we all change over the years.  Here’s us. Hey Pop. Annie is seriously in love with Leah…they are best buds!!  Annie ran to her as soon as she got there. Plus, Leah’s hilarious.  I took a picture of three of my kids eating, and she said, “HELLO!” because she was just outside of the shot…so I retook it with her and she was not impressed.
Annie wore out pretty quickly, it’s been a full day already! But soon, Grandma started giving gifts to the grands and they were thrilled! Legos, babies, clothes, music, games, and even a doll bed. 

We had such a fun day!  Mark and Sue gave us some cool gifts, including a personal history from Sue, and a personalized photo book from our Hawaii trip!  We had Justin’s family so we gave them some small kitchen appliances.  I also crocheted some scarves for sister gifts. Jake and Liz had us and we got a sled and some snow toys, movies, and treats.  We missed Peach and Heather who didn’t come, but everyone else was there and we had a great time! 
We spent the day eating and playing with new games and toys.  Every year, Mark and Sue get new toys to put in the toy room.  The kids had a blast with the new stuff!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Morning

This year was especially fun because my Mom and Dad were here for the early morning festivities.  My Mom said it reminded her of us growing up and that was the nicest thing she could say.  I loved Christmas growing up and it’s fun to have that same excitement with my own kids!
We opened presents, showed each other our new stuff, exchanged gifts between siblings, and had some delicious breakfast casserole.  Ahhhh, Christmas!

They had fun playing with their stuff…here are some of their favorite gifts:
It was a lovely morning, but now it’s time to play some more!!  Mom and Dad went to visit other kids and we headed over to Mark and Sue’s.