We went "home" for the holidays this year. Traveling for Christmas has its downside, but I would have a hard time giving up the tradition of being with our families every other year.
We left early Friday morning. With a storm a few days earlier we weren't sure what we would be in for. Fortunately the roads were fairly clear with the exception of a few stretches. Thanks to a couple of my sisters reminding me about our childhood light excursion, I requested that we make a last minute detour through Ogden to visit Fantasy Land (now known as Christmas Village)
It has grown and changed since we went as kids,
but the familiar scenes were still sprinkled among the newer versions.
My memory is of cottages like this with animated characters.
I also don't remember there being such a light display on the grounds.
Maybe I was just more interested in the little houses as a kid.
I am so glad I was reminded of this place and glad that Mark was willing to play along despite not being thrilled about it;)
It will always be Fantasy Land to me!
A little In-N-Out pitstop
After a day of driving, we took it easy Saturday taking in all the sights and sounds
of Christmas at Gramma and Grampa's.
We tried to help Grampa set up his new Echo Dot (but really I think we played on it more than anything), with scenes from the SNL Echo Silver skit running through my head ....
"I don't know about that" has become my new favorite saying!
We spent most of Christmas Eve at Kevin and Migdalia's. In the past we try to split the night with both families making it feel like we are just running back and forth. We decided this year we would do Christmas Eve with Smith's and Christmas morning with Fortie's. It was a full house with grandparents, four siblings with their families (+kid in-laws and grand kids) and Migdalia's friends. We ate both Turkey and Ham with sides and the kids made Stress Bottles and enjoyed a chocolate fountain for dessert.
Things wrapped up there around 8 pm so we headed back to my parents house and got to see the other side of the family for a while. The place was packed! There is never a shortage of noise and activity when we get together. Some of the cousins did a gift exchange this year so we let the kids open their gifts in front of each other. We also gave my parents their gift from us kids ... a basket of goodies and season tickets to HCT.
It was a late night and once everyone cleared out we put on our new Christmas PJ's for a picture by the tree. Mark doesn't really like the matching PJ's like I do and his didn't fit this year so we just did the girls;)
Christmas morning didn't start until nearly 8 am. We opened stockings and tortured the girls by making them wait for grandparents to join us (around 9 am). Santa left everyone a few gifts: Yoga mat, Gymnastic mat, California stickers, travel packs, clothes, shoes and games. Mark and I got some sweet gifts from the girls: Ornament, Altoids and Lindt Truffles from Emm; Scalp Massager and Photography prints from Kars; and a panoramic map of RMNP and picnic blanket from Bay. Emmrey LOVED her gymnastic mat and it was a challenge just getting her to hold still once it was out;)
Our main gift was plane tickets to Puerto Rico which we will enjoy in March. The girls were a little stunned! I was impressed with Mark's delivery;)
We got ready and went to the Weavers for brunch. Scott made us delicious breakfast burritos and Swiss Muesli. It was a smaller group with part of the family going to in-laws etc, but such an enjoyable time.
We stopped by Grandpa and Grandma Smith's later that afternoon to give their gifts.
The girls received new umbrellas.
That evening we joined my parents and sisters for their gift exchange.
They will probably hate me for posting this, but I made them pose for a pic in their new hooded sleep shirts. They look so comfy ... It's probably good I don't have one. I might get in my PJ's even earlier than I already do.
Wednesday morning Bailee and I headed to the avenues to deliver the crib blankets she made for the NICU babies. The drive to LDS Hospital brought back a flood of memories. Everything outside was exactly as I remember and then we stepped inside and I didn't recognize a thing. Since our time there 18 years ago, it has been completely remodeled. It looked nice, but I was sad it wasn't the same. I was looking forward to taking Bay on a stroll down memory lane. We headed to the 4th floor to deliver the blankets, but it was all different. Obviously I expected we couldn't go into the NICU, but now they have security doors to the rooms too so I couldn't even show her where I delivered her.
Oh well ... it was a neat project for her just the same.
Part of our gift to my parents was to give them a day of service. Whatever they needed help with. They can be pretty stubborn about letting us help. We did manage to get them to give us a few jobs. One of them was to replace their mailbox that was broken.
Tanya was in town for a few days after Christmas and she wanted to make us enchiladas with green chiles from New Mexico. They were delicious and it was good to have another reason to get together with the Smith clan. It was all grand-girls at this gathering!
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| {this is what you get when more than one person is taking a picture at the same time ... 75% isn't too bad} |
The Smith kids and parents
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| 60% on this one:( |
The week was filled with lots of downtime. We worked on puzzles.
They become addicting for those of us that are committed.
Grampa, Bay and myself were the loyal contributors. We ended up completing four by the end of the week.
One of my favorite things while visiting home is our walks around the old stomping grounds. We got snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then had beautiful even "warm" weather the rest of the week ... it was pretty perfect!
We spent another day helping the grandparents put away their Christmas decorations. Not sure if we helped them or just stressed them, but they are leaving town after New Years and it will be nice for them to not have to worry about this project.
They have so many decorations that light up, move or sing that we had quite the collection of batteries when we were done.
We had play dates and sleepovers with cousins.
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| These two always pick up where they left off. Wish it was as easy for the others;) |
We went and visited this cutie at her job. She provided us with exceptional customer service!!
Saturday was Grampa Wayne's birthday so we celebrated with a game night at Ryan and Jenn's.
We had a blast with Battle of the Sexes, Heads Up, Telestrations ....
... and SPEAKOUT. Not flattering but fun;) The videos I have are the best. My dad was HILARIOUS!
My dad was forced to open presents and wear this hat my mom got him
{he doesn't like being the center of attention} Cooper was a big help.
He wasn't amused that this kid had the nerve to show up in a Ute shirt (actually he was amused-he just doesn't look it;) Luckily he was given a new shirt to counterbalance.
Our last night in town was New Years Eve. Jami invited us to Applebee's for appetizers
and puzzles (since we hadn't gotten enough of those).
Scott took good care of us, keeping us stocked with food and drink. They had brought multiple puzzles and Mark suggested that we have a competition to complete them.
He hadn't helped us a lick with the ones at my parents, but suddenly he was fully motivated. He chose to move to a different table/team, which coincidentally came in 1st. We had the puzzle enthusiasts on our team and somehow we finished last (we also had the hardest puzzle).
We rang in the New Year and got some sleep so we could begin 2018 on the road for home. We had a grand time in Utah and loved getting to spend some much needed time with family!
