#Ski Utah

the kids have never been skiing and it has been 20 yrs since Travis & I have, my parents gave us a day of skiing for Christmas, what an adventure!

Utah has great skiing, even the license plate says so:) Also, kids 6 & under ski free. We went to Nordic Valley, super cute place and so reasonable! For 75.oo the kids got 2 hours of ski school, their ski rentals and their lift ticket for the day, thanks Grampy & Grandma Susie for the sweet gift!

We drove 30 minutes through a snowy canyon and arrived and realized we forgot Jude's coat, this was a necessity since it was in the 20's, Preston thankfully had an extra coat of his own.

Jude was not upset by it, he is used to getting the leftovers most times;) He also got two left boots in the ski shop that caused a slight delay.

He looks like he has short little legs in this jacket that swallowed him:)

Xander & James getting ready to get on the lift that I saw take out several people.

lunch break with my faves

stopping on the slope for a sisters pic

cutest little snow bunnies getting ready for ski school

Xander, my oldest I thought cautious kid decided to go up the ski lift with my nephew Henry who is an experienced skier before ski school. I thought they were going on a little magic carpet but no they went up the ski lift that Xander had never been on. I had a panic attack, thinking there was no way he was making it down without a broken bone or head injury. Sure enough after not much time, he comes flying down, and thankfully wiped out and lost his skis before the orange plastic fencing that doesn't really provide a stop.
Next stop ski school, learning to stop is a priority...

Jude giving James a hand to help him up

Roe was a completely different story, she got bored in ski school but was completely frustrated to say the least the first time down the mountain. I was with her and she would fall and have a hard time getting back up because they don't give you poles anymore as beginners. I was attempting to help her get up with my poles, wow talk about a challenge. She would get one ski on and then start sliding, skiing down the mountain. After lots of tears and people looking at us crazy we made it down and thankfully the following times down the mountain were uneventful.

Jude had a more gracious fall, if he got going to fast he would just do a lean to the ground, thankfully Preston's coat allowed for good protection.

These two were the best! They would ride the magic carpet up and ski back down over and over!

beUTAHful gift

The kids opened travel pillows with a little video to watch on Christmas day, letting them know we were heading to Utah to visit their Pond cousins who we haven't seen since a short weekend in Estes Park last May, woohoo, best gift ever!!
Roe: Mom, did the Ponds invite us to come?
Me: Well no, I just told them we were coming, is that not ok?

So we packed up Christmas evening with new travel pillows and movies to watch and headed on our 1000 mile journey, it was so worth it!! We hit snow in Denver when I was driving and I started noticing several cars off the road, Im such a crappy snow driver I took the next exit for Denver airport hotels. A bonus that we had a free hotel at the Denver Marriott which had 2 queen sized beds, we actually fit, kind of snuggly, but woot woot for that too!

We arrived in Utah early afternoon Saturday and weren't at the Ponds for 15 minutes when we hit the sledding hill, we pretty much didn't stop going from there, thanks to my sister who is an awesome planner and goer.

Let's meet under the mistletoe

I cracked my phone so selfies have a nice blurry effect on one side:)

A phone topped Monroe's Christmas list since her brother got one in 6th grade. After a lot of discussion, I think she understood and was pretty happy on Christmas with the desk and fun exercise ball chair that will be put to much better use than a phone for now.















Love that my parents have been coming up to spend Christmas morning with us & cooked an amazing meal, I didn't get that trait..

I did a lot of my ordering online and accidentally ordered 2 pair of slides, I returned one and unfortunately the ones I kept were two different sizes, ugh!!






There had to be a dance party on Christmas Eve, complete with seating assignments and VIP tickets, it was quite the ordeal.

Kingston had the best Mr.Roboto moves

blue crew members for these two!!

a gumball machine for Kingston

Christmas Eve, Santa delivered!!


sisters pic with a Cole sandwich

Frosty, Kingston & Kenzie coloring:)

I'm pretty sure Xander asked for a selfie stick?

     


I lost the scarf I got for Kenzie for exchange and Monroe opened it Christmas morning, yay!! I love when I lose gifts and then find them:)


I was curious if everyone else makes all of their kids wait until everyone wakes up to see gifts





My favorite gift I will save for another post, travel pillows with a surprise trip to Utah to visit their cousins.

Adventures on Ice

With this crew it is always an adventure. I think I get are you crazy looks from people when I cart around 6 kids, but the more the merrier. Anyhow, they crack me up most of the time and I have to remember I am the adult/responsible parent not the friend...




















Jude is a wall hugger in the rink, he was so excited by the end of our time I think he made it all the way around without falling or touching the wall!

 
Kingston likes to hold on and be skated around and then will just pull his feet up, this makes for a lot of work! Hot chocolate is calling his name after a few rounds.

Cozy Christmas

Christmas gifts with Grandpa & Grandma Say:) We went with  the theme something to read, something to share, something to wear, something to wish for and something to cherish this year.

Kingston got a much needed sleeping bag, he loves to sleepover on the farm!

not sure where my boys got their snuggliness from??



a little headsup?

Dear Santa,

Please bring me a mudroom &


 a king-sized bed:)

After the awesome Christmas Eve service at UCC with this crew, we checked the PNP to see who made the good list...

Not sure how they managed it, but they did, apparently Santa's message was pretty funny. I didn't get an email but apparently I didn't make the good list because I didn't get either of the items on my list;)

Christmas 2015 & One Little Word for 2016

Maybe Im just a wanna be, but think it sounds good to be all about that Joy, for 2016. Again, organize, listen, communicate were calling my name, but I love and am excited about my word choice.

Probably a mistake to tell my family my word choice because they are keeping me accountable already 4 days in when I am grumpy, remember "JOY".