Christmas Vacation Part V: Sledding

Since there was no snow in the valley in Utah we had to go up into the mountains. Luckily there are mountains close to my parents house so we didn't have to drive to far to find snow. We had a blast sledding that day! Before we left Kennadee said that she did not want to sled and that she was too scared. Luckily we were able to talk her into trying it out and she absolutely loved it!

 All bundled up ready to go!

 Let's GO!

 Kennadee's first time down the hill. 

 Cole and Grey climbing the hill.

 Grandpa & Kennadee

 Law going down the hill.

 Making a snow angel.

 Ashtynn wasn't very happy to be there! She fell asleep shortly after this picture.

 Kennadee throwing a snowball at Daddy!

Daddy getting ready to throw one back! 

Christmas Vacation Part IV: Fun with the Newmans

On Monday we had Jessica bring the kiddos over so we could decorate Gingerbread Houses and Sugar Cookies. It was so fun to spend time with them. 

 Ashtynn!

 Ashtynn & Grey!

 I hadn't had a chance to shower yet so don't mind my gorgeousness! LOL!

 Nannies making frosting for the sugar cookies.

 Grandpa & Grey

 The finished product!

 Decorating the cookies

They made little Christmas trees made from stars. They were so cute! 

 Kennadee with her tree!

 Law with his tree!

That night we went over to their house for dinner. It was delicious! Steak, potatoes, veggies! Yum! 

Then we played the traditional game of Monopoly that Russell and Cole love to play. Russell was actually the first one out followed by Cole! Usually Jay and I are out first and the game goes on between Russell and Cole for hours! But this time I actually won! It was great!

Christmas Vacation Part III: Winder Dairy, Night Before Christmas Street, and Temple Square

One of our many family Christmas traditions is to go to Winder Dairy to look at their lights and eat scones and hot chocolate. We did that every year as far back as I can remember. We decided that we had to do that again this year for traditions sake. It was great to go back. It has changed quite a bit since I was there last. Scones made me sick once growing up so every year after that I would have a cookie or brownie or something else while the family had scones. This year I decided to try a scone again. I pretty much had no choice anyway because they don't sell any of that other stuff anymore. I was pretty bummed about that. 

After Winder Dairy we went and drove around The Night Before Christmas Street which is another tradition. It is a street (well, cul-de-sac) where every house is all decked out with lights and each one has a billboard of a part of The Night Before Christmas story. I have always loved going there and my hubby was like a kid in a candy store. He kept saying " I want to live on this street" It was so fun!

After that we went and hopped on the TRAX which is Utah's rail system and headed down to Temple Square.

 Temple Square was beautiful!! It was really crowded also. It was hard to get pictures that didn't have elbows or people in them. 

 The Temple is so beautiful!

 View from Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

When we went to get back on the Train someone had had an accident on the platform and they stopped the trains for an hour while the ambulance came and got him. It was freezing cold! 

Kennadee had been sick since before we left for our trip and we had gone all over the place that day so she was exhausted so she fell asleep while we were waiting! 

When we finally got back to our car we headed over to Coachman's for dinner. It is another one of my favorite Utah restaurants. 

It was 10:00 by the time we ate and then we headed out to go to my Mom's which was 3 hours away. I ended up getting sick on the way home. I'm sure it was due to overeating, eating really late, lack of sleep, and a bit of dehydration! It was not fun!

Christmas Vacation Part II: Crandall Family Get together, Village Inn & Such

After Los Hermanos we went to stay with my dad for the night. We watched Home Alone which is a tradition for he and I. It was so fun to laugh at all the parts we used to laugh about. I felt like a kid again. We ate candy and popcorn and had a blast. It was great!

The next morning we got up and it was flurrying a little bit so Kennadee and I went outside to check it out. It was such a small amount you can't even see it falling. This would be some of the only "snow" we saw the whole trip! It was such a bummer!

  We went out to lunch at Tucano's with my Dad and Aileen and My Grandpa and his friend Verna. Tucano's was DELICIOUS!!! It's a Brazilian BBQ & Buffet. There was a lot of yummy things on the buffet but we mostly stuck to the meat they bring around to the tables. It was so good! And best of all was the Grilled Pineapple! It was so good!

That night we went to Aunt Peggy's & Uncle Bryan's for a family get together. I didn't think to get out my camera. I was bummed when I realized that afterward! It was so good to catch up with everyone. It was such a great visit! 

That night Kennadee and I went to spend the night at Laura & Ben's and I had to go get Russell from the airport. He was due to arrive at 12:00 but his flight was delayed so it came it at 12:40. We got to bed at 2:40 a.m.! 

The next morning we got up to go meet my Dad & Aileen for breakfast at Village Inn. Another family tradition. Kennadee got the funny face pancakes and had a blast visiting with Evan while they ate. 

It was such a great visit!