Home For The Holidays

Eight years and two kids later Jared and I spent our first Christmas in our own home, and my parents came to Midway to spend it with us.  Christmas Eve day started off a bit disappointing with no snow to play in and drizzly rain outside. But after finding Bobo in Nana's stocking, tracking Santa on NORAD and finding all the places on our globe, and just hanging out together at home, the rain finally cleared up and we were able to go to the skating rink for some Christmas Eve fun.

Liam got the best deal of all.  After multiple rounds around the rink with Grandpa Ducky he started convincing each of us to, "Do it again!"  Who can say no to that cute face?

After skating Gavin and Grandpa Ducky got down to business checking out all the presents under the tree and figuring out who had the most.  Gavin and Liam opened new Christmas pajamas from Nanny M. and we sang Christmas songs around the piano.  It was neat carrying on this tradition around the same piano that I grew up with when I was young.  We read our favorite Christmas stories and read the from the Bible before writing our note to Santa and leaving treats for him and his reindeer. When we saw Santa in Vegas he told us a secret. Although he loves a glass of milk with his treats - chocolate milk is his favorite. So we made sure to have some on hand for him!

I LOVE the magic of Christmas morning!!!  Pretty sure I was awake before the kids just waiting for them to wake us up.  I have so many memories of waiting at the top of the stairs with my siblings until we were all there and my parents were ready with the video camera and the tree lights were on before running down the stairs to our stockings.  Now, seeing the same excitement in my own kids is even more magical!

A customized train table for Liam and a box full of Pokemon cards for Gavin!  That Santa sure knows what these boys like.  I think Liam was too busy driving his trains around his new table to even notice his stocking filled with other goodies.

Of all the gifts that morning my absolute favorite was watching Liam and Gavin open their gifts from each other.  Gavin is such a great big brother and knew how excited Liam would be with a new Thomas the Train movie.  From Liam, Gavin got a set of soccer cones.  It was actually the first gift under the tree, and it's a good thing Liam is still a bit hard to understand at times.  After helping me wrap the gift Liam would randomly walk around the tree saying, "soccer co, soccer co". He was beyond excited to watch Gavin open this gift and cheered more for this than any of his own gifts. There were books, trains, a new sled and lots of other fun gifts to open before a pancake breakfast and church.

Books from Nanny M.

Thomas book from Nana & Grandpa Ducky

And although there was no snow on the ground Christmas Eve, we woke up to a white Christmas morning - Nana's Christmas wish came true and we spent the day playing in the snow.

Blessed to celebrate Christmas with some of my favorite people

My parents came just the day before Christmas Eve and left a few days after Christmas. Although it was a quick visit these boys took full advantage of cuddle and story time, playing games, and of course Monte, Monte, Caballo rides.  Boxing day we played with new toys, enjoyed the snow, and went down to Temple Square to see the lights before dinner at Zupas.

Liam is obsessed with Snowmen, although I think he likes knocking them down more than he likes building them. We had to be quick to get a photo of him by his snowman before he punched its head off a split second later. Don't be fooled by his cuteness - this kid can have a sinister side to him!

Ever since we moved to Midway I've wanted to check out the Crater at the Homestead Resort. Since my dad is a geologist we thought it would be a fun Christmas gift to go swimming in the Crater together.  We didn't get any pictures inside (you couldn't see anything anyways because of all the steam) but had fun swimming in the hot water for an hour.  We got there early enough to climb up and look down from the top before our swim, but once again all you can see in the winter is steam. It was a pretty view of the valley covered in snow though.

Here's a quick synopsis about the Crater:

A number of thermal springs issue from several widespread, coalescing travertine mounds covering an area of several square miles in and around the community of Midway. The Crater is the largest of these mounds measuring 55 feet high and 400 feet in diameter with a large hole in the top. Originally the only access was by repelling in through the top directly into the water.  In 1995 a tunnel was constructed through the side of the mound giving easier access to the 65 foot deep pool at 95°F.  It's now used as a SCUBA diving certification site as well as a popular attraction year round for relaxing in the warm water.  There are even paddle board yoga classes offered inside the Crater.

Shortly after my parents left we had more visitors!  Because the boys missed seeing cousins at Christmas, Mark and Patti stopped for a visit in Midway with Easton, Teagan and Logan on their way taking them home to Idaho.  Liam was sad not to see Emmy, but those five boys sure had a blast together!  It was a fun New Years with games, yummy treats, and good company!

Liam was the only one who missed out on some of the fun.  After we put him to bed the four big boys played New Years games with Grandma, and we broke out the silly string, glow sticks, and Martinelli's to celebrate.  Despite setting the clocks back an hour we could still hear these goofs up at 1am.  There were a few threats of separating everyone up before they finally went to sleep!

Puppy dog tent cousin sleepover

I had to go into work New Years Day, but Mark, Patti, and the boys stayed for a couple more days and we had fun just hanging out, competing at Dr. Mario, having fun in the snow, and playing with play-doh!