Christmas Vacation

We drove through multiple snow storms on this last adventure. We did have a minor mishap with a bird. There was so much new snow that the birds kept sitting on the road to get warm and this poor thing didn't get out of the way in time.

Here's Anna snuggling with Uncle John

To get out of the house we took a little walk down to one of the neighborhood parks.

Christmas pajama time!

Itching! AAAAAAAHHHHH

Grandma is getting ready for the festivities of the night. So excited.

The kids were all playing and in the commotion of all the fun, Nora hit her head on the metal railing of Grandpa's bed and had to head to the ER for staples

But when she got back we started the Christmas program

Everyone's roles look pretty obvious, however who knows what Anna was she was just happy to hold the bells

Time to open presents

So much fun.

We had to try out the wagon as soon as possible, so that evening we headed out for a walk. Love those Cedar City Sunsets

Then the next night it dumped snow

These boys were so excited they had to go out even though the wind was so bitterly cold and intense.

Overall...awesome vacation

Visiting my family for Christmas

We took one night to go to dinner with our friends from out here. (They also are from Salt Lake). Why on earth would they sell this at a grocery store? I'm completely baffled

We forgot our coats and any thing resembling snow clothes so we borrowed this coat for Anna from my sister. It was hilarious. Here she is faking asleep

Early present exchange

No, it's not Halloween, this is what he wanted for Christmas. He looked so amazing in it too, I actually thought it was the real Ironman right there in the room with us.

We took our loot from Ellen and played the kinect Dance Central. Go Mom!

Then everyone joined in

I think I look a little constipated or something. Oh well, the picture didn't capture the amazing fun we were having, maybe next time.

So much fun. Until next time....

LA version of a white Christmas?

I woke up one morning to this weather and figured this was a close to a white Christmas as we were going to get out here. It was good enough for me. I loved it.

White Christmas

Every year we watch the movie White Christmas and have a small little party . The kids loved it too this year.

Ward Christmas Party

Clayton got sucked into singing in the choir and he did a fantastic job, if I might add. He is right in the middle of this picture, I couldn't take any of my own pictures because I was accompanying all the singing throughout the little show.

I didn't catch a picture of the angels but they were two adorable little girls from our ward, they sang away in a manger or something and it was so cute. Here are the rest of the people.

The wise men

Huntington Gardens

Huntington Gardens had a free day once a month and you have to apply online the month before to get the tickets. I was lucky enough to get several tickets so Mary came up with her boys and Clayton's dad came down and we all had a great time.

I can't remember which plant that is the Mary is pointing at but Travis is pointing at the coco bean plant.

This was a bog in a glass case so you could see the different layers. Please don't ever let me step into one of those. Man that is disgusting.

This room was the tropical jungle where they had mist going constantly

If you can zoom in and read about this plant it is completely fascinating. Just make sure if you ever come across it you don't drink out of it. It doesn't catch rain water, that's for sure.

These little pots had water that would spurt out of the fishes mouths or holes in the ground and plop into the water. Anna was completely fascinated for the longest time.

Then Tyler showed her you can splash the water for even more fun.

There was a big water thing in front of us but the picture didn't catch it.

The kids area is really fun and super interactive. This was the mist area where they could just run and run. So fun!

Ellen 12 days of give away

For 3 years we have been trying to get on the Ellen show for the 12 days of give away. We finally made it this year. Our tickets were standby so I went at four in the morning to sit in line. Everyone there got in so that was a good thing. Lindsay had standby tickets too so we waited together. There were people in tent chairs who had been there all night.

This is my few from the sidewalk where I slept. I definitely felt homeless for a minute.

John-Stephen (Clayton's brother) was my guest. Clayton had tickets for the next week and we didn't want to jinx ourselves by both of us going both days. Clayton took his sister Mary the next week.

Can you spot us?

I zoomed in just in case you couldn't

We got seriously hooked up. It was awesome! Thank you Ellen!