Utah for the Holidays
Dec 14th - Jan 3rd
Part ONE

We DROVE to UTAH!

Can I just say that Texas is WAY too big?! I think we were driving in the state of Texas for about 11 hours. Yikes. But we made it! We were planning on staying the night in AZ but ended up just taking a quick nap and a few more coke's for me and 5 hour energy's for Brock. Team work! Even though he drove the whole 20 hours, even though I offered. We kept each other awake, and actually really enjoyed the alone time while driving and the boys sleeping 9 hours through the night. But my bum is just NOT made to sit that long, YUCK.

When we got to AZ I whipped my camera out so fast when I saw MOUNTAINS!! They even anything special but actual mountains. Miss them, love them, want to hike and rock climb them.

The boys couldn't have done better in the car. So pleasantly surprised (mostly by Brendon) at how well they did. Did not complain once, asked a few times "are we there yet?", we peed on the side of the road a few times, but NO accidents in the car.

We first stopped at the Gillett's house (can't believe this is the ONLY pic I got there, probably cause I hadn't slept in 26 hours) Our good friends the Gillett's welcomed us with a hot breakfast and a shower and a great place for a cat nap. We were planning on staying the night there, but decided we were so close to SG (6 hours away) that we felt good enough to just nap, relax and drive on through. It was so good seeing the Gillett's.

After we were rested and cleaned up we headed to lunch with our friends Trent & Lauren Tipton. Trent is going to PA school in Gilbert. We ate at Zupa's (MY ALL TIME FAVORITE) and it was great to catch up with them.
After lunch, we went to the Sonntag's.
Seeing all these wonderful family and friends made us want to stay in AZ longer and LIVE there! It was so great for the boys to meet the Sonntag's. We had a perfect evening with them playing with toys, at the park and dinner. We did not want to leave them, but were anxious to get HOME.
We left Scottsdale at about 8:00 pm and arrived in St. George at 3:00 am. 

After a good night's rest we got up and went to sacrament meeting at the college ward that my parents serve in. Then came back home to play with COUSINS!!!! FINALLY!!!!

 A fort was instantly made, which then became a massive landing pad.

For dinner we headed to Brock's parents and to play. There was still SNOW sort of ice, and the big and little boys thought a fight would be fun. Brend chucked a snow/ice ball towards Co and nailed him right in the eye. He came walking in the house not evening knowing he had blood dripping down his cheek. He said "Oh I'm fine, I'm tough!". Yikes.

The night was filled with music and yoga, so nice and relaxing.

The next day we got unpacked and relaxed until my parents neighborhood Christmas party. This year their neighborhood won a contest on the radio and the station came and had free hot cocoa and popcorn and Santa came, rode in on a harley. It was great. Kelly Atkin brought this sweet little train and hayride. :)

The next day we did Cohen's "top of his list" activity, HIKING RED ROCKS! We miss them. Badly. And we hiked them about 5 times we were in Utah. So great! The weather was perfect.

Some more playtime at Papa and Nana's house.

Naomi's 4th Birthday!
Princess party for a princess. :)

Two days after we got to SG we got BACK into the dreaded van and drove up north for our little family vacation, visiting family and friends. It was WONDERFUL!! SO good to make some good memories and traditions for our little family, and to see so many loved ones we haven't seen for over two years.
First stop, to see my new sweet little niece, Elle.
Couldn't get her in my arms fast enough!

Just a little baby hungry, for a few mins.
The boys LOVE HER!

Then there's sweet little Lilybear, the other "cousin". We love Lily and would kidnap her if possible. Watch out Tiff and Jade!

We stayed the night and had so much fun just relaxing and catching up with Jade and Tiff. Wanted to snuggle Elle all night long!

Took a little drive down memory lane in Provo.

Library, BYU, J-Dawgs, Creamery on 9th, our old church....

Our old apartment, and the beautiful Provo Temple that I miss oh so badly. When Cohen was a baby we used to walk to it (right next door) daily.

I MISS MOUNTAINS!

After our short stay at Tiffy and Jade's, we headed to Brock's uncle's cabin for a couple days. On our way up we took a pee stop at the Jordanelle look out.

After getting our van stuck at the perfect time that a stranger with a plow truck was coming down the mountain, he saved us and packed us and our belongings up the mountain to the cabin. Angel man sent from Heaven!

First things first, build a FIRE!

The ROPE SWING! We bundled up in our gear and headed to play in the SNOW asap. The boys LOVED it there and still today talked about the cabin a lot. It was such a fun experience to have with the boys there.

Games, charades, smores (barely, we couldn't find mallow roasters so we used the fire tool).
And can I just tell you... there is something about being up out of the "craziness of the world" snuggling by the fire while snowing is falling outside. Romantic! 

FINALLY....Kaylee. Cohen has been praying to see Kaylee for months since they moved back to Utah. Such sweet little best friends, and hopefully lovers one day. ;)

This couldn't have been a more perfect place to meet and play. The kids jumped and played for 3 hours while us adults just chatted. Such enjoyable company, HATED leaving.

Our Montgomery friends are unforgettable, such wonderful people that make you feel like a million bucks and want to be around them all the time. MISS THEM always.

So grateful they could meet up and spent some quality time with us.
Madi - Ty - Co - Sophia - Kaylee - Jayce - Brend 

After playing, we headed to Jenna's apartment where we stayed the night. We cleaned up and rested until heading to Grandpa John and Ann's to visit and went to Olive Garden for dinner. They are so sweet! Always happy and positive. I love being around them.

After the boys were in bed, we left Jenna on babysitting duty, and had intentions of riding the tracks to temple square, but missed the last one, it was a little too late (11:00 pm) But still drove over to find all the Christmas lights were TURNED OFF. BOO!! We thought for sure they would be on for the night. But the Salt Lake temple was still gorgeous, and so fun to have a little alone time with my sweetheart.

The next morning we headed to Tooele to Grammy's house!! I LOVE THIS PLACE! Some of my favorite memories come from this sweet little town. She turned 90 years old in September and everything about her tells me she's in her 60's. If I can age like her I will be LUCKY. She is wonderful. She is sick of cooking and meal planning for herself (she should be, she's done it long enough) so Brock and I shopped for her, which was really fun, again a little along time. :)

The boys LOVE her and had a blast playing with new toys.

That afternoon some of my cousins and their kids came to SLED behind Grammy's house and the farm. SO MUCH FUN! Every child should have memories of doing this. So glad we were able to do this. Thanks To Brady, Lee & Monika & Tyson for making it happen.

Late that night we made it BACK to Utah Valley, Pleasant Grove at Papa Dee and Grammy Miller's house. After another good sleep we had a lot of fun. Went to church then relaxed at home. Cohen would not believe how cool Papa's headphones were. They are hooked to the tv so he can hear better, that is all Cohen wanted to do.

We also got to see Mark and Karen Miller (sad I didn't get pictures) that afternoon for a short time before heading to Grandpa Ron and Grandma Carma's house for dinner.

There's something about Ron and Carma's that makes me feel so at home. I think the house just reminds me of my parents or something. I love it there. They fed us the ultimate Sunday Dinner, I should have taken a picture of it. As well as more pictures of them. :(

Then MORE DRIVING! Which the boys did AMAZNING! Honestly, I don't think either of them complained once the whole Utah trip. Amazing. I think it had something to do with going 100 miles per hour from one super fun thing to the next.

So back to PARADISE, St. George. ;)

We had a fun party with the Brown's and Brock's family.

Such good times catching up and having fun like old times.

We played SIGNS and a little gifts and dice game, Brend won His Sexiest Musks. Ha.

Next up, more RED ROCKS!

Afternoon = playdate with Lon and Adyn! YAY!! We are suppose to be neighbors, dang it. It will happen. One day....

Some more cousin fun at my parents.

Corn Hole and yummy food and treats of course, cause that's all we did the whole month is EAT and PLAY.

Happy Holidays!
Utah trip Part 2 coming soon....

Graham cracker HOUSES
{Monday, Dec. 9th}

 Family Night activity rocked this week.

Such a fun tradition to make good memories of this time of year.

 

Santa & other happenings
{1st week of Dec}

 Santa was at North East Mall.

And Cohen could not wait to talk with him. He told him what he wants for Christmas (a drum set) also about how and when he's going to Utah and how old he is and how he rides his bike with Brend and likes to eat snacks.... PEOPLE. PERSON. I love him.

I got talked into being a model in a fashion show for my good friend Carolyn's shop. She's amazing and runs the whole show (which turned out to be way bigger than I thought) we ended up in a magazine. Woo. First for everything. ;)

The boys were so funny and giddy setting up Christmas decor.

 Brend NEVER sleeps like this, he was starting to get sick. And two days later we were eating ice cream outside in shorts, two days before it snowed and dropped 60 degrees. Texas is weird.

 Oh Brend. This is just him, personality screamin' out.

And Ernie our Elf was CRAZY one day and decided to hang from our fan for a whole day. Yikes!

 HUGE ICE STORM CAME!!!! Not snow, but ice. YUCKY!

It was actually really exciting for a day, the boys had a blast sliding around. But we had to get really creative with keeping entertained in the house for 4 days. We ventured out on short little errands, going 8 mph, but other than that we stayed in and stayed warm.

 No need for sleds and snow boots, until this storm. We had to improvise. :)

 And then....

my early black friday deal Christmas gift came in the mail!!!

FINALLY. Been wanting this for years.

Watch out: you thought I take alot of pics before, you just wait.

 And my first model.....

BROCKY. My handsome man. Such a photogenic man.

Just playing with some cool settings on my phone.

 These "ice" boys couldn't get enough of it, even in the dark.

 My camera is A M A Z I N G and I barely know what I'm doing!

Cant wait to learn more and more.

 Almost two inches of ice.

As the sun came out the ice started the melt from the bottom up, Brend and I loved stepping on the melted spots.

 STUCK IN THE HOUSE for too many days,

but had some fun mastering flying the helicopter alone.

 Little Miss Pepper. 

Our good friends little girl came to play on Sunday, and I took advantage of a little photo shoot. She is beautiful!

 Brock introducing Cohen to MAZES.

This is one of the 500 million things I love about Brock, he thinks of the little AWESOME fun things to teach our boys.

 LOTS of drawing and coloring during the ice storm.

Brend now stays on the paper all the time. He's doing great! And does everything LEFT handed. Lefty like his mama.

 Getting creative again for entertainment.

 PHOTO SHOOT! These handsome boys have lots more ahead of them.

  December has been wonderful and exciting.

We are now scrambling to get ready to drive to Utah for Christmas for 3 weeks. I am definitely anxious to see how it goes. :) 

the month of NOVEMBER

This month was wonderful. Like there was magic in the air... Cause there pretty much is the day after Halloween, when your next thought is "Thanksgiving is next!". I absolutely love this time of year, my favorite by far.

The leaves did change in Texas. Little late, but we enjoyed some really bright colors for a few weeks. Brock started his Pediatric Rotation (and loved it) but his schedule was so nice and "normal" he had every Saturday and Sunday off of work. Sweet! We took advantage and played at our favorite park for hours.

 Brend had a 24 hour somthing, stomach bug or may have eaten something. No bueno. Poor boy, he was so sweet and happy still. We got extra snuggles and loved it!

Brock working hard as ever, don't know how he does it. I love him and hope I never ever ever take for granted how hard of a worker he is.

We had popcorn explosions and lots a big gulps lately, it's great.

 Cohen's Preschool group.

These four and such great friends. They have played and learned together for a long time now! Love to see them discover and teach each other.

 INTRODUCING.....

Elizabeth {Elle} Arden Willard

Brock's sister Tiffy & Jaden had their first sweet little baby. I can not wait to snuggle her next week! I love her so much already, and I'm sure I'm already her favorite aunt.  

 WE ARE THANKFUL!

Thanksgiving break happened at just the right time.

It seems that we are in need of a break more than ever right before one comes. Our wonderful friends the Allsop's just moved to Houston from Utah and they came and stayed with us a few nights for the holiday weekend.

DATES ARE THEEEEE BEST!

Brock was sneaky and surprised me with going to the lighting of the giant tree downtown then ice skating and dinner.

He just gets me, ya know?

Always making me fall in love with him more and more.