Our Life: Utah.

It all began when Ben told me he was going for a week to a nice sunny location for a work trip. I thought it would be fun to go with him. I called my mom and asked if she could come down and watch the kids. Unfortunately, she couldn't come down because of her work schedule. Instead of giving up, I came up with a new plan, I decided to drive with the boys up to stay with my parents for a week. The plan kept getting bigger in my head so I called my sister, in Iowa, to see if she could possibly come out as well. It was perfect timing! Her husband would be in the middle of finals and preparing for his dental school boards, so it was a good time for her and the kids to get away. It was the perfect plan. We were going to be able to leave the kids with their grandma and grandpa and have fun sister time.
The week before we left, Ben found out that his trip was cancelled. What? This changed everything because it would leave Ben without a car for a week. The day before we ended up leaving, Ben came and said that he was going to be able to come with us! His trip fell through, and they weren't planning on him being at work, so you know, things always work out for us.
Our first stop was Las Vegas, where we met Ben's dad and Lani for breakfast. It was perfect timing. Our second stop was at Ben's brother and his family's house. The boys rocked out to RockBand, and the girls had a great time shopping.
We stayed at my parents and had a great time. We celebrated Christmas a little early, and the kids had an amazing time with Grandma and Grandpa. My sister and I were able to spend some good time together, and Ben was able to spend time with his brother. It was a nearly perfect trip. We wished that we would have been able to see more people; we miss our friends and family. Quite honestly, I wanted to hand deliver all of our Christmas cards to everyone we know in Utah (ambitious, right?). It was a lot less stressful this way. {I hope our friends and family understand, and next time, we are going to try to see everyone.}

Highlights of our trip.

Breakfast with Ross and Lani

The boys rocking out.

Making gingerbread cookies. My dad made the gingerbread, the kids cut out the cookies and decorated. Interesting, my picky eater, loved the gingerbread. Total shock. (The cookies were really good.)

These pictures are of us acting out of the Nativity Story as found in Luke 2. Our version was a little, well, let's say... less traditional. I was Mary, Ben was Joseph, I think Jack was the donkey, and everyone else just played different roles as needed. It was my favorite rendition in recent history.

Seriously hilarious to watch/participate in.