{happy christmas}

christmas...was...cold.long.snowy.memorable.full.of.love.family...after going across colorado and utah on i-70 we spent the first night at brett and stephs...the boys had so much fun seeing their cousins and matthew and i were able to relax a little and chat with brett and steph before we had to get back on the road.

the next night we met up with my family in slc and stayed in the little america hotel...which.was.amazing...and everyone over age 12 went to a jon schmidt concert.amazing.thanks.dad.  the next morning we had holiday breakfast...and this pancake is the only picture we ended up having on this leg of our trip...

then we finally made it to my parents house and wouldnt you know...the boys and i ended up sick.again.with a head cold.  so we went to a doc in the box just to find out it was a virus.  thankfully the doctor sent us home with some really choice Rxs...oh and did i mention poor keegs had a double ear infection?

one night we went christmas light seeing.  my mom and sister-in-law ashleigh had heard about this house that had the lights timed to music on a radio station they had rented for the holidays...it was way cool.and. ambitious...we ended up getting caught in between the crazy.snowy.weather...we left in between storms and thought we would make it home...wrong...we spent a night at hill afb hoping i-80 would clear up a little and reopen...wrong again...so we spent another night at brett and stephs hoping i-70 would be better...finally kinda right...although it was freezing...like on the verge of north dakota freezing...still we made it home in one piece and thoroughly enjoyed our trip...

unfortunately we didnt take pictures of christmas morning...we decided to just record it...but all in all it was a very nice vacay...and we look forward to seeing family again.

{christmas break '09}

This Christmas we were blessed to be able to travel to Nebraska for time with Matthew's side of the family. Matthew was able to take plenty of time off work so we didn't have to rush there and back. It truly was wonderful and we were able to make a lot of memories. We feel so blessed to have the families we do and to be able to spend time with them.

Noah, Cooper, Carter, and Keegan...

These 4 boys (ages 3 and under) were full of energy, mischief, and smiles. They made this holiday season so much fun.

Cooper

Eric thoroughly enjoying dessert...

Grandma and Olivia

Olivia, this was her first Christmas

Playing Settlers of Catan, a game I never fully understood or was very good at...

Carter, Noah and Cooper

Rick

Keegan

{the amazing pizza machine}

Before the snow set in, we were able to get away for an evening to The Amazing Pizza Machine...(it's in the same genera of Chucky Cheese.) We had so much fun and the food wasn't too bad either for a children's buffet. This was the first time we had brought the boys to anything like this. We knew they would like the food, but weren't sure if they were big enough to do any of the rides...But we were pleasantly surprised.

The Gang

Carter chowin on a bread stick

Keegan

Brett and Steph

Noah

Cooper

Carter

Olivia

Keegan

Carter

Keegan

Keegan riding the train

Carter riding the train

Eric, Joy, and Olivia

We all had so much fun, especially Keegan. Anytime a ride was over he would be so upset. He loved any ride and we really had a hard time getting him to calm down when we were leaving. Guess we better check out the local joint soon...