Our Christmas Vacation...

We got back home from vacation about a week ago and I have just now been able to find some time to write about all of our adventures over the holidays. I taught pre-school this week so it has been a bit crazy around here, but that is a story for another time.

Our trip to visit family was everything I hoped for. It was so wonderful to see everyone and spend some quality time with the people I love.

The Day after we arrived in Utah Ryan and I took off to Oregon! Yes, we did. It was sort of the opposite of spending time with family I know, but the opportunity to check out a few dental opportunities there that we had been looking at was too much of a temptation to be missed. So, less than 24 hours after we arrived we left the kids with the worlds best babysitters(grandparents) and drove all the way to the Oregon coast. We spent 3 days total, meeting with people and checking out a couple areas of interest to us. I didn't love the driving but Oregon scenery does not disappoint and spending some time with Ryan without the kids was great. Without going into too much detail, we saw and checked out 2 Dental practices. One is located in Coos Bay, and the other in Grants Pass, Oregon. Both were great opportunities. The people, the business prospects, and the locations were both really ideal. The situations were different so it's really just a matter of deciding where is best for our family and what Ryan's business goals are. We really lucked into some great choices and we couldn't feel more blessed that we have a choice! Oregon, I hope you're ready 'cause here we come!

Anyway, after 3 days in the car we made it back to Utah and family. We spent the rest of our first week in Brigham City with Ryan's family(Except Christmas Eve). We got to see his Grandparents, who were visiting from Arizona and that was a special treat because we hadn't seen them for quite a while. Sometimes I feel like our visits are just one big quick "catch-up" with everyone and I really appreciated how far out of their way some people went to come and spend even a few hours with us.

Christmas Eve we rotate between my family and Ryan's and then visit the opposite family Christmas day. This year Christmas Eve was spent in Salt Lake with my family. We had a yummy dinner at home and then we kept up with our tradition of going to see the lights on Temple Square. It was freezing outside but we didn't let that stop us.

Sam with Uncle Zach who kindly carried Sam around for a while.

Sam and his cousin Audrey were fairly inseparable.

A quick family photo shot.



Russell wasn't so excited about the activity but I think he was plenty warm.

After seeing the lights the kids were pretty tuckered out.

So was Grandpa.

Then we went home and the kids opened one present that is by tradition always PJ's. We played for a little bit and then it was off to bed so Santa Claus could come. This was our first real Santa Claus experience and Christmas morning had that same sparkle I remember when I was little. Santa brought the boys a little airport with airplanes and of course put a few surprises in their stockings.





Christmas morning continued and it was so fun to watch everyone open their gifts. We were very spoiled and received many wonderful things.

New socks! Yes!

Hanging with Grandpa.

Reading new books.

Uncle Adam.

After the morning festivities we packed up and drove to Brigham City to spend Christmas day with Ryan's family. We had such a wonderful day, opening even more gifts,(Thanks everyone)and playing around.


Linus got an awesome 4-wheeler for Christmas and obligingly let the boys take a ride together. They loved it! It was hilarious watching Russell ride around behind Sam.

That night we had a delicious dinner of deep fried turkey thanks to Ryan's brother Matt and we spent the rest of our day chatting and relaxing with everyone.

The remainder of our trip was full of meeting with friends, and spending time with our families. My favorite highlights of the rest of our trip were:
-Meeting my new neice Sophie.
-Going to the Ballet with my mother and sisters at the Capitol Theater.
-Shopping with my mother and sisters:)
-Getting together with fellow Buckeyes to watch the bowl game!(It was so fun to see you!)
-Meeting with friends and catching up.
-Seeing Aunts and Grandparents.
-Dinner at Matt and Amanda's in Salt Lake.
-Spending a calm New Year's Eve in. (The kids were just exhausted by New Year's!)

Yay for grandparents!

The cousins playing with Sophie's toys.

Thanks everyone for making our holidays wonderful. We love you!