A little time with my family in Utah

It's so hard balancing time with two different families in one place like Utah.  My brother Tom and my sister Bridget and their families live in Utah and I was happy that we got to spend Sunday evening at Bridget and DeVere's condo in Provo.  Did I take a single picture? Of course not.  We must have been having too much fun to even take a picture!  The cousins had a blast together playing with the Legos DeVere got for his birthday and Nina and Susie kept asking when they would get to see Billy again.  DeVere gave the kids beanies from his family's company Paige Steele, which the kids loved and wore for several days after.  Susie actually wore hers to bed that night she loved it so much.

Ice Skating

Another fun first for our kids was going ice skating for the first time.  Nina and Eli were up for the adventure while Susie had zero desire to give it a try.  We headed over to Seven Peaks in Provo one morning and had a great time.  Dad was so great and patient with Eli and Susie.  We rented one of those walkers and Eli hung on tight while Dad skated him around for about 15 minutes.  He had a great time, even if it was a short time, then he joined Mom and Susie as cheerleaders for Nina and Dad.  Nina did such a great time for her first time on the ice.  She refused to use the walker though, claiming that it was for babies.  She was so hard on herself and got so frustrated that she wasn't skating as well as some of the other people out on the ice.  We tried reassuring her that she really was doing amazing and that most the other people had been skating for years.  She wasn't convinced.  It's just so hard as a parent to see your child doing such a great job at something, only to have to be so self-critical and hard on themselves.  That's just part of her personality though.  I hope that overall she had a good time though.

Nina and Dad out on the ice

Skating like the pros

This little cutie had a blast being there and those little ice skates were to die for!

My little cheerleader and her new Christmas presents to keep her busy and happy while everyone else skated.

Christmas Eve

The kids in their Christmas Eve best

All the cute Fieldsted cousins listening to Mack read a story.  LoAnn was listening comfortably from her huge recliner.

After sledding all day we headed back to the condo to get ready for Christmas Eve at Tyson's parents' house.  We got ready and made a salad for dinner that night.  We had dinner at their house and afterwards Tyson's parents had a "program" planned out.  Mack gave one of his famous speeches and then read a Christmas book for the kids.  Grammy LoAnn had put together a game of pictionary together for the kids to play.  While we were leaving their house it started to snow, which I hear is every person's ideal Christmas: waking up to snow on Christmas morning.  It's hard to understand being from Southern California where we never had a "white Christmas", but it really was a beautiful sight and I started to "get it" a little bit.  The kids wrote a note to Santa and left out cookies and milk and an apple for the reindeer.  We left our stockings on the coffee table for Santa to find. I absolutely love having kids this age at Christmas time.  The excitement they have for it is contagious and has really made Christmastime the best!

Got this cute shot of Eli looking out at the falling snow on Christmas Eve before bed.  It really made Christmas magical for the kids.

Our note and cookies to Santa

The stockings were hung on the coffee table with care this year.  

Sledding

It was so much fun being able to take the kids sledding for the first time.  We went up to Rock Canyon park in Provo, which has great hills for all different thrill seeking levels of sledders.  We have been blessed with kids who aren't the thrill-seeking daredevil type.  We haven't had to deal with toddlers climbing onto counters or bookshelves because they have honestly been too scared.  So when we try something new, like sledding, it takes A LOT of time to warm up to the idea.  There was a lot of fear at the beginning with no one even wanting to give it a try.  After forcing Nina to give it a try, she ended up loving it and couldn't get enough.  Susie eventually tried it from about ten feet up and Eli tried it out a couple of times the first day and really got into it the second time we went.  He loved going with mom or dad and would scream and laugh down the entire slope.  Dad, Mom and Nina seemed to get the most thrills out of it while Susie and Eli were great cheerleaders to everyone else.

I'm glad someone documented one of the few times Susie actually sat inside the sled.  She's just not the thrill seeking type and would rather build snowmen or make snow angels.

Eli was rocking the pink pants and boots.  That's what you get when you have two older sisters and it was much better than being cold.

Miss Nina doing her thang

Christmas in the Condo

We decided to be somewhat crazy this year and spend Christmas in Utah.  We packed up the old minivan to the top with all of our clothes, Christmas gifts, food, kids, and even a small Christmas tree.  The kids were champs on the long (12-14 hour) drive.  Now that they all enjoy sitting through an entire movie our lives have been forever changed.  We rented a condo in Provo, which ended up being so much fun for everyone.  It was fun for the kids to sleep somewhere new and it was great for us to be able to have our own space and have a few of our own Christmas traditions.

A car load of happy travelers.  If it was light outside our little bookworm Nina would just read her Junie B. Jones books and the little kids watched movie after movie.  Mom was happy as long as she had a Diet Coke and candy handy and Dad stayed awake by eating several bags of sunflower seeds.

Our cute little Christmas tree in our cute little condo

The girls were so excited to see their cousin Ambree again and Susie and Ambree were BFFs by the time we went home.

Just eating breakfast in the condo

We loved the location of our condo because it was a couple of blocks from the new Provo City Center Temple.  It was such a beautiful sight to wake up to and to come home to at night.  Quite the view!!

Our Little Star

 One of our favorite Christmas traditions in the St. Philip's Christmas Pageant at the kids' preschool.  Nina was in it two years.  One year she was the innkeeper's wife and the second year she was a star.  Last year Susie was a bunny and this year she got to be one of the "Main Stars".  They narrate the nativity story and the kids sing songs.  Susie was really excited to be a star with her good friend Maya and wear a such a pretty dress for it.  It was so fun to overhear her singing and practicing in the weeks ahead in her sweet little voice.  She wasn't nervous at all to be in front of a huge crowd of people and did a great job singing and "shining" like the little star she is.  

Susie in her pretty star dress

We are so blessed to have such wonderful, supportive family in town who come to all of the events and activities our children do.  Grandma, grandpa, Kevin, Jennalyn, Zeke and Eloise all came out to support Susie in her "starring" role. 

Susie's Fan Club

In the run through of the pageant they didn't realize that Susie could barely see over the stable wall.  She is just such a tiny little girl and her head was barely popping over the top the whole time.