Utah for the Holidays

The morning after Christmas we headed up to Utah to spend the rest of our holiday with the Jennings family! We actually flew the new Allegiant Airline - Mesa to Provo flight - which was a new experience. It wasn't necessarily closer to either of our parents houses but the price was right!

We woke up the kids and put them right in the car, Jackson thought it was so funny to be on an airplane in jammies. But when we got to Utah we were welcomed by Grandpa along with Great- Grandma & Grandpa Harline. Jackson and Grandpa picked up right where they left off..

When we got to their house (and every morning while we were there) we discovered there were some dinosaurs getting into trouble. This day they were on the counter eating some cereal, and then every morning Jackson would wake up so excited to see where the dinosaurs were. 

Those silly dinosaurs...

The trip was full of family, food and fun! It was pretty dang cold the whole time we were there and while there was snow on the ground, no new snow fell while we were there so we didn't play outside much at all.

The one night we bundled up we went to the SLC Temple lights with the whole crew!

Pretending that my teeth weren't chattering...

Jackson calls the SLC Temple the "Castle Temple"

Most of the time we spent in the Jennings warm house running around with cousins! Abbie & Norah had lots of fun playing this little piggy with grandma!

Abbie loves ring-around-the-Rosie!

Our own "Christmas Eve" Nativity

We had a blast at Airborne one evening

One night we all went out on a date and had some babysitters come watch the kids. We had amazing Thai food and then headed over to Target to buy the best thing for $5 then had a white elephant gift exchange. This bunny pajama onesie was the hit of the night.

Travis and Alise found the best prize of the night!

We LOVED getting to spend a couple days with Great-Grandma Jennings!

Singing songs as we put the kids to sleep

Most of the crew in Chipotle for New Years Eve

Jackson loved the building truck set he got for Christmas!

Our first trip to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We just had to make sure Abbie didn't eat all the cookie dough...

When things would get boring or the kids would get too rowdy, they'd make cookies with Grandma!

The three big kids :)

Probably the biggest hit of Christmas was the trampoline for upstairs!

The last couple days, before we left Utah, we spent up in SLC with Papa & Nana. I didn't take too many pictures since I forgot my camera and phone was full but we had lots of fun! We went out to dinner, lunch, a basketball game, and the hit was the Utah Natural History Museum aka dinosaurs!

While Jackson doesn't see them too often he always remembers and warms right up to his Papa and Nana. Abbie did great too and sat on both their laps and would go to them easily.

Jackson totally embraced the U of U cheers! He still occasionally yells GO UTAH!

Jackson kept stealing Papa's chair so Nana made it his own :)

 It was a great trip!! We are so lucky to have been able to spend so much time with all our family out there. We're already excited to go back again this summer :)

Christmas!

This year we had such a magical Christmas! Jackson was so excited for the big day and Abbie understood way more than I expected her to.

On Christmas Eve we were able to spend the whole day with all my siblings and in-laws. We started the morning with a hike to the wind caves.

My hiking partner

The crew on the way down

If that wasn't enough exercise, then most of the group headed off to play tennis before we had a lunch from Tia Rosas. And no Christmas Eve is complete without a trip to the hot tub! Jackson stayed in for an hour and would have been fine staying in all afternoon I think...

Not the best pic of anyone, but proof we kept the hot tub tradition alive!

Michael's Gingerbread boy took the prize with Paige's Bell a close second.

And the afternoon was topped off with the traditional cookie decorating contest! It's gotten intense as of late as Tyler posts the picture on instagram and facebook and has our friends choose the winner. This year over 50 votes came in, haha!

Cheesy grin from a cookie lover

The Shepherd and sheep came to visit Mary and BIG baby Jesus

 We had the traditional amazing Christmas Eve dinner of Ham & Potatoes before our nativity acting out, jammy opening and book reading.

Christmas Jammies!

Grandkids loved chasing and wrestling that night, getting a little excited for the big day I think!

Jackson helped test out Santa's cookie

Maybe next year we'll let the grand kids in on the fun ;)

Christmas morning was so much fun! Surprisingly Jackson slept til 7:30 and we had to wake him up since the babies were awake. He and Abbie were so excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookie and that their stockings were filled!

Jackson's presents from Santa were a Dinosaur Train, a T-Rex Hot Wheels Track, an iPad in a cool green case,  and Jake & The Neverland Pirates Scull Rock. He had originally asked Santa for a Dinosaur Track and then he told him he wanted a Dinosaur Train - so luckily he got both!

Abbie's were an Elmo doll, Little People Princess Castle, and pots, pans & kitchen tools and food for her kitchen. Abbie never would sit on Santa's lap this year, so luckily he figured out some good presents for her anyways ;)

The girl polished off most of her stocking chocolate that morning.

They also got spoiled with lots of other presents from Grammy & Grandad, Papa & Nana and Aunts & Uncles. Jackson got 2 new lego sets, lots of books and puzzles, the movie Planes, Candyland, and some clothes. Abbie got books, puzzles, clothes, a Doc McStuffins Kit, and a Frozen Elsa doll.

Opening his Jake Legos from Michael & Annika

The boys in their matching monogrammed jackets!

While the pictures may not be amazing, the day sure was! Having happy kids and a happy family was all I could have asked for. We are so incredibly blessed!!

December in Arizona

We had a really fun time spending the holiday with our family out west! We flew to Arizona on December 12 and stayed for 2 weeks! I think this is the longest we've ever stayed there and it was especially appreciated due to the amazing weather. We enjoyed most days in the 70s which was a welcome break from our new Connecticut climate :)

Tyler had to do a bit of work those first work days in Arizona but we were able to enjoy his company most of the time :) Paige and William arrived the same day we did and Uncle Ben came a few days later.

Oh how I wish this picture below described our flight across the country. Not so much. We had a quick flight to Baltimore, a layover to get some lunch, and then a very long flight from Baltimore to Phoenix. This picture was taken on the quick flight. The long flight was in the afternoon when we assumed Abbie would take a nap. Once again, not so much. She was crazy and we were so grateful when we touched down in Phoenix!

One of Abbie's favorite games, Peekaboo Barn

One of the first things we discovered when we got to my family's home - Steven is now officially taller than me! My 14 year old brother (half of my age I'm just now realizing) sprouted a couple inches even since I saw him last this summer! Baby Steven will be passing up my dad and Michael pretty soon too we know!

Check out the background picture to see the change from 3 1/2 years ago.

The majority of the days in Arizona were spent playing with all the toys at Grammy's house. Between the toy room, Steven's room and the family room Jackson and Abbie had so much fun playing with all the old/new toys :) We also spent quite a bit of time in the backyard and went to several different parks.

This was Jackson's third year to the Sirrine's train house! And while his love affair with trains isn't quite as bold as it was a couple years ago, he still was mesmerized!

Also had our 4th trip to McCormick Train Park in Scottsdale! This was the first time Tyler came with us and we had a good time with Uncle Steven too :)

We seriously loved the time in the backyard this year!

Abbie & William spied an airplane

Abbie watching on as the baseball boys practice

Jackson fixing the car with his tools

Grandkids after church in their Christmas best :)

Abbie & Will with Grandad at the ward party

Abbie was much more friendly with the family this year. She let everyone hold her, especially Grammy & Grandad. I'm pretty sure she has a crush on Uncle Ste and gets an embarrassed smile every time she says his name :)

One day we took an outing to the Zoo! I'm pretty sure this was the first time I'd been since my 5th grade overnight field trip but it was fun to be back with my animal-loving children. The lowpoint of the trip was the fact that Abbie threw up all over herself right as we pulled in the parking lot. It was nasty. But luckily she was pretty much acting back to normal 30 minutes later or so.

I swear we saw some animals but I was holding Abbie most of the time so I wasn't so good at the snapping of photos. Jackson loved the jaguar best :)

 One of the highlights for me was when Abbie finally let me put her back in the stroller rather than making me carry her around. Jackson knew she was sick and had been worried about her. So as soon as she was sitting next to him again he put his arm around her and gave her a hug. His arm stayed around her for probably 10-15 minutes. Their bond is something so special and I'm so grateful for their sweet relationship.

Saw the temple lights and took the picture on the steps of our growing family!