Utah Trip 09

I've been taking a little vacation from our vacation which is why I haven't gotten around to posting yet all about our trip to Utah and Christmas. I had so many pictures and videos to organize I've been dreading doing it and then of course when I finally made the time my computer went a-wall and made everything very difficult. But finally those of you that have been waiting for this here it is.

This is what Brayden calls Christmas.

While we were in Texas she kept asking,

"Is it Christmas yet? Is is Christmas yet?"

When we finally got to Utah and saw the snow she exclaimed,

"It's Christmas outside!"

I've been trying to explain the difference between "Christmas" and "winter."

She loved the snow and it took her no time to dive right in. I was tired of hearing,

"Can I play in the snow now?"

So we bundled up in the best that we had brought and got wet and cold.

...and I couldn't keep her from eating it.

Kaleb rolled around in it for a little bit. Once he rubbed his face with wet snow on his little mittens he wasn't a fan anymore.

This is Brandon's dad with the kids. Kaleb would sit with anybody in this chair for hours. You can tell he's all boy. He loves the lazy boy chair already.

Uncle Taylor and Uncle Matthew and Uncle Ryan (not pictured) were the best sports playing with the kids and helping us watch them. It was so nice having some help. Brayden sure wore each one down.

We made gingerbread houses.

This is Brayden's and mine.

I did the building...she did the eating.

We got kind of cold in the house, especially at night. We thought Kaleb looked like a big marshmallow in his sweat suit and we couldn't get over how cute he looked in this hat.

Once the fire was going we warmed up a little.

Here I am trying to teach Kaleb what a fire is and how we can't go and crawl into it.

There were requests for Brandon to look in their mouths and do a little cavity detection.

He gladly complied.

He just so happened to have his loopes readily available.

Before we went out in the snow again we rounded up some snow pants for Brayden...

...just about five sizes too big.

We made them work.

And then we went sledding.

This was on Christmas eve morning. The inversion lifted and the sun finally came out and we had a great time.

On Christmas Eve the kids opened up their jammies which said,

"What Santa doesn't bring me, Grandma will."

We had our own Christmas before we left that I just realized we didn't get a picture of, but this is actual Christmas morning with the kids sitting by their pile of presents.

Opening Christmas presents lasted all day. First the kids opened their presents in the morning. Then at nap time the adults exchanged gifts. Then in the evening Lynn's parents came with their load of presents for everybody. It was a lot of fun.

Grandma Lynn with Kaleb

And Christmas continued as we visited Grandma Joy.

Brayden helped her make yummy muffins.

...and she loved her box a real sea shells. Grandma gave her three to take home.

Still listening to the ocean.

Now it's Kaleb's turn.

The famous "In N Out" burger joint has arrived in Utah. It had only been opened a month and we had to make a trip.

This is what it looked like inside (picture below). It was so crazy.

It's amazing we even got a seat. People were offering others money if they could have their seat when they were done. Kaleb had his first french fry here. He couldn't say "please" fast enough. Even after he gagged and threw up a little, he still wanted more.

We visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Sonnenberg

(My mom's parents)

Brayden loved getting into all her stuff.

We spent a lovely evening with them.

I have some video of them playing the piano with Brayden.

It's priceless.

Of course we made a trip to Temple Square. Kaleb had gotten another cold and his ears seemed to be hurting him so we left him behind and just brought Brayden.

She's the one in the pink jacket in the middle.

It's been a while since I've been there during the holidays. I had forgotten how crazy it gets. We told Brayden we were going to go where mommy served her mission. When we got there she said,

"Mommy, is this where you went on vacation?"

Uhhhh....not quite.

More time with Grandma Joy.

Here's Uncle Justin with Kaleb.

He was definately one of Brayden's favorites.

(Each uncle had their day of being her favorite. She switched around.)

Brandon's dad had to go on a business trip for a few days and while he was away Brandon was in charge of feeding the horses.

Brayden wanted to help but we couldn't fit her boots over her pjs so she was upset she couldn't walk by herself.

The night before we left we had one last big snow fall. Brandon took Brayden out to play one last time.

...and they found this icicle.

They were out there for like two hours. I swear this girl never gets cold.

We got home on New Years Eve and besides battling illness (Brayden threw up as we pulled into the airport) traveling was pretty smooth.

Kaleb was sick on New Years Day so I took Brayden out to see a movie.

She's posing with the chipmunks but that's not the movie we saw.

We saw "The Princess and the Frog."

She's still singing the song from it.

This was my Christmas present from Brandon. He bought the tickets and set up the babysitting. It was such a good show. I could see why it won a Tony award.

By the end of our date, Brandon got sick.

It still hasn't hit me. (knock on wood.)

We had such a good time visiting our family and enjoying the Christmas holiday.

The video I put together is long (almost nine minutes) but rather than being for entertainment value, it's more for my family record. It's a bunch of clips from our trip and Christmas. Those of you who want to see it...enjoy.