Catch-Up: Part 1

It's time to get you all caught up on X-Mas. This year Nate and I headed to St. George, Utah, where Nate's sister lives. It was a pleasant surprise to be taking the drive from California to Utah (usually a desert scene) and seeing snow everywhere; where I have NEVER seen it before.

As always we had a ton of good food and partook in many fun activities with Nate's fam. It's seems like whenever Nate's family gets together we are trying out some new adventurous activity (they did introduce me to snowboarding), this year it was snowmobiling. We went on Christmas Eve and I don't even think I can put into words how much fun I had. I told Nate later that I was scared out of my mind when I was doing it, but was having so much fun at the same time..

Pete and Jack getting ready to ride:


Katie, making an X-Small helmet look like an X-Large (I was so impressed with how brave and excited she was):

Lynn taking a turn at driving with Don looking comfortable as her passenger:


Going up and down hills was the the most fun/terrifying thing.. I promise this was steeper than it looks:


Doesn't this look like Nate and I are posing in front of a back-drop?

Christmas morning has always been a favorite thing of mine. When I was a kid it was for obvious reasons, but now as I get older it's so much fun to watch other kids experience it. Katie, for the first year (I think.. Em?), had a full grasp on Santa and what to expect on Christmas morning. She and Jack were fun to watch as they excitedly opened their presents... and who wouldn't be excited? Look at Santa's special wrapping paper!

Katie was so funny, she said something along the lines of "Santa gives you what he thinks you will like best." I might have said it wrong, but you get the idea - that little girl has full confidence that Santa will do no wrong :)

A most pleasant surprise was my new colorful bowls. Em, Britt, and I all got them. Mark couldn't believe we really could be that excited about bowls. haha

Here we are before the unveiling:

Charlie was happy with his new Elmo cell phone:

One of the sweetest presents of the day was the painting and letter Emily got from Jack:

Kate's new vacuum from Mark. Okay truth be told I missed the real moment so this was a reenactment... I like how Maddy is acting surprised again too. ha.

Our Christmas was so fun and as always it was sad to have to leave and get back to work.. Part 2 coming soon!