Sledding in the Sierras with Uncle Mark and Aunt EJ

Uncle Mark and Aunt EJ came over later in the day on Christmas and stayed until Sunday with us.  On Saturday we drove to the Sly Park Recreation Area in the Sierras to go sledding.  It was the best sledding hill we have found since we moved here. It was a very beautiful day with fresh snow and pretty sunlight.  Here are some pictures from our fun adventure!

 Alex brought his new camera he got from Oma and Grandpa for Christmas.  He and Lily took lots of videos as they sledded down the hills.

 Mom thought maybe someone was praying in the forest above us, but it was just the steam reflecting the warm sunlight through the trees.  :)

 Jennkinson Lake in the distance.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning was lots of fun.  We all had lots of surprises from each other and enjoyed spending the morning playing together and eating mom's yummy breakfast.

 Sarah re-enacting opening presents.

 Lily playing with her doll.

 Dad setting up his new electronics, while wearing his new running shoes.

 Alex playing with Legos.

 ...more Legos.

 Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas was so nice this year!  We didn't want it to end.  And Christmas Eve was no exception.  We had fun doing the Nativity, reading our Presents for Jesus box, and reading in the scriptures of Jesus's birth.

 Sorry this picture is blurry, but it was the best we got with the self-timer.

Sarah's Rookie of the Year Award

Sarah has been loving band this year in High School.  Recently  her teacher mentioned they had a need for an Oboe player.  Sarah came home and told us she wanted to learn to play the Oboe.  We rented one at first just to try it out, and she caught on very quickly.  She has switched over to mostly playing Oboe now in the band. 

At her last concert she even had a small Oboe solo.  For only playing an instrument for a few weeks that is pretty impressive.  Her band teacher gave out a few awards to her top students Sarah received the "Rookie of the Year" award.  She was the only freshman to get an award.  It was a proud band moment for mom.  She was very happy for Sarah.  So happy that she forgot to take a picture until after she got the award and was walking back to her seat.  Oh, well.  Better late than never.

 Sarah with her award turning to go back to sit down.  :)

Thanksgiving Trip to Utah: Thanksgiving in Cottonwood Heights

Next we drove up north to stay at Oma and Grandpa Bills house for Thanksgiving.  Oma was in Europe with Aunt Keri's family for the week, but we were graciously hosted by Aunt Danya and Grandpa.  We had a very nice time.  

Lily and Alex helped Grandpa make Boomerangs and then test them out at the park.

 We drove up to the University of Utah one day and walked on Campus with the kids.  It brought back lots of fun memories for Mom and Dad of their days walking that campus.  We let each of the kids pick out something at the bookstore.  It was a nice moment for Mom who remembers not being able to afford anything but jellybeans and essentials at the bookstore when she was a poor student there.

 We have told our kids they can go to any University they want,.. as long as it is as cool as the University of Utah.

On Thanksgiving day we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Oma and Grandpa's house.  It was nice to spend time with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.

 Uncle Kevin brought two of his drones that he has built.  We had fun watching him fly them after dinner.  When Uncle Kevin was a little boy he would always come up with neat gadgets that he would build.  Whenever mom would go in his room there was always random wires and tools laying around.  As he got older he started putting LED lights on his gadgets.  In true Uncle Kevin style his drones were pretty amazing with flashing lights, computers, cameras, and lots of other interesting stuff on them.

 Sarah, Mom, Aunt Andree, and Aunt Danya took lots of selfies and made a video for Aunt Keri (who they were missing) in Germany late into the night.  It got a little crazy. Aunt Danya taught us the "fish gape" and Aunt Andree taught us how to take good selfies. Sarah had no problem fitting in with the Bodell girls.  It was a lot of fun.

 On our last day we went to City Creek for a little shopping and walked over to Temple Square.  We took the conference center tour and then had lunch at the Garden Restaurant.  

That night we went to Uncle Kevin's and Aunt Jessi's house.  Kevin ordered pizzas and the kids played together.  It was fun to get to spend some time with them. 

 The next day we drove home.  We had such a fun trip.  We loved that we had lots of time to talk and visit with family and play with cousins.  

The salt flats were really beautiful reflecting the snow capped mountains beyond them.  

Thanksgiving Trip to Utah: Kolob Canyon

We drove on Monday up to Kolob Canyon with Uncle Alan and George.  It was so beautiful!

We first went to an overlook and enjoyed a great view of the canyon.

 Next we drove to the Double Arch trail head and hiked up the canyon to an amazing double arch.  It was a very nice hike not too steep with lots of fun river crossings that we had to find a way through.  There was just a little snow on the ground which our kids were very excited about!!

 Lily checking out the snow.  

 Taking a break under a big boulder.

 There were two old cabins we passed that were interesting to look inside.

 We finally made it to the Double Arch.