We left for Utah the day after Christmas. The kids were so excited to get up there and see their grandparents and all of their cousins.
We stopped at our usual McDonald's in Cedar City to have lunch and take a break.
We stayed with the Morton's for the week and we were able to have a recreation of Sherry's family night with them on our first evening in.
We played all sorts of games, had a little talent show, and got to open some darling jammies.
Each of the kids got to open their presents from Grandma & Grandpa.
I think they were all thrilled that Christmas just kept on coming!
We spent the rest of our evening playing the games that the kids got and just visiting.
It was Bridger's year to have a sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa Smith so we went to drop him off and decided to go feed the ducks at Fairmont Park.
There were TONS of ducks and the kids had so much fun.
We were fortunate enough to be in town while my niece Lexi was being baptized.
It was great to be able to be there and support her on her special day. Abi was especially happy to be there because she and Lexi are only 4 months apart and are such great little friends.
Porter thought he was pretty cool because he was dressed just like his older cousin Brayden whom he idolizes.
Tate had a bunch of fun running around with his two little cousins Hailee and Foster. (I remember when that was Camden, Lexi, and Abi running all over the place and causing trouble!)
We could not come up for Christmas and not spend time with the Evans because they are our family as well!
The kids were so excited to see them and the kids got to work filling in Russ and Ethel on everything that has been going on and teaching Ethel all about Angry Birds. (Poor Ethel even had to download the app.)
We exchanged some presents and had some pizza for dinner then Russ and Ethel got to work assembling the toys.
Once they were assembled they had fun playing with them. (Now I know why they love for us to come over!)
We sure miss having them so close but we're only far away in distance, not in thought or heart. :)
We also made sure to go swimming at Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center because the kids just love the pool there.
There are all sorts of fun slides.
There's water guns too which the boys LOVE!
Abi loves the diving boards and the high dive imparticular.
On New Year's Eve we went over to my parent's for a lunch with the Smith side of the family. We got there a little early and Abi helped Grandma peel some potatoes.
Tate loved spending time with Grandpa Jerry. (Can I just say that this picture is ADORABLE!)
Pretty soon everyone started showing up and I was so excited to see my sister again!
I got to see Sean, Luba, and Dasha too so it was a great day!
It was also fun to see my brother Mike and he brought along his boys, Tyler and Nakota, who are just big sweethearts and we all love to see them. (Mike's one true joy in life is to tease the poor girls.)
I had to get a picture because Eric, Sean, & Nakota all had Sesame Street shirts and it was too perfect for a photo opportunity!
It was finally time to eat and Bridger was being a pill. He was acting irritable and crabby but within about 5 minutes we knew why... he crashed here on the floor and stayed there asleep for about 2 hours!
We had a fun time visiting with everyone and we all got a chance to exchange our Christmas presents. Dasha really liked the Twilight board that Abi and I made for her.
Pretty soon it was time for Brenda, Eric and their kids to head out so Tate gave Aunt Brenda a huge kiss goodbye. (Brenda is a brave soul to kiss that messy face!)
Mike and the boys stayed a bit longer until it got dark because they had brought some fireworks to light off. We played some pool downstairs and waited for the sun to go down.
We went out front and started with the sparklers.
Nakota tried making some circles for me.
Nobody can make a circle as well as Porter though!
We had a great fireworks show and even had a huge one that shot way up into the sky and exploded but I failed to get a picture of that one because I was running away screaming. (I wasn't expecting that!)
Tate also said goodbye to Tyler when it was time for them to leave. We went back to the Morton's and watched some movies but ended up falling asleep before we could even ring in the new year. (That's how you know that you're old!)
The next day we went to church at Bill & Sherry's ward and then had dinner with the entire family.
It's so fun to get together with all of them and the kids sure love spending time with their cousins.
Tate and Hailee had so much fun playing in this fold-up basketball net.
They were too peas in a pod!
Uncle Dan spent time reading some scary stories to the kids and it totally freaked them out.
Brayden was especially worried about the stories and in hind sight it probably wasn't a great idea to read them. :)
Thank you to all of our family and friends for making our stay so wonderful and letting us spend time with you! We love our visits and are grateful for all that you do for us!
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