We flew to Salt Lake City on December 22 and it was a whirl-wind adventure from the moment we stepped off the plane. Rob's dad picked Rob and I up at the airport and took us to the Bountiful temple. Rob's youngest sister, Jenny, was going through the temple for the first time. My dad and sister picked up Evan from the airport and took him to their house. That night my Grandma Watkins had her annual Christmas party which was a hit as usual!
I highly recommend it for those of you living in Utah or when you visit. My aunt Mindy and her 4 kids and Rob' s sister Stephanie and her husband Brian and their 2 kids met us there for some excitement. 
It was hilarious when we walked in because it was Rob, my dad, my mom, my sister Stephanie, myself, and Evan - 5 adults bringing 1 child to the Children's Museum! We all had a great time, kids and adults. 
After the museum we went back to my parents house for pizza and cake & ice cream. Everyone else who didn't go to the Children's Museum met us at the house for a "Cars" birthday celebration. 
We had a fun time and Evan was exhausted by the end of it all! I can't believe my little man is 2! It has gone way too quickly!Santa and Mrs Claus paid a visit to Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Vardell's house on Christmas Eve. Evan gave Santa strike 2. He still isn't a fan! We spent Christmas Eve with Rob's family at his Grandparent McFarlane's house. It was nice to have all the siblings and their families together. Evan scored with a Chevron car and James the train. Life doesn't get much better than that.
We spent the night at my Grandparent Tyler's house, as is tradition in my family. 
Like always, it is fun to wake up and watch the excitement in the kids' eyes as they go through their stockings and try to guess what Santa brought them (Santa wraps our gifts). Evan loved opening gifts. He had lots of practice between our early Christmas and his birthday. 
Evan enjoyed playing on Michael and Mindi's dog's new bed just as much as his toys. We ate delish breakfast burritos and Evan enjoyed his first orange julius (note his orange julius mustache). Most of my family went skiing/snowboarding on Christmas so Rob and I headed to Rob's parents' house for the annual omelette brunch. Rob's mom makes these huge, delicious omelettes along with hash browns, bacon, sausage, muffins, ect. Evan had a great time playing with Rob's parent's dog, Barkley. Sometimes Evan "loves" the dog a little too much! 
We just follow the food, so later that night we went to my parents for dinner. As if we hadn't eaten enough! Though, it was worth the trip for Evan who got a Thomas the Train set. Rob and I enjoyed playing Guitar Hero with my siblings and aunt Stacy.JAZZ GAMES
While on our vacation we were able to go to 2 Jazz games, one with Rob's parents and one with some of Rob's high school friends and their wives. 
The Jazz won both the games we attended and we had a fabulous time. Rob's mom was hilarious-the whole fourth quarter she would cheer as loud as possible when the Jazz scored. She also started some cheers from her cheerleading days. I joined in and had a fun time!
GOOD FRIENDS AND NEW YEARS EVE
We were able to see a lot of our friends while we were in Salt Lake City. It is always nice to reconnect and catch up on each other lives. Some friends we hadn't seen in a few years, but once we got together it was like we had just been with them, though now they have 3 more kids! Just kidding Justin and Sue:)
New Year's Eve we were able to celebrate with many of our Boston friends. It is so much fun to get together and hear what is happening in each other's lives. We made such dear friends while we lived in Boston and always have a blast seeing each other. There just is something different about the friendships we formed in Boston. It is hard to explain but it is such a neat bond we have. It was also nice to hear an update on the good 'ole Boston 2nd ward, thanks Franz and Margaret. Thanks to the Souliers for hosting and having Dance Dance Revolution to burn some of the many calories we took in!
COYOTE HUNTING (ROB, NOT MANDY!)
Rob went coyote hunting with his dad and friend Lynn. Since Mandy is the one doing the typing, there isn't much to say about this just that Rob complained about walking about 15 miles in the snow and Lynn brought home a coyote to show his girls. Rob's mom was worried that Lynn's girls would touch it and get the mange!
Rob's youngest sister, Jenny got married on December 29th to Eric Jones. So now she is Jenny Jones, not to be confused with the early-90's talk-show host. Rob and I were huge fans of their wedding format-get married at 5pm in the Salt Lake Temple and then have a nice, sit-down dinner at 7:30pm at Magnolia Grove. 
No fuss or bother over multiple days of wedding events! Jenny looked gorgeous and I absolutely loved her dress with the red sash. She had this beautiful white long coat that had fur around the collar and cuffs but I didn't snap a photo of it. Such a pretty winter wedding! Their cake was so cool with snowflakes on it and to top it off they h
ad a white chocolate fountain with all sorts of yummy treats to dip. Though the best thing was "their dance". It was hilarious. Jenny, Eric, and two of their friends had choreographed a dance to perform for everyone before the dancing after dinner began. I
t was great and included throwing Jenny up into the air into Eric's arms. It is a classic and if I knew how to put video on my blog I would post it. But for now just use your imagination. Here is a picture of the cousins all cute and dressed-up.LUNCH AND DINNER DATES
Rob went back to Minnesota on New Year's Day and Evan and I stayed for another week. I was able to get together with friends and have some fun lunch and dinner dates. My high school friends - Kelley, Cari, and Chelsa - and I took the liberty to have a girls-night-out without the kids! We went to Porcupine Grill and arrived at 6:30pm and didn't leave until 11pm! We didn't get seated until close to 8pm but we did hang around for a long time after we ate and talked. It was nice to catch up and hear how my 3 pregnant friends are doing! It was also nice to have Porcupine's fabulous creamy chicken noodle soup-I highly recommend it!
SNOW!
Evan had a fabulous time playing in the snow in Utah. Even though we live in Minnesota, we haven't had any snow yet this year. We were outside for about 30 minutes and he did not want to go inside even though it was 22 degrees. Evan is definitely an outdoor junkie!
We had a great time with our families and friends, but now we are home and trying to get back to our normal routine. I was sick with a cold for the first few days being home and then Evan decided to take a turn being the sick one. He was been vomiting a few times a day for the past few days so as you can imagine our house smells beautiful! He seems to be feeling a little bit better tonight. I hope so! I hate to see my little man sick.
Sorry about the long post but that is what you get for me not posting in almost a month! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and a Happy New Year!
3 comments:
Take a deep breath! I can't believe you actually did a re-cap of your whole trip! I didn't think it was possible but you made it look effortless! We really enjoyed seeing you guys. Sorry you got sick. That stinks. Hopefully you'll start feeling better. Loved all the cute pictures!
I can't figure out how to leave a comment on one of the earlier blogs but it is good to see everything is back to normal in Minnesota. Last night the American Idol tryouts in Minneapolis left me wondering about those crazy people out there! Anyway, you are way ahead of me because I haven't posted any pics yet but I am going to get some from the honeymoon on my blog soon! (jenbugsworld). Gretel sadi she likes to look at your blog and sometimes Anna will look at it and say "Efan". Anyway, keep up the good work and I will TTYL! :)
I am very glad to see that you are all well and happy! How and where did that picture of me come from? Scary man! I look stoned or crazed or both. All the other pictures are cute. Love ya all Grandma B.
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