Winter Break - Utah!

On December 23rd we loaded up the truck with too much stuff and the little ones and headed to vacation! Our first stop was Emmett Idaho to drop off Mitch and Winter with my in-laws. It was my first time to visit their new place and of course got a tour. The next day Randy made a batch of cinnamon rolls and then we drove south to spend some time with my family in Utah. (We found out later that Mitch stole 2 of them off the baking sheet when everyone was outside- naughty dog!) About a half hour after we arrived everyone went over to the Redfords' for dinner and funny Christmas games. It felt good to laugh and laugh. I heard new stories from my parents about silly things they did when they were growing up. Afterwards, Dad read us the Christmas story from Luke 2.

Christmas morning involved eating cinnamon rolls, fruit, orange rolls, opening presents, and playing games. That evening we went to the Grubbard's for a family party on my Mom's side. My cousins are starting to leave Utah and move across the country, but luckily most of them were there and I was able to visit with them for a bit.

Friday morning my entire family went to the Ogden temple. I think this is the first time for all 7 of us to be in the temple at the same time. Jason, Ashley, Randy, and Dad did baptisms while Mom, Chantel, and I did initiatories. It is always wonderful to spend time in the House of the Lord. That afternoon we raced Go-Karts with my Uncle Spencer and my cousins Ethan and Elizabeth. I was nervous at first about how fast I could take the corners, but once we got going I had a blast! Randy finished first and I finished third. That evening Mom and I went to Kohls for a bit of shopping to look for clothes suitable for fourth year. We found a bunch of blouses on sale and left the store only spending 15$! Deseret Industries some times has good clothes for cheap and we needed some White Elephant gifts for the Sheets Christmas Party so we went there next. I found a brand new pair of dress pants from Nordstrom that still had the original tags on them that fit me! The original price was $188, but I got them for $20!

Saturday we drove up to Hareware Ranch for a wagon ride. The Ranch is run by the Division of Natural Resources and is an Elk Feeding ground. In the summer they hay a bunch of meadows and in the winter they feed that hay to the elk with horse and wagon. We took a 15 minute ride through the elk and learned a bit more about their program. I was happy to hear they do some disease surveillance.  That evening my dear friend Maria, Randy and I took the Frontrunner to Salt Lake City to see the lights at temple square. The lights are incredible - there are literally millions of them! We had a grand time visiting and drinking amazing hot chocolate.

Sunday evening we had a party at my parents house for the Sheets side. I enjoyed catching up with my family. We did a White Elephant exchange and had a bundle of laughs. I ended up with fettuccine noodles and Randy stole "In Case of Emergency Break Glass" frame with a chocolate bar.

Monday morning came and it was time to head back to Emmett to spend time with Randy's family. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe called Upper Crust that Randy found while working in the Burley area.