WINTER 2016

CHRISTMAS

Christmas Day Hayes and Cal woke up at 2:30 am. SERIOUSLY. And then like every 15-20 minutes after that for a couple hours. I could've killed them! So excited and so obnoxious. Russ said next year we aren't even telling them its Christmas Eve, they'll just wake up to presents and that will be that. Also we  paid $20 for this photo like chumps. But Raleigh's face made it worth it.

Here they are! Oh Deer PJs and tired eyes. We finally got up around 7 I think after they actually fell asleep for a few hours straight.

You can't tell but they're naked. Just naked gingerbread making.

Family White Elephant. Cal was not thrilled with his pink bear. Ha. // In all reality Cal had a rough Winter. The transition from youngest to middle was rough for him and we spent lots of time working on helping him out. He has aged me a extra 10 years this season probably. ITs not always easy and laughs, but we love him and I'd fight to the death to make sure he was happy and secure. He is his best self in warm climates so Winter is already tricky but now that things are warming up and he can be outside at the park and not cooped inside I already see a better Cal. 

 Although when he was cooped up he made this amazing play-doh installation. He said "Its a heart because I love you"

Hopefully Cal won't be mad in the future that I said this online, but we found a great family therapist for him and I to go together as we sorted through some things and it has been really good for both of us! One day we got to paint each other's faces. Cal painted me like his Nintendo DS (spot on). He continues to be obsessed with ice cream -- eating a shake with a blanket on because he was freezing.

With Raleigh sleeping through the night we were able to get lots of good date nights in! We came home from NYE with the buddies and two boys were up however.

We got some time in the snow!

Sledding:

And we took the boys skiing. It was laughable how much of a meltdown they had at first. Like Russ and I were just staring at each other in disbelief. Cal was mad because we weren't letting him go fast enough and he wanted to go down the main ski hill. Hayes was sad because he wasn't pro his first time and it was too hard. We sat them down with hot cocoa and I took turns with them going up the rope tow and back down. They finally relaxed and started to enjoy themselves. IT was such a victory in my book, they both left wanting to do it again. Parenting kicked our butts this Winter.

My 31st-- my friends spoiled me as usual.

Rashelle and I went to Hamilton Leithauser (from the Walkmen) he was super good live.

Then Nicole and Shelly took me skiing on my birthday and my friends met us up for lunch.

We can't forget how we sold our house this Winter. First we got a storage unit and emptied pretty much everything non essential. We lived like real minimalists for a couple months! We stayed a weekend at a hotel so we could have showings and it took a few weeks after that before we finally sold it.  It was so hard to get in the Christmas spirit with showings, and trying to keep the house clean. We are now in a brand new townhouse that is nicer than anything we've ever lived in so for all those reasons, I was super happy and didn't even really find myself sad about leaving the house. I am the least sentimental person you know and also live for change so it was all good things from my perspective!

We stayed in the Hampton inn in Lehi and went to Luminaria and swam in the pool and it was actually really fun! We'll definitely go back to Luminaria next year!

Getting all our toys into storage was so great. My boys were stacking tuna cans at one point happy as clams. I don't know if I'll ever get all that junk out of storage!

The townhouse is in a different school district and church stake but its still pretty close to where we lived. Its right in the center of the city so its convenient and easy to get anywhere and I love how close it is to the freeway. Running back to the house in between errands or to grab something i forgot (always) is no problem. // Museum trip

 More date nights, Brothers.

 Another Christmas tradition we started was going to the Utah Symphony's Christmas Concert for kids. I was so emotional it was so fun watching my boys enjoy the music and learning about the songs. Santa came and I was living for it all.

Can you see Hayes and Raleigh holding hands. I mean.

 Hayes' christmas sing along. I live for stuff like this. So cute.

Gigi Mas - Manti, Utah

Every Christmas we got to my mom's B&B The Yardley Inn for a couple days with cousins! So fun. Avery loves Raleigh so much. // Gigi giving gifts

 Nativity // Making Danish Pastry

Russ left the night before so I took my time heading home, these boys got spoiled with one on one time and then it started to blizzard. Sort of scary driving home! Luckily they slept most of the way.

Man oh man, between getting the house ready and keeping it that way to show and sell it. Issues with Cal and transitioning to a new baby, politics giving me hives on a daily basis. Winter was trying. So happy Spring is practically here now. So much exciting stuff on the horizon!!