Christmas Summary

So, now that it's getting closer to Valentine's Day, let me tell you about our Christmas vacation! It was wonderful. We had the amazing opportunity to head back to Utah, then to California, then back to Utah for 2 1/2 weeks.

The day after we flew into Utah, we went up and down the Salt Lake valley to spend some time with my family. The following day we headed out to California on one of the tiniest planes ever (I was so scared!). Maggie (Lish's sister) had a beautiful wedding. She and Brandon are so great together and we felt blessed to see them so happy. We stayed out there for a couple more days to spend some time with Lish's dad and stepmom. It was the most fun we've had with them. We really had a great time!

We headed back to Utah just a couple days before Christmas to spend some time with Lish's mom and stepdad (we hadn't gotten to spend much time with them with the wedding and all). Then we headed up to my mom's and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with her and my siblings. We had so much fun being together! Christmas day we spent going up and down visiting family, starting at my mom's, heading down to my dad's, then back up to Lish's mom's for dinner. We made some really great memories that day.

The day after Christmas, my dad and stepmom, siblings, and step-siblings all get together and head up to the slopes. It is one of the most fun days of the year for me. My sister and I went snowboarding together, and seeing that neither of us are pros, we spent the entire day together on that mountain. We had a blast! The snow was perfect! It was cold though, but that's expected. Lish didn't come with us last year, but he came this time and just stayed in the lodge. He took care of our nephew, Mason, and got to do some recreational reading. I think he enjoyed himself. It was fun to come off the mountain and see him there. We spent the next couple days relaxing and enjoying our time with my dad and stepmom.

After that we headed up to my mom's house for a couple days. My aunt and uncle and cousins (the Nally's) were up visiting. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, and even then we didn't get to see them all. So we headed up to my grandparents and spent some time with the extended family. We played "Mafia" a lot and enjoyed one anothers company. Those cousins of mine are growing up so quickly and turning into such beautiful young ladies. The next day we met back up with some of them and my mom took us for a tour of the renovated Capital building in Salt Lake. It was really fun to see how they had fixed it up. That night my mom, sister-in-law Shelly, sister Courtney and I had a girls night. Lish picked up one of his good friends at the airport and went back down to his mom's and spent some time with friends that night. I stayed with my mom and had a sleepover with my sister that night. The next morning we woke up and went to a display in Salt Lake called Body Worlds. It was amazing. If you ever get the chance to go, you should.

Then I went to my dad's office and met up with another friend for lunch. My dad dropped me off at Lish's mom's house that night on his way home from work. We spent the rest of our time in Utah at her house and had the wonderful opportunity to relax. We didn't do much on New Year's Eve. We met up with some friends and played games all night, which was fun. The next day we slept in, watched some football, did some shopping. We went to a movie and got some ice cream the day after that. It was a perfect way to end such a busy vacation.

Lish and I both had an amazing time and we love our family more than anything. It reminded us of why we would like to move back to the west coast someday. We miss not being around them as much as we used to be, but we enjoyed every minute we had with them over Christmas. Thank you family and friends for making our Christmas vacation so memorable and magnificent!